Thanks to NetGalley, I was able to read a digital ARC of Kawaii Birdies by Jen Budrock.

After a short intro of the artist, there's a brief explanation of kawaii which is followed by notes on tools how to use the book. Pages of simple outlines showing the shapes of various anatomical parts, like wings, crests, beaks etc follow, before a directory of facial expressions and a quick guide to colouring.

A couple of pages categorising the various orders of bird follow, with a little bird drawn for each type. And they are adorable! So, so cute. The artist has really nailed the kawaii factor.

Most of the rest of the book is short one-page tutorials on how to draw specific types of bird, so they actually look like the type of bird you're aiming for. A section at the end shows how to draw the birds in adorable poses, or with fun or cute accessories. The final section consists of four double spread colouring pages full of little birdies to colour.

Just flipping through this book is so much fun. It made me want to try drawing some myself, and I shall be giving it at try. Budrock makes it look easy. Admittedly there might be a bit of the a draw-the-rest-of-the-owl vibe, but how un-cute could they turn out?

Full disclosure, I really like birds, I love kawaii art, and I'm terribly biased in favour of kawaii animal characters that have little x's for buttholes. Those x' s make this an automatic 5 stars from me.