THE NO-NO BIRD

“Have you not heard? / I’m the famous No-No Bird,” twitters the eponymous avian haughtily to several would-be forest friends who invite him to play with them in this slim English import. He’s earned the moniker after loudly and repeatedly responding to Mother’s various entreaties in the negative. When he encounters a snake who announces that his favorite meal is a guess-what bird, said feathered friend wisely declines to identify himself and hurriedly flies home. A cuddle from a very understanding Mother gets her contrite child to confess that his former attitude got him “no”where—and that his new favorite word is now a resounding YES! The tale, told in verse that reads aloud well, is enlivened by Coplestone’s pleasantly fanciful pencil-and-watercolor illustrations that feature expressive characters. While it hardly replaces Pierre, knowing youngsters who have hurled the N-word parentward once too often may get a chuckle. (Picture book. 3-6)