NEEKA THE KESTREL

Pet adventures in a picture book format with an adult text. Neeka is the kestrel (a small European falcon) Mr. Rook transported from Andalucia to England. He intended to train her as a falcon but she became instead a highly comical pet and much loved companion--the author writes with an unabashed fondness. He describes first hand-feeding attempts, the first bath, Neeka amusing spectators in the park with her posing, ""slicing a mute"" (falconese for ""excreting"") on the publisher's desk, the discovery that she's a he, a beginning-to-chirp accompanying growing friendship with neighborhood sparrows. The illustrations are quite helpful and Necka's personality is captured although the author tends to