PURPLE LITTLE BIRD

A small purple bird—Pierre is the name on his purple mailbox—who “love[s] everything purple” circumnavigates the world in search of the missing ingredient in his nearly perfect purple house: a little variety in color, as it turns out.

The economical text packs in a surprising amount, offering an adventure for the anthropomorphic little bird, who encounters a bear, a mountain goat, a camel, a frog and three pink possums in his quest for understanding what makes a house (or a home) perfect. Bear, goat, camel and frog live in places that have their pluses (“It is cool and refreshing,” the purple bird tells the frog in his pond) and minuses (“But…it’s too damp!”). Foley uses a crayon palette to good effect, with warm hues and quick strokes that color outside the friendly cartoon lines and fill the page. Each of the other animals lives in its own natural habitat—forest greens and browns for the bear, snowy white and gray for the mountain goat, warm yellow and tan for the camel and a surprisingly red tree for the pink possums. The same colors appear in the next-to-last opening as Purple Bird and his possum friends paint his (formerly) purple house to perfection.

Satisfying for the very youngest.