BEN AND THE BIRD GIRL

A boy chances upon a remarkable girl who’s also sometimes a bird in this opening installment of Butler’s chapter-book series.

Third grader Ben has trouble believing his new friend Olivia’s story about a “Bird Girl.” This “wild girl” lives in the state park and makes it her mission to free caged birds. But then Ben meets Bird Girl, sitting high in a tree with her black hair jutting out like spread wings. She doesn’t have a name—for now, she calls herself Benita. She mentions a club; its members include herself, Olivia, and two other school kids. They’re all young, as Benita is invisible to any human over the age of 9. While the members are oddly mum about the club’s “true purpose,” Ben does witness Benita transform into a crow. He also gets the chance to help Benita do what she does best when two recently liberated parakeets are recaptured and in need of rescue. Butler’s compact tale is one of discovery and wonderment—Ben has many things to ask after learning about Benita, who has to limit him to five questions at his first club meeting. His untiring inquisitiveness opens up a profound theme of identity—is Benita a girl who turns into a bird, or a bird who turns into a girl? Despite the book’s brevity, it has memorable personalities aplenty on offer: Olivia is reluctant to provide Ben with club details, one member worries about their upcoming dreaded 10th year, and parents write off Bird Girl tales as “dribble.” In lively prose, the author delivers such memorable images as Benita, in bird form, who “strutted across the steel pole like an Olympic gymnast.” Butler’s lightly shaded black-and-white illustrations are modest, though Benita and her distinctive hair always stand out. This book’s ending, perhaps unsurprisingly, sets up the next installment.

An engaging introduction to what’s sure to be a breezy fantasy series.