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SAY SOMETHING, PERICO

Name: SAY SOMETHING, PERICO
Author: Trudy Harris
ISBN: 978-0-7613-5231-0

by Trudy Harris & illustrated by Cecilia Rébora ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2011

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Bored with a parrot’s life in a pet store, Spanish-speaking Perico wants a permanent home.

The pet store man assures a female customer that Perico “can say some words.” After the birds’s unsuccessful attempt at “Polly wants a cracker,” though, the woman turns to leave in disgust. Perceptive readers may notice that Perico squawks “Agua!” to call attention to his empty water dish. The pet store man convinces the female customer that Perico is attempting to say the word “opera,” and she buys the bird. Things don’t go well when she takes Perico to the opera that evening, and she returns him. The pet store man tells Perico that he’ll have to learn some phrases if he wants a new home, giving him "I am fine today" as an example. The bird stays up that night practicing the phrase. After two other failed attempts, a little Latino boy and his mother visit the store, and Perico uses all of his new phrases to impress the boy. The boy ignores the bird completely until Perico starts squawking in fluent Spanish. The bilingual boy immediately wants the bird, who speaks Spanish and English just as he does. Rébora’s humorous illustrations and the happy ending help balance the mostly clueless, often rude adults in the book. A welcome, if a little long, tale of belonging and bilingualism. (Spanish glossary) (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-7613-5231-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Millbrook

Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2011

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
THE ROYAL TREASURE MEASURE
by Trudy Harris & illustrated by Ivica Stevanovic

- BOOK REVIEW
THE CLOCK STRUCK ONE
by Trudy Harris & illustrated by Carrie Hartman

- BOOK REVIEW
SPLITTING THE HERD
by Trudy Harris & illustrated by Russell Julian

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BIRD HUGS

by Ged Adamson ; illustrated by Ged Adamson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2020

Readers will agree: All differences should be hugged, er, embraced.

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Watch out, Hug Machine (Scott Campbell, 2014), there’s another long-limbed lover of squeezes in the mix.

Bernard, a tiny, lavender bird, dejectedly sits atop a high branch. His wings droop all the way to the ground. Heaving a sigh, his disappointment is palpable. With insufferably long wings, he has never been able to fly. All of his friends easily took to the skies, leaving him behind. There is nothing left to do but sit in his tree and feel sorry for himself. Adamson amusingly shows readers the passage of time with a sequence of vignettes of Bernard sitting in the rain, the dark, and amid a cloud of paper wasps—never moving from his branch. Then one day he hears a sob and finds a tearful orangutan. Without even thinking, Bernard wraps his long wings around the great ape. The orangutan is comforted! Bernard has finally found the best use of his wings. In gentle watercolor and pencil sketches, Adamson slips in many moments of humor. Animals come from all over to tell Bernard their troubles (a lion muses that it is “lonely at the top of the food chain” while a bat worries about missing out on fun during the day). Three vertical spreads that necessitate a 90-degree rotation add to the fun.

Readers will agree: All differences should be hugged, er, embraced. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-5420-9271-5

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Two Lions

Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THIS IS NOT A POLAR BEAR!
by Barry Timms ; illustrated by Ged Adamson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BEAR, THE BOOK, AND THE BLANKET
by Lou Peacock ; illustrated by Ged Adamson

- BOOK REVIEW
BRIANOSAURUS
by Ged Adamson ; illustrated by Ged Adamson

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SHH! WE HAVE A PLAN

by Chris Haughton ; illustrated by Chris Haughton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 9, 2014

Sure to “net” young audiences, who will definitely root for the birds.

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A peace-waging parable, presented with wry minimalism à la Jon Klassen or Tomi Ungerer.

Carrying nets, three hunters creep up on a sleeping bird in a dark forest, but thanks to their own clumsiness, they repeatedly manage to get in one another’s way as the bird slips off. Meanwhile, despite their frantic shushing, a smaller, fourth figure waves and calls out “hello birdie,” offering bread. Soon, an entire flock has gathered around number four’s feet—a flock that proceeds to turn and chase the hunters away. The text runs to just a few words per page, but it neatly serves to crank up the suspense: “ready one / ready two / ready three… // GO!” Haughton (Oh No, George!, 2012) uses a palette of deep blues and purples for his simple forest scenes; this causes the hunters’ googly eyes to stand out comically and also makes the fuchsia, red and orange birds easy to spot and follow. Last seen creeping up on a squirrel, the hunters have plainly learned nothing from their experience…but young readers might.

Sure to “net” young audiences, who will definitely root for the birds. (Picture book. 5-7)