Bluebird

*Starred Review* A little bluebird attempts a solo journey from the nest with, for the first time, no help from her friend, Wind. Maybe the wind is taking a day off? Confused but curious, she goes exploring over the pond and out of the park to seek the wind in the cafe, the market, and city dwellings. Flying through Grandma's window and around and about, she finally lights atop the tallest building all on her own! Quite pleased with herself, she soars up into the clouds, meeting her gusty playmate at last. Oversize double-page spreads washed in muted neutrals and highlighted by olive green and specks of color carry the bird's journey forward as she searches. Large areas of negative space overlaid with delicate line drawings convey a familiar and yet otherworldly place for the little avian flyer, while Yankey's intriguing use of an aerial perspective inspires readers to turn pages sideways to view all the details of the park and the city. Throughout, children will enjoy discovering Bluebird's location on the page and evidence of the wind's absence (motionless sails on the toy boats, a limply drooping flag, and inert laundry on the line.) Gorgeous flowered wallpaper and multicolored scarf patterns contrast with quieter pages employing exquisitely detailed pen-and-ink drawings and collage. At the end of this visual treasure, Bluebird soars happily with the wind through the clouds in a seemingly limitless sky.--Gepson, Lolly Copyright 2010 Booklist

To illustrate her quiet tale about a bluebird who can't find the wind, debut artist Yankey combines line drawings, collage, botanical motifs, and plenty of airy space. The park around which the action centers is in some distant capital, its tall trees and green lawn flanked by classically proportioned buildings. Viewers follow the bluebird as she visits the places she's found the wind before, but everything is still. Model sailboats float motionless in the park pond; a kite lies undisturbed on a bench. "Surely she would find the wind down an alleyway helping dry the clothes on the lines. But the wind wasn't there either. The clothes hung straight down." Viewers see a white wall and a red doorway; they have to look a little further to see the alleyway and its clotheslines through an arched opening in the wall. Even Grandma Brooks' wind chimes are silent. She sits in an elaborately wallpapered room watching her grandchild sleep while the bluebird perches outside. The theme of observation from a distance gives the story a dreamy calm; muted colors and creamy pages deepen the tranquility. Up to age 3. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Early one spring morning, a little blue bird woke from her nest eager to fly. She was about to take off, when she stopped. Something was different. Something was missing--her friend, the wind! Not a leaf in her tree was moving. "I've never flown without the wind," she thought. "I better find my friend right away!" So she hopped down into the park to do just that. She landed by a group of dandelions to see if the wind was there, blowing their seeds away, making wishes. But the dandelions were still, and each had all of its seeds. She found a kite resting on a bench. The wind loved to help kites perform acrobatics high in the sky. But this one just sat there looking lonely. Excerpted from Bluebird by Lindsey Yankey All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.