Review by Booklist Review
Each day, a rosy-cheeked girl rides to school in the booster seat on the back of Daddy's bike, pretending to fly and sing like the many birds in their coastal town. Everyone they pass returns her joyful greetings--except for one mysterious woman who is always quiet and cold and in a hurry. The girl begins to dislike the woman, until the day the girl comes upon the woman singing privately--and lovingly--to a crowd of birds. It's a simple tale for the youngest set of readers, written around an overt message of not judging too quickly and finding connections in unexpected ways. Lim's text is appropriately spare, given its first-person perspective. Yum's (Lion Needs a Haircut, 2020) soft colored-pencil illustrations complement the words with a pleasant atmosphere, setting the tone through gently bright colors and the simple, smiling features of her characters. Text on the town's storefronts suggests a Korean setting. A sweetly serene story with a useful lesson.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1--A little girl flies like a bird as she rides in the bicycle seat behind her dad each morning on the way to school. Arms raised and mouth open, she gleefully sings to the birds who follow and waves to friends and neighbors. When she spots an unfamiliar woman in a blue coat, who neither waves or smiles, the little girl is puzzled. On every day she sees the woman, the girl has a mood shift, until the day she unexpectedly sees the woman in the park, singing to and feeding the birds. She views the woman in a new light, and her smile and wave are finally reciprocated. Colored pencil drawings show the details of the seaside town with its various birds in flight or perched along the bicycle's route; all the characters have pale skin, and all have dark hair, but for the older woman, who has gray locks. The girl's dislike and fear of the woman is mirrored in the monster graffiti on a wall. An effective spread depicts a bird's-eye view of the pair and their shared love of birds and what will likely be a new friendship. VERDICT A young girl learns that appearances are deceiving in this cheerful secondary purchase.--Ramarie Beaver, formerly at Plano P.L., TX
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
A little girl and her father take regular bike rides through their coastal town. The girl, seated snugly in the booster seat behind her father, pretends to be a bird, repeatedly crying "CA-CAW!" In return, she receives friendly responses from the people they pass, but one elderly woman, walking with determination, doesn't acknowledge the girl: "She does not wave. She does not smile." Her lack of response concerns and frightens the child, and her joyful bird cries fade. But one day she sees the woman in the park, talking quietly to the birds that surround her. Finally, the girl and woman greet one another with bird calls. "I am a bird again. CA-CAW!" declares the child. Yum (Saturday Is Swimming Day, rev. 7/18) brings viewers a bright, light-infused outdoor world in a palette of sunny yellows, warm greens, and the velvety blue of the ocean. Lim's plainspoken prose captures the perspective of a young child, especially in the dialogue ("Daddy, I don't like her") and, specifically, the fear the girl experiences and the way in which she recedes because of it. The connection she makes with the woman at story's close is a moment of exuberance. It's a tale that celebrates imagination; birds (the monochromatic drawings of graceful birds in flight on the endpapers are a highlight); and the value of getting past fears to discover that we all have more in common than we might think. Julie Danielson January/February 2021 p.83(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
True understanding comes from a willingness to look deeper. In an idyllic seaside community rendered in soft colored pencil and bright paint, a young child flies to school on the back of Daddy's bike. Both present Asian. Arms stretched wide, the child expresses joy and exclaims, "I am a bird." Singing an exuberant bird song--"CA-CAW! CA-CAW!"--the smiling and waving narrator spreads happiness along the way. Along their route, passersby smile and wave in return, and even the birds sing back. One day, the child spots an older, White woman in a blue coat and carrying a big bag; she is walking past a mural painted with toothy animals and does not wave and smile. The predatory animals depicted in the mural openly gape at the woman throughout the story, manifesting the child's growing dislike as they see her again, day after day. Soon, the child's bird song stops whenever the woman is spotted. One day they are running late, and the child does not see the woman until catching a glance of her in a park. She is surrounded by birds, whispering her own bird song, and the child has an epiphany. In the final double-page spread, the child and woman reflect each other with raised heads and closed eyes as they find they are the same: "We are birds." The soft, textured illustrations expertly pair with the understated text and its beautifully simple, implicit message to look closer before jumping to conclusions. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9.1-by-19.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 25.2% of actual size.) A gentle story about connection that will connect with readers of all ages. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
