What Is A Wise Bird Like You Doing In A Silly Tale Like This? - Hardcover

Uri Shulevitz is the author and/or illustrator of many books, including The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship by Arthur Ransome, the 1969 Caldecott Medal Book, and Snow, a 1999 Caldecott Honor Book. He lives in New York City.

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Two stories within a story add up to a delicious romp from this versatile author/illustrator. The village of Pickleberry consists of four-and-a-half acres of land and a population of 26 and a half (the half citizen resides on the border between Pickleberry and neighboring Cackleberry). The Emperor of Pickleberry has a twin brother, a janitor whose sage advice he routinely ignores. The ruler also has a talking bird named Lou, renowned for his intelligence, with whom he consults daily on matters of state. However, Lou is unhappy about being confined in a cage until he uses his wits (and the clever advice of his Aunt Millie) to escape. Alas, he falls into the clutches of a greedy salesman who calculates the value of a talking bird but loses his chance to cash in while listening to Lou's convoluted nonsense tale. Free at last, he joins Aunt Millie and begins at the beginning with another account, this of a man who had twin sons, one destined to become the emperor and the other a janitor whose cunning gains for him their father's coveted candlestick. Shulevitz's wacky tale is told both through traditional text and dialogue balloons abounding in sly wit. The art is a visual feast, varying in format and scale from full-page illustrations to multiple vignettes, drenched in blues, greens, golds, and ochers. Richly textured, stylized drawings feature tiny details that add to the fun. This is a book to pore over, relish, and enjoy again and again.
Marie Orlando, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY
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