The Blue Songbird

February 1, 2017
A misfit bird travels the world to learn her special song...and to find her special place. Every morning the yellow songbirds sing their lovely song. Their younger sister, the blue songbird, tries to join in, but her song is different. She shares her sadness with her mother, also blue, who tells her she must go and find a song only she can sing. The blue songbird flies away, first encountering a long-necked bird who identifies himself as Crane. Whooping, he advises the songbird to venture beyond the mountains, where the wisest bird lives. The blue songbird soars over peaks and valleys, reaching a dark forest and what looks like a wise old bird; he calls himself Owl. All he says is, "Who?" (albeit with great authority). The little blue bird continues her quest, crossing rivers and valleys, cities and oceans, asking every bird she meets for help. Then, finally, she alights on a golden island with three yellow birds on a branch and...her mother. She's home! All her experiences make beautiful songs. Kousky's watercolor illustrations have a delicacy that matches both his prose and his heroine, simply rendered with daubs of light blue onto which are painted a little beak and dots for eyes. The spare backgrounds and the delicacy of the landscapes recall Japanese watercolors. The tale is a familiar one and its plot not without holes, but it's told with grace. (Picture book. 3-5)

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February 1, 2017

K-Gr 3-In this sweet story, a little blue songbird can't sing the way her sisters can. So the bird bravely leaves on a quest to find her own song. She first asks a crane and then an owl whether they know of her song, and when they don't, she continues on over rivers, mountains, and valleys, asking all whom she meets. Finally she encounters a crow, who tells her she must fly west to a golden island. The little bird travels until she reaches the golden island, which she discovers is her home. From then on, she sings her own song of seeking and attaining her place in the world. The illustrations are soft watercolors in a pleasing palette of blues, yellows, and grays. The little bird and her sisters are charming creations, small puddles of color with a suggestion of wings, a triangle of yellow for beaks, dots of black for eyes, and simple slashes for eyebrows. All of the featured creatures have great facial expression, the owl's long brow feathers lending him a sage mien (though he is anything but wise), while the crow is dark and scary, with drawn brows and sharp, bright eyes. The layout of art and text is beautifully contrived, detailed illustrations framing the broad, dynamic strokes of color for sky, mountains, and water, with shaped text and white space completing the effect. The text flows almost poetically, and the voice of the young bird is perfectly captured.

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2017
Grades K-2 This poor, little blue songbird is different. Every day she tries to sing with her mellifluous yellow sisters, but she can never live up to their song. Her mother (also blue) assures her that she has a special songshe just needs to go find it. So the little songbird leaves the nest in search of her song. The soft, delicate illustrations make her long journey less scary; even big, potentially intimidating cities look somewhat cozy. Along the way, the songbird meets many new birds and asks if they know where she can find a song that only she can sing. No one can help until she meets the scary-seeming crow, who, it turns out, isn't scary at all and holds the answer: by sending her back home, the little bird discovers that the journey itself has provided her with a special song. Kousky's gentle and uncluttered illustrations may not hold the attention of extremely energetic readers but complement the story well. A sweet tale about a little bird that affirms the old adage: there's no place like home.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2018
In a fable that may resonate most with older picture-book readers, a young songbird travels the world searching, without success, for her own "special song." When she returns to her family, she's surprised to discover she �cf2]has�cf1] returned with a special song: stories of the experiences she had on her journey. The uncluttered watercolor illustrations feature attractive depictions of birds around the world.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)