Author: James Burks
Characters: Bird, Squirrel, The hairball cat, the mole family, The eagle, Snake, bees etc
Bird and squirrel decide to leave out of their usual abode towards the south, to escape the torturous encounters with the hairball cat. Their escapade is the crux of the book. Simple oneliner, but Wwwhhaaaaaat laavvvvvvvvvly illustrations, and funny episodes!!!!
What stood out to me, was the relationship between the bird and the squirrel - the merry, merry bird that lives and spread liveliness all around and the sober, survival seeking squirrel. The conversion, the merry making, the camaraderie and what not? Conveys a lot of strong message - on building relationship, on carefree open-mindedness, on thoughtfulness etc. At one point, squirrel prods bird as to how it feels to fly, to which the bird replies that at some point during flying, her worries melt away. To escape the cat, the two fly high, when the squirrel asks, 'at what point does my worry melt?' Classy!
In this world of naming and faming, its so nice to read from an author who doesn't name his characters. Squirrel is squirrel, bird is bird and cat is cat. So easy for kids to relate to.
There were some nailbiting moments for Bloom (He doesn't want to witness any kind of pain) - much to his subsequent relief and laughter.
Beautiful illustrations (could inspire kids into cartooning), and simple, lovely narration. We are in for more of his books. Library, here we come!
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