Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Today at the Bluebird Cafe: A Branchful of Birds by Deborah Ruddell

Have you ever considered birds? I mean, we see them, admire them, but have you ever stopped to think what they might have to say? Deborah Ruddell did and presents their thoughts in this collection of 22 poems.

What I thought
: I've liked Deborah Ruddell ever since I read her A Whiff of Pine, A Hint of Skunk. Reading her first collection was highly enjoyable. These poems are full of imagery and surprises. Perhaps not as humorous as those in her second collection, but satisfying all the same. My favorite poems are "The Cardinal," "There's a Robin in the Bathroom," The Kingfisher," The Quail," "Bravo, Bobolink," and "The Swan." My most favorite is "The Swan." I read it during a fairy tale themed after school program and the kids loved it. The illustrations are lovely--so soft and yet bright colored. My favorites are the puffin and the swan.

(Illus. Joan Rankin. Margaret K. McElderry, 2007)

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