Little Red Bird

Written and illustrated by Nick Bruel

A Neal Porter Book

Download Image Written and illustrated by Nick Bruel Little Red Bird
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SOMETHING NEW AND UNEXPECTED – sweet and gentle– from the creator of Bad Kitty and Poor Puppy.
 
Sweetly enchanting paintings and a gently rhyming text tell the tale of the little red bird who is quite content in her cage, but curious… When the cage door is left open, she sees her chance and bravely hops out into the world. It’s all so magnificent and thrilling for the little red bird – and for readers. In the end, Nick Bruel leaves both with a question. When the bird sees a familiar house and window and golden cage, will she return to it? Would you?

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Reviews

Praise for Little Red Bird

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1  Life in a birdcage is good for Little Red Bird. Food, water, and reading material are always in ample supply. One day, she notices an interesting sight through the window and decides to venture out through the open cage door. She arrives in the park that had been beckoning to her and sees many wonderful new things–flowers, a fountain, a bench, and sticky trash. But when she spies her old home from afar, she begins to miss the comforts of her cage and must decide whether to return. Her story ends unresolved. “Should she stay?/Should she go?/She just didn’t know…/I wonder what YOU would do?” Bruel relates this “grass-is-always-greener” tale in rhythmic verse ... The colorful watercolors show an eye for comic-book-style story progression... Bruel’s narrative invites discussion and could be considered as an additional purchase.–Jayne Damron, Farmington Community Library, MI
 
Kirkus Reviews
 
Little Red Bird “had all she could need— / She had water and seed / And plenty to read,” but she longed, we are told, to be ever so bold: to spread her red wings and to see all the things outside of her place and the curtains of lace at the window of her dim abode. When she finds (to her glee) portals open—she’s free!—she is wracked with a moment of doubt. “Should she stay, should she go?” And do you, reader, know what you’d do if ’twas YOU wanting out? Freedom tastes pretty fine, and the park is divine, and she may even make a new friend. Trade the comforts of home for a new life, unknown? That’s the gamble of life without end. Pictures lavender-lit are a marvelous fit for this story that’s told all in rhyme. When you choose your own way, there’s a price you must pay—it’s a quandary as old as all time. (Picture book. 7-12)
 
Booklist
When Little Red Bird sees that the door to her golden cage is open, she is faced with a quandary: stay in her home, or explore the unknown? Once she has toured the bedroom, the open window beckons. But after a long day outside, discovering the joys of a nearby park, Little Red Bird finds that she misses some aspects of caged life and debates about whether to return. Bruel, author of Bad Kitty (2005), does a good job of spinning a rather sophisticated theme in a kid-friendly manner, inviting children to ponder the bird's dilemma with a repeated refrain: “I wonder what YOU would do?” Energetically mixing panels and full- page art, the illustrations point Little Red Bird (and readers) in a clear direction, showing human habitations as uninvitingly black, gray, and straight lined, while the park offers a riot of colors and shapes. The rhyming narrative, though sometimes forced, is appealingly bouncy and will draw children through the small hero’s exciting peregrinations until the final page, which hints at a satisfying conclusion while leaving room to wonder. — Krista Hutley
 
 

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About the Author

Written and illustrated by Nick Bruel

Nick Bruel is the author and illustrator of New York Times bestseller Boing! and the Bad Kitty books, among others. He is a freelance illustrator and cartoonist, and during his down time, he collects PEZ dispensers and grows tomatoes in the backyard. He lives in Tarrytown, NY with his wife Carina and their lovely cat Esmerelda.

Nick Bruel

Nick Bruel

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Available Formats and Book Details

Little Red Bird
Written and illustrated by Nick Bruel
Award

Indiana Young Hoosier Award Master List

Hardcover

Hardcover
Roaring Brook Press
A Neal Porter Book
April 2008
Hardcover
ISBN: 9781596433397
ISBN10: 1596433396
Picture Book
9 x 9 inches, 32 pages, Full-color illustrations throughout
Age Range: 3 to 6
Grade Range: p to 1
$17.99
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