Wordy Birdy

Reviewed by: Sheila Dube - Springvale Public Library, Springvale, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 6, 2018

Review

An omniscient narrator, with the side comments from Wordy Birdy's three very patient friends, describe how the brightly-colored and self-centered Wordy Birdy obsessively talks from the minute she gets up in the morning. The problem or morale in this picture book is that Wordy Birdy never stops to listen to the answers of her plethora of questions or observations. Only when she comes face-to-face with a bear is she able to stop the talking and react, and only after extreme interference run by Rabbit, Squirrel and Raccoon her three amusing and sarcastic, albeit loyal, friends. The humor stems from the friend's reactions to Wordy Birdy and the adult readers will commiserate with the friends if they have a Wordy Birdy of their own. Mottram's brightly colored detailed illustrations provide the added layer of expression and the use of large white dialogue bubbles, that many times take over the two page spreads and make the reader hunt for the single sentence text by the narrator, accentuate the intrusive nature of Wordy Birdy's verbose habit.

Overall Book Score: good