Tiny Patient

Pedersen, Judy

ISBN 10: 0394901703 ISBN 13: 9780394901701

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1989

Synopsis

A young girl and her grandmother find a chipping sparrow with a broken wing and nurse her back to health so that she can return to the wild.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 3-- A story of bonding, kindness, and renewal. Delicately textured, pastel drawings and bright, unadorned text come together in quiet expressions of an appreciation for nature. A young girl tells this gentle story of how she and her grandmother find an injured bird in their backyard. Together, they carefully cover it with a handkerchief and carry it into the "warm, safe kitchen" where, with timeless sensibilities and cheerful hopefulness, they tend to the sparrow's needs in ways they believe will comfort. They make a sick bed of "white, white cotton" for the bird's new nest, and then find her "a sunny spot by the window so she could look out and feel close to her friends and the trees." Sounds of the bird eating its buns (bread) and drinking its water are the sounds of healing. On the day the bird is well enough to fly, Grandma and granddaughter simply say, "goodbye." This tranquil portrayal of respect for the necessary separateness in nature radiates from these pages of soft, earth tones. Pedersen's first book is a joyful experience that strengthens a belief in harmony. --Ellen Dibner, East School, Long Beach, NY
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

A girl and her grandmother find a small injured sparrow in their yard. Taking it inside the house, handling it with care, they feed it, nurse it and make a soft cotton nest on the windowsill, where the "tiny patient" can see the trees and other birds. And when the wing that was injured is healed, the bird flies away. Pedersen's tale is carried along on tender, spare phrases that offer telling glimpses of the relationship between the girl and grandmother, revealed in the ways in which they care for the bird. Softly lighted scenes in the pastel-colored paintings reveal long shadows of late afternoon sun or the bright cast of midday; the birds look like flowers against the angles of a nearby birdhouse. Quietly and quickly, this gentle tale casts a pleasurable spell. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0394901703
• ISBN 13: 9780394901701
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 33