Basil's Birds - Hardcover

Reed, Lynn Rowe

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0761456279 ISBN 13: 9780761456278

Publisher: Two Lions, 2010

Synopsis

Uh-oh! Some birds start building a nest on Perch Elementary’s flagpole. Then above the school’s doorway and even in the eaves spout! Finally, they find the perfect spot ― the bald head of Basil Berkmeister, the school’s custodian! Should Basil get rid of his new hairdo. . . or adopt them as if they’re his own children? The birds do come to think of him as their father . . . and even give him a surprise on Father’s Day. Silly mixed-media illustrations complement this one-of-a-kind story.

About this title

About the Author

Lynn Rowe Reed was born in Garrett, Indiana and currently resides in Venice, Florida. She has written and/or illustrated nineteen books, including books that will be released in 2013 and 2014. She is an avid Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys fan, as well as a fanatical follower of Indiana University basketball. In her spare time, Lynn is a bad golfer and a decent painter. Her best friend is a golden retriever named Sam I Am.

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 2—When birds decide to build their nest at Perch Elementary, the principal calls the school janitor. Basil gets tired trying to shoo them away and falls asleep on the playground. When he wakes, the birds have built a nest on his bald head. It is a work of art, and Basil enjoys and protects it. Little birds hatch, and he becomes a serious parent, even enrolling in a class on bird care at the local college. Predictably "one day, they fluttered and flapped and flew away." Basil spends a lonely year, inconsolable despite the kindness of his friends. Then spring returns and so do the birds, writing "Happy Father's Day" in the sky and building three nests on his head. Brightly painted clay birds and photographs of the nest and worms are scanned into Reed's gouache illustrations. Her childlike paintings are done in flat spring colors, often showing faces in profile and bodies so loose jointed that they hardly seem earthbound. Pair this story with Mo Willems's There Is a Bird on Your Head! (Hyperion, 2007) for smiles all around.—Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Like Tohby Riddle's The Singing Hat (2001), this amusing, warm picture book has fun with the comedic scenario of a bird that builds its nest on a human head. School janitor Basil Berkmeister is told to get rid of a bird nest in the school building. After batting away the nest with his broom, he is so worn out that he falls asleep on the playground, and while he is dozing, the birds return and find the perfect place to rebuild their nest––on Basil's bald head. At first he is embarrassed, but then he loves the situation, and when babies hatch, he cares for them. After the family finally flies away, Basil is lonely, and bald again, until the birds return in the spring. The brightly colored collage illustrations extend the fun with clay models of the birds and photo images of a nest adding to the visual mix. Preschool-Grade 1. --Hazel Rochman

Edition details

• Publisher: Two Lions
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0761456279
• ISBN 13: 9780761456278
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32