A Home for Bird by Philip C. Stead (Roaring Brook Press, 2012) is one of those picture books that requires the illustrations to get the full story. Vernon the frog is a very determined friend, who wants to help Bird find a home, even though Bird is shy and does not respond to any of his questions.
Of course, for the reader, we can see that Bird is wooden, with button eyes. I love Mr Stead’s characteristic mixed media: I believe I see watercolor, colored pencils, markers, crayons. And yet, in each picture, Vernon has an expression of emotion on his face and in his eyes, and Bird has distinctive button eyes. It’s a wonderful mix to create a gorgeous result.
Bird’s story comes full circle, when Vernon finds a home that seems just right for Bird — and is, in fact, where Bird came from as we see in the first page of the book! My 5-year-old son liked reading this one to himself as well as with me. Was he pouring of the pictures as I had done?
Note: I read this book from a library copy for consideration for the Cybils award. I was not compensated in any way for my opinions.
