Elem. – Bravo, Little Bird!

Silvestro, Annie. Bravo, Little Bird! Simon & Schuster, 2023. 978-1-665-90692-0. Unpaged. $18.99. Grades PK-3.

Attracted by the sound of a piano, Little Bird flies from her valley, up a hill, and to a house where an old man plays his piano while his wife paints. Enchanted by the music, Little Bird joins in, singing to the music. When his grandson visits, the old man teaches him all he knows about music, and as Little Bird’s babies grow, she teaches them all she knows about music. Together, they all make music that floats down into the valley. In time, the grandfather becomes more and more tired, and the grandson and Little Bird keep the music alive. When the grandfather passes, the music stops… until one day Cardinal helps Little Bird discover the old man’s music living on in the valley below. Together, Cardinal, Little Bird and the residents of the valley bring the music back up the hill to the boy and his grandmother.

THOUGHTS: Music comes full circle in this book, both bringing a family together and showing the family that their loved one lives on in others. This gentle message of the gifts we give others in our lives offers a strong addition to library and guidance collections focused on supporting patrons and families experiencing loss. The story also provides opportunities for healing discussions with families. Recommended for libraries and guidance collections looking to add this message to their offerings. Consider as an option for students older than the listed age range as well.

Picture Book 

Displacement…new from Lucy Knisley

displacement

Knisley, Lucy. Displacement: A Travelogue. Seattle: Fantagraphics Books, Inc., 2015. 978-1-60699-810-6. 156 p. $19.99. Gr. 9 and up.

Lucy Knisley, queen of the graphic travelogue, returns with this earnest account of accompanying her 90-something grandparents on a cruise in 2012. She manages her grandmother’s dementia and her grandfather’s physical limitations (including incontinence) with outward calm and cheerful patience. Internally, though, she wrestles with anxiety, frustration, and sorrow over their declining health. She brings along a copy of her grandfather’s unpublished World War II memoir as a conversation starter and connection to her grandparents’ youth. At the end of each chapter, she includes an excerpt and illustrates the scene, cleverly reminding readers that old people weren’t always old. As Knisley writes, the trip she chronicled in The Age of License was about independence, sex, youth, and adventure. This trip is about respect for her elders, sympathy, mortality, and familial love. It’s very different, to be sure, but it depicts an equally important aspect of growing up. It’s a welcome addition to Lucy Knisley’s outstanding coming-of-age travelogues.
914; Travelogue            Amy V. Pickett, Ridley High School

The contemplative full-page panel on page 61, in which she reflects on how her family shows affection, would work well as part of a mini-lesson on reading comics. And, is it too soon to start looking forward to Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride, coming in May?