The Language of Birds

Two kindred spirits connect over adjacent interests in this sensitive interpersonal portrait from Lappano (Martin and the River) and Manbeck (Bright Lights and Summer Nights). Mira, depicted with pale skin and brown hair, has always had a special rapport with birds: “She paid attention... and learned their language.” Humans, however, are another matter (“Their faces told confusing stories. Their words said one thing and their actions, another”), so Mira sits alone beneath a maple tree at recess, feeding seeds to a crow (“She didn’t mind. Not really”). Then brown-skinned, blue-haired Jad, an introverted artist who relates to trees as Mira does to birds, joins her class. When Mira tries to say hello, though, “her words flew to the sky” until the crow creates an opening. As Jad draws a chalk tree on the pavement at recess, the corvid nudges a cardinal, which inspires Mira to add its image to one of the branches. Jad approves, and swooping artwork depicts their blooming collaboration as an expansive, bird-filled forest that glows with greens, yellows, and blues. In a lyrical finale, Mira bows to the crow with arms outspread (“thank you in the language of birds”), grateful for now having two companions who truly see her. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Jr./Folio Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Agency. (Dec.)