Dr. Coo and the Pigeon Protest

Written by Sarah Hampson

Illustrated by Kass Reich

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-361-5

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

2018

Wherever and whenever there are judgements that something or someone is better, you have discrimination. It's done with people, animals, places, movies, and more. In the bird world, it's rampant, with some birds considered good birds, worthy of protection, and others dismissed as too ubiquitous for consideration. Pigeons were once revered as signs of peace and couriers of messages but are now often repudiated to be "rats with wings," in itself a judgement against rats. That is, until Dr. Coo and his pigeons take action.

From Dr. Con and the Pigeon Protest by Sarah Hampson, illus. by Kass Reich

Dr. Archibald Coo is a sophisticated urban pigeon who appreciates the best places to hang out and takes note of humans' attitude to pigeons. When he meets with his pigeon pals, Hootie Claw, Vern Birdman and Dove Blanchett, they begin to discuss the lack of respect afforded them.

     "Calm down?" hooted Hootie. "No one appreciates us! I'm the voice of the next-generation pigeon, and I'm not standing for it!"
     Oh, yes, he was in a flap.

From Dr. Coo and the Pigeon Protest by Sarah Hampson, illus. by Kass Reich

They've seen which birds are revered for their colour or song and Dr. Coo, the academic of the group, recalls how they were once the companions of the gods of ancient worlds and carriers of messages during battle. He comes up with a plan that they share with other pigeons in the city. They disappear. When the community finds a way to show their respect for the pigeons, helped with a few suggestions in a missive to the mayor, the pigeons show their own gratitude with a final message they drop on the humans.

From Dr. Coo and the Pigeon Protest by Sarah Hampson, illus. by Kass Reich

This final message makes Dr. Coo and the Pigeon Protest an effective allegory about acceptance of differences and give-and-take in relationships. The pigeons want to be respected and find a way to educate and share important information with humans while accepting that their droppings may be problematic and are willing to direct them to compost areas. It's a win-win situation but only if both parties are willing to accept responsibility and work together to find solutions to their perceived deficiencies.

Dr. Coo and the Pigeon Protest is Sarah Hampson's first book, yet she tells the story with the flair of a seasoned author.  She knows to use her words with frugality and punch, telling the bulk of the story but leaving openings for readers to see more than is written.  While Kass Reich is an illustrator whose artwork has graced her own darling Hamster books (Orca) as well as those of others, her illustration style seems to evolve with each project. In all honesty, I was swayed into believing that Dr. Coo and the Pigeon Protest was a book of non-fiction about people protesting pigeons–it could happen!–based solely on the cover which suggested a realism to the story. But Dr. Coo and the Pigeon Protest is a fictionalized story, albeit a whimsical one with an important message, told about some pigeons who recognize the need to take a situation under their own wings to effect change. In its own way, Dr. Coo and the Pigeon Protest is a big story about taking small steps.

Stop Feedin' da Boids!

Written by James Sage
Illustrated by Pierre Pratt
Kids Can Press
978-1-77138-613-5
32 pp.
Ages 3-7
April 2017

I wish I could review more books illustrated by Pierre Pratt. Unfortunately for me, his illustrations often accompany French-language texts and I am reluctant to reveal my lack of skill reviewing French books.  So, although author James Sage is British, I am delighted to be able to review an English-language text that is fortunate to be illustrated by Montreal's Pierre Pratt, a man whose bio includes copious nominations and awards, including the Governor General Literary Award for Children's Book Illustration, Le Prix TD, Bratislava's Golden Apple Award, and the UNICEF-Bologna Book Fair Illustrator of the Year Award.

From Stop Feedin' da Boids!

by James Sage

illus. by Pierre Pratt

In Stop Feedin' da Boids!, Swanda and her dog Waldo and her family move from the country to Brooklyn.  Though she misses the wildlife, she soon finds herself enamoured with the birds that flock outside their apartment onto the iron fire-escape.

From Stop Feedin' da Boids!

by James Sage

illus. by Pierre Pratt

Providing the birds with a bird feeder, more and more pigeons come to visit, much to the dismay of her neighbours who are displeased with the mess.  Swanda seeks help from so-called experts–a pest control officer, a zookeeper and an exotic bird fancier– but it's not until Lexi from the deli tells Angelo who tells another neighbour who shares with another neighbour and so on and so on the titular advice that Swanda rids the building and neighbourhood of her countless feathered friends. But Swanda's story doesn't end there. A chance sighting and a lot of heart finds Swanda discovering some new wildlife to welcome into her home.

From Stop Feedin' da Boids!

by James Sage

illus. by Pierre Pratt

James Sage weaves a light-hearted story about a little girl who likes animals perhaps a little too much but whose intentions are always charitable.  But it's Pierre Pratt's artwork that provides the context for Swanda's love of animals and the neighbourhood that envelops her.  She is part of her community, whether it be the countryside or a diverse neighbourhood of people, animals and urban life. They are both detailed landscapes of colours and textures, solitude and activity.  Look for the dogs or cats looking out windows, or Mr. Kaminski's two-toned shoes, or the mega-armed bodybuilder.  There's a 1920s feel to the Brooklyn of Stop Feedin' da Boids!, and Pierre Pratt uses strong strokes and bold colours to create a cityscape of tall angled buildings and community of diverse people, all different in size, colour, shape, expression and dress.  It's wild and it's homey.  It's the same style that charmed readers in Gustave (by Rémy Simard, Groundwood, 2014) and No-Matter-What Friend (by Kari-Lynn Winters, Tradewind Books, 2014) by bringing an intensity to the storytelling and readers into the story's setting.

Go ahead and read this one aloud–get that Brooklyn accent right!–but be sure to share the illustrations to get the whole story behind why Swanda should "Stop Feedin' da Boids!"

My Beautiful Birds

Written and illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-012-3

32 pp.

Ages 6-10

March 2017

In My Beautiful Birds, author-illustrator Suzanne Del Rizzo offers a poignant story of a Syrian child refugee traumatized by leaving his cherished pigeons behind.  It is a tale of sorrow and suffering and promise, and beautifully rendered in Suzanne Del Rizzo’s distinctive art.

From My Beautiful Birds 

by Suzanne Del Rizzo

Sami is a little boy who delights in caring for his pet pigeons.  When the family must escape their war-torn home and trek endless days to the Za'atari refugee camp, Sami worries for his birds’ safety, though he filled their bowls with food and saw them escape into the skies above. As life unfolds tenuously at the camp, first with shelter and then with the restoration of household routines and school, Sami worries and longs for his birds.

I wish it were like it used to be, just me and my pigeons up on our rooftop with the wind and the boundless sky.   Happy.  Free. (pg. 13)

Even a painting activity that starts out well enough, with Sami painting his “beautiful birds, knowing each wispy feather by heart” (pg. 15)

From My Beautiful Birds

by Suzanne Del Rizzo

becomes a disaster of blackened paint, not unlike the darkness in the sky and worries in the little boy’s heart.

Now, when the smoky nightmares boom, I watch the clouds. Sometimes, fluffy cloud-pigeons take shape.
Spiraling.
Soaring.
Sharing the sky. (pg. 19)

From My Beautiful Birds

by Suzanne Del Rizzo

Everything changes when four birds–a canary, a dove, a rose finch and a pigeon–reach out to Sami, painting “the sky with promise, and the hope of peace.” (pg. 22) The boy in the blue hoodie and yellow boots reaches right back, and finds a way to look to a tomorrow where he can help others.

The sadness and trauma in this little boy’s life is so palpable, from the family’s departure to their adjustment to the refugee camp and to the despondency that permeates Sami’s new life.  Through use of colour and the texture of her art–here polymer clay with acrylics–Suzanne Del Rizzo balances the shadows of war and trauma with the bright colours of youthful exuberance and pastels of hope for a future.  There’s the tumultuous skies and the ordinary days, and the anger of loss with the chirpiness of birds and children at play.  I know the excellence of her art, complex in the depth of detail and its ability to evoke emotions.  But Suzanne Del Rizzo has demonstrated a new depth to her writing.  Perhaps it’s the tragic circumstances of the story but Suzanne Del Rizzo has put heart and hope into her words, giving breath to a staggering situation, suffusing it with some degree of optimism where there is so little.  My Beautiful Birds provides a promise that all the the darkness from that Syrian skyline of smoke is behind Sami and remains open to a bright sky of birds and lightness, the landscape of his future.

From My Beautiful Birds 

by Suzanne Del Rizzo