cover image Harold Finds a Voice

Harold Finds a Voice

Courtney Dicmas. Child’s Play, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-84643-550-8

“Harold was a gifted bird,” writes Dicmas about the flashy red parrot that stars in her debut children’s book. “He could hear any sound just once and copy it perfectly.” In the Parisian apartment Harold occupies with his owner, that means mimicking the “burble burble burble burble” of the percolator, the “gooooaal!” of a TV sportscaster, and the “whooosh whooosh whooosh” of the washing machine. Harold wants more, though, so one morning he ventures into the city, where he discovers an array of unfamiliar noises, some new avian friends, and—most importantly—a sound that’s all his own. Dicmas gives Harold plenty of spotlight-hogging star power, whether he’s waggling his eyebrows at readers, closing his eyes in contentment as he takes in a bass violin solo, or flashing his plumage, which is painted in thick smudges of green, blue, yellow, and scarlet. The sense of setting is on the light side—in a particularly nice scene, Harold stares at the Eiffel Tower from a quiet, lavender room in his apartment—but Dicmas’s airy visuals keep the story and its message buoyant. Ages 3–8. (July)