Beautiful Birds

Saying that a particular shade of pink is the star of a picture book may sound strange, but in this case, it’s true. A flash of neon vermilion jumps out from nearly every page of Walker’s crisp, silkscreen-style spreads, created to accompany Roussen’s avian abecedary, which runs from albatross (“the admiral of the skies”) to zosteropidae (“finding that bird just made my day”). All the focus is on the artwork, and the supercharged pink is often used as an accent (or an exclamation point) in Walker’s rich tapestries of the birds and their surroundings. The beaks and feet of doves, the needlelike tongue of an egret, two flamingos (of course), and an old-fashioned microphone atop which a lark perches are all jolted with shots of pink. The few spreads in which it can’t be found are unaccountably quiet by comparison. There are some inelegant moments in Roussen’s meter and rhyme, but since the artwork is doing all the heavy lifting, it’s a minor quibble. The spreads are as opulent as a peacock’s tail, and they’ll send many back for long second looks. Ages 3–7. (Apr.)