The Sleepy Songbird

Barton (A Guide to Sisters), working in a palette of warm autumnal hues, embellishes plump songbirds with collaged patterned paper and represents birdsong with decorative, ribbonlike flourishes. One bird, Peep, hears beautiful singing at daybreak and searches the forest for its source. “Is that your wonderful song?” he asks a mouse clinging to stalks of dried grass. “Not mine,” the mouse replies. At last Peep arrives at a tree full of birds—it’s the Dawn Chorus, an official choir of birds with a conductor (“Our song lets everyone know that it’s the start of a new day”). Peep wants to audition, but he sleeps through one audition and yawns his way through a second; he’s a reject. Discouraged, he sings softly by himself that evening, finds a companion to sing with, and learns that he’s a nightingale—he’s meant to sing at night, and beautifully, at that. Barton’s where-do-I-fit story introduces the idea that unconventional behavior is not always due to a failure of will—sometimes it has a rational explanation. Ages 3–6. (Feb.)