The Talent Show

Hodgkinson's American debut is a didactic tale told in plodding, rhymed verse, though her jovial illustrations partially offset the weakness of the text. A ragtag band in search of a lead singer rejects a red bird for no other reason than he's "much too small." The band members audition several singers before they are captivated by the singing of a "tall stranger," comically dressed in a long trench coat and cat's eye glasses. As the stranger sings and dances, his costume falls apart, revealing (no surprise) the red bird on stilts, but the forced gravitas of the text undercuts the humor. When the band says, "Red Bird, will you forgive us, please?/ We realize we were wrong to tease," the bird answers, "You really were unwise/ to simply judge me by my size." What follows is a brief subplot about the bird's fears of singing in front of an audience, but he quickly recovers and the band wins the talent show because, the judges judged on talent, not on size," a message that hardly needed repeating. Ages 4–9. (Mar.)