United Tweets of America: 50 State Birds Their Stories, Their Glories
Starred Review. Grade 2–5—Gather all of your chuckle-bellied trivia snatchers for a rollicking romp through the states. Talbott has created wisecrack-filled cartoons featuring birds in competition for the "United Tweets of America Pageant." Each avian contestant has one page to flaunt its stuff and introduce its state—unless you count the cardinal from Indiana that pecks through the back of his page to ruffle feathers in Illinois. The cartoons range from a scenic and graceful tree full of purple finches in a snowy village in Vermont to a manic pelican with a mouthful of loot in Louisiana. There's plenty to make children laugh: Annoyed by Delaware's Blue Hen Chicken on the facing page, Connecticut's American Robin sings, "Yankee Doodle went to town,/followed by a chicken,/if that bird won't shut his beak,/he's gonna get a lickin'." There's also plenty to amuse adults that may fly over children's heads: "Nevada produces the most gold of any state, but California already won the title of the Golden State, so Nevada settled for the silver. (The bronze went to Romania.)" Not to be confused with a reference book, this title does not provide the same type of information for each state. Each page dependably names the state bird and capital, shows a small shape map of the state, and gives its nickname. After that, it's a free-for-all. Ending with a fractured version of "America the Beautiful," it must be said, this book is a hoot.—Ellen Heath, Easton Area Public Library, Easton, PACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.