Mrs. Meyer, the Bird
Kindergarten-Grade 2.  Poor Mrs. Meyer is literally and figuratively weighted down with worry in this slightly skewed, not-quite-a-transformation tale. Raisin cakes, missing buttons, and airplane disasters threaten to overwhelm her until she is thoroughly diverted by a real crisis?the discovery of an abandoned baby blackbird, whom she names Lindbergh. With single-minded zeal and the encouragement of her happy-go-lucky husband, she devotes herself to Lindy's nurturing with great success?until that inevitable moment when he must learn to fly. Perched together on a branch, this very odd couple is clueless as to how to proceed, and it is only when she trusts her heart that the stocky woman becomes airborne and delightedly accompanies Lindy on his first flight. Mrs. Meyer's personality is perfectly captured in the straightforward and well-paced text, but this tale's quirky humor takes off in the mixed-media illustrations. The self-indulgent Mr. Meyer pursues one frivolous hobby after another in contrast to Mrs. Meyer, with her head literally surrounded by myriad worries. Lindbergh remains appropriately inscrutable throughout. The comfortably distorted, rumpled figures are definitely earthbound and the generous use of white space and delicate borders further emphasize their solidity. Because the text is so matter-of-fact, the ending is particularly unexpected and provocative. More sophisticated readers will have much to ponder; younger audiences will be entertained and amused.?Carol Ann Wilson, Westfield Memorial Library, NJCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.