WHO IS SHRIEKING SO EARLY?

Waking up early to a loud noise, Sam is quite indignant.

The alarm clock reads 6:30, and the White boy wearing a hat with a pompom and his small brown dog sporting a scarf are both startled from sleep by “SHRIEK SHRIEK” (printed in a scratchy, faux handprinted display type). He spots a blue, white, and black bird in a tree. The bird plagues the boy each day. Sam shoots water from the hose at the bothersome bird, clangs the metal garbage can, and posts a picture of a predator owl. No parent appears, but a friendly man (also White) offers some advice from over the hedge: “Have you tried to make friends with the bird?…Magpies can be very smart, you know.” Sam gets an idea from his dog. Maybe he can teach the bird to let him sleep. He sets up a chalkboard with stick figure drawings and lectures the bird. Kids will want to interpret the drawings and point out the magpie watching carefully from a tree stump nearby; the dog, a squirrel, and other birds all pay close attention too. Finally Sam’s hard work pays off. The “smart” magpie surprises Sam, as the bird learns some human words (as magpies can) and one morning cheerily substitutes “WAKE UP WAKE UP”—albeit still at sunrise. Pleasingly naïve illustrations of a rural town accompany the smooth translation in this Dutch and Flemish import. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.4-by-16.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 35.2% of actual size.)

Persistence makes a difference in this understated charmer.