BERT, THE BOWERBIRD

To woo a mate, a male bowerbird gathers enticing objects to decorate his home.

Scruffy, bighearted Bert places a purple flower outside his new bower and awaits his bride. “Haughty” Nanette arrives, sniffs, and makes clear that a simple flower won’t be enough. Hurt, Bert flies off to gather more objects to improve his chances at love. A cumulative rhyme structure anchors his multiple attempts to please Nanette: “The snail shell, the silver bell, / The wrapper from the caramel, / Plus the pretty purple flower. / ‘Now will you come inside my bower?’” Fickle Nanette continues to reject Bert. Alas, a second male bird, Claude, arrives and tricks Bert, sending him on a doomed expedition to find a gold ring for Nanette. While Bert flies off, Claude steals his treasures and, ultimately, Nanette. Donaldson’s intricate rhymes, together with Rayner’s illustration of a dejected, slumping Bert, convey his heartbreak: “Where were the comb, the gnome, the foam, / The green pea, the strawberry.” Rayner’s mixed-media illustrations capture the eager-to-please Bert’s open nature, using an earthy palette that pops whenever the purple flower appears. Bert considers giving up on love, but the purple flower’s bold color still has some magic to work. He hears another bird approach: “She look[s] Bert over once or twice / And add[s], “You look very nice, / And what a pretty purple flower!” Could he, at long last, have found his mate?

Delightful rhyming combined with clever illustrations elevate a simple search for love.