BILL BOWERBIRD AND THE UNBEARABLE BEAK-ACHE

bookshelf

BILL BOWERBIRD AND THE UNBEARABLE BEAK-ACHE

Name: BILL BOWERBIRD AND THE UNBEARABLE BEAK-ACHE
Author: Tyler Clark Burke
ISBN: 978-1-77147-154-1

by Tyler Clark Burke ; illustrated by Tyler Clark Burke ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2017

Skip.

bookshelf

Bill Bowerbird, normally a happy fellow, awakens one morning with a terrible pain in his beak.

Bill is distraught. He has never had a beak-ache before and does not know what to do. Off he goes to seek help from his friends. The owl offers honey, and the zebras allow Bill to take a few of their colorful stripes. Neither helps, but Bill does not give up: he soldiers on, asking friend after friend for advice in rhyming couplets. Though he collects many items to take back to his nest, not one of them relieves his pain, not even the frozen carrot from the walrus who serves as town clerk. By the story’s conclusion, however, Bill is pain-free at last. To his surprise, the pain was only—and very improbably—a new tooth sprouting! Bill celebrates by inviting all of his friends over to thank them with a party before cleaning his nest of all the new stuff. Canadian writer and illustrator Burke’s book is rich with colors—the confetti-striped zebras are an especial treat—but the text suffers. Though the refrain is catchy (“Wickety-tickety BOO-hoo-hoo!”), the rhyming text is often badly forced: “ ‘What to do, what to do?’ Bill loudly wails. / ‘Please help me, friends, to cure this ail!’ ” The plot likewise feels underdeveloped, and its failure to capitalize on what makes real bowerbirds special—their elaborately constructed nests—is a serious missed opportunity.

Skip. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 15, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-77147-154-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Owlkids Books

Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LAST LOOSE TOOTH
by Tyler Clark Burke ; illustrated by Tyler Clark Burke

- BOOK REVIEW
WHERE ARE YOU NOW?
by Tyler Clark Burke ; illustrated by Tyler Clark Burke

bookshelf

LITTLE BLUE TRUCK LOST AND FOUND

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 18, 2026

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed.

bookshelf

Beep! Beep! Beep! Toad and Little Blue Truck get ready for a hayride.

After the titular vehicle is loaded with hay, Toad is nowhere to be found. “Beep! Beep! Beep! Where are you, Toad?” asks Little Blue Truck. All the barnyard animals look for him. Sheep searches the meadow. Goose and Duck check the pond. Others pitch in, too, but Toad seems to have disappeared…until Hen hears snoring coming from the pile of hay in the back of Little Blue Truck. Although the text’s scansion is imperfect in places (adults may want to pre-read to ensure a smooth read-aloud), the bouncy meter and rhyming text nevertheless capture the energy of the search and the farmyard community’s concern for Toad’s safety, making this a solid storytime choice. Eye-catching illustrations with rich, fully saturated colors balance the right level of detail while still highlighting the animal that is the focus of each verse. By introducing one farm animal at a time, Schertle also helps the youngest readers begin to identify barnyard animals by name and understand their unique farm homes. Traditional animal sounds are part of the text, and listeners will add them to their vocabulary. It all ends with the promised hayride, bringing the tale to a joyous ending.

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2026

ISBN: 9780063436121

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

bookshelf

ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

bookshelf

Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)