Staake,
Bob. 2013. BLUEBIRD. New York, NY: Schwartz & Wade. ISBN 9780375870378
[Suggested Grade Levels K-3]
REVIEW
With computer generated graphics in shades of gray, blue,
and white, Bob Staake wordlessly tells the story of the unlikely friendship between
a lonely boy and a bird. They quickly
form a close friendship providing much needed happiness and companionship for
the boy.
The colors of each page help to convey the mood. Gray slightly dominates the beginning as we
meet the young lonely boy, but as the friendship blossoms the blue becomes more
prominent. An encounter with bullies at
the climax of the story is filled with dark grays.
During a confrontation with bullies the bird lies as if
mortally wounded. In the sadness, birds
(of a variety of colors) come to lift the bluebird up to the skies along with
the boy, so that he is able to say goodbye to his friends as the bluebird flies
away.
It is in the climax and the resolution where the strength of
BLUEBIRD lies. For older readers, such
an ending implies death and heaven, however, younger readers find much more
ambiguity. The open ending encourages
them to imagine and wonder.
CONNECTIONS
Readers must make many inferences while reading a wordless
picture book. They are great
opportunities to discuss the role of images in any picture book, and the
various ways to tell a story. Teachers
may also ask students to turn a wordless picture book, such as BLUEBIRD, into a
reader’s theater script with heavy stage direction.
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By
Emily Bredberg
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