Customer Reviews

Chatterbox: The Bird Who Wore Glasses

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After reading the book review I thought it would be a nice surprise for my niece. I put this book on my niece's desk and more or less forgot about it. Not realizing, but that evening she asked me to check her homework. I was completely surprised, her book report was all about Chatterbox and Nancy. I read her report and then read the book I do believe she was really touched by the story as I was as well.
An Uncle

The eye-catching colors and characters on the cover of this book drew me into it - and I am so glad. This book is a delight for the eyes and for the heart. It seems everyone, particularly children finding their way in this great big world, can relate to Nancy, who discovers through kindness to another that she is certainly NOT a "nobody" but a likable "somebody". Through dynamite illustrations and clever, but never cutesy rhyme, this book has it all. I wish it would become a series.

After I read this story to my daughter a single time, she has asked me for it every night since.

Children's books are harder than they look. It's not enough to exaggerate a "childlike sense of wonder" and write in a forced babytalk that too many authors imagine approximates a child's speech. A good children's book will hold a child's attention, stimulate thoughts in a young brain and have a distinctive look. A great children's book will do all that, plus get at the heart of what it means to be a child.

Chatterbox belongs to that rare class of children's book that transcends the genre by being all of those things, and more -- soulful, deep, funny. The rhyming language will doubtless conjure mentions of Dr Seuss, and they're apt -- the rhythms and playfulness merit the comparison. But to my mind, Chatterbox rises above even that high bar. Like the best of its brethren (Frog and Toad, No, David, Curious George) Chatterbox gets that the relationship at the core -- in this case, a sad and lonely girl who meets an extraordinary bird -- is what comprises a memorable story.

Chatterbox: The Bird Who Wore Glasses is a heartwarming picturebook, illustrated in soft colors, story about a lonely girl named Nancy A. Nobody, who befriends a misfit talking parakeet named Chatterbox, or C.B. for short. She makes her parakeet special spectacles so that he can fly better, and makes every effort to take care of her pet. Best of all, she learns the vital lesson that she is special just being herself, and being a good friend to the animal she is responsible for. "With morning's dawning, C.B. said to me, / 'You're Nancy A. Nobody surely you see. / You feed me and bathe me, no ifs, buts or ands. / My little life is in God's and your hands." An accompanying audio CD includes a story reading and two songs, rounding out Chatterbox: The Bird Who Wore Glasses , a charming and confidence-boosting story.