Loveykins [Hardcover]

Quentin Blake (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

A woman rescues a baby bird blown from his nest in a storm and proceeds to care for him with gourmet food, cozy blankets, and walks in a stroller, but eventually her "loveykins" is ready to try his wings.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2-While strolling in the park, Angela Bowling comes upon a baby bird flung from its nest by a blustery wind. She carries the foundling home, swaddles him in sweaters and blankets, and plies him with gourmet treats. The woman proudly plunks him in a stroller and walks him in the park. When the bird outgrows the stroller, she builds a garden shed to house him and delivers trays of goodies there. When the shed is blown over on another blustery night, the now full-grown bird of prey, no longer encased in blankets, happily discovers what he is meant to do: fly, explore, and nibble at dead squirrels. Angela recovers from the shock, rebuilds the garden shed, and grows cactuses, bestowing on them the same affection and care with which she previously smothered the little creature. While the story is told with Blake's characteristic lighthearted charm and the illustrations are rife with comic detail, the issue of love that stifles rather than saves is handled with sensitivity. Loveykins covers Angela gently with a blanket before flying away, and returns with the occasional dead mouse. He is grateful, but he cannot stay, and Angela's choice of a more suitable outlet reveals her own recognition of that situation.
Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. A blustery wind blows a baby bird to Angela Bowling, and oh, how she loves it. Her devotion is shown through the extravagant meals she feeds the newly named Augustus. When her "loveykins" is young, it gets creamed carrots, but the baby food quickly gives way to chocolate eclairs, Black Forest cake, and boxes of chocolates. Soon Augustus is so big, he has to move to a shed. Eventually, he bursts from the roof, a full-grown bird--very full-grown. Now that Augustus is able to fly away and feed himself, it's a diet of beetles and dead squirrels. Sometimes Augustus brings Angela a dead mouse, but she doesn't eat it. This is pretty much a one-joke story, but Blake pulls it off with his usual British flair. The deadpan humor is broadened by the pen-and-watercolor artwork: Angela is a typical staid British matron, which makes Augustus' transformation from baby to vulturelike bird particularly horrifying to her (and funny to readers). Children slightly older than preschoolers will probably laugh the loudest. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Peachtree Publishers; 1st edition (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561452823
• ISBN-13: 978-1561452828
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,215 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thoughtful and recommended picture book story, March 11, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Loveykins (Hardcover)

Charmingly written and colorfully illustrated by Quentin Blake, Loveykins is the whimsical and delightful story of an overprotective woman who finds a baby bird blown out of its nest, and does her best to raise him - but who overindulges to an excessive degree, even taking her "loveykins" out for walks in a baby stroller! When a storm brings the opportunity for the grown-up bird to fly free, it changes both their lives forever in this thoughtful and recommended picture book story about growing up and letting go.

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun!, January 6, 2012

By 

Randie (Iowa, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Loveykins (Hardcover)

Angela finds a bird and makes him hers. She wraps him up in tons of blankets and feeds him the best food. But soon, he is much too big and she has to build him a shed. Will Angela ever be ready to let her loveykins go free?

I love that Blake can be quirky in a fun way! Great book for a fun read.