Bird is dead. He was alive yesterday, but now he isn't, and this forthright yet gentle story invites readers to process Bird's death while validating a range of emotional reactions to the loss.
Bird is dead. Bird lies on the ground on the book's cover, with his rounded belly up, eyes closed, and legs drooping lifelessly. The bold and slightly off-kilter text of the title offers an early indication of the story's frankness, while the five colorfully hodgepodge friends peering down at Bird are suggestive of its unconventionality. "Bird is dead," announces the stocky and sad-eyed peer who discovers Bird, deceased. "Are you sure he's not sleeping?" asks one onlooker, nudging Bird's leg. "He's not sleeping!" replies the first. "On your back + feet up = dead." The death draws an audience of patchworked birds who receive the news with varying responses including disbelief, sadness, and anger. "Bird is dead." "What? He was still alive yesterday!" Empathy abounds and, while no particular emotional response is prioritized or villainized, each bird resolutely processes the loss to arrive ultimately at a place of acceptance.
Bird is dead. What now? A burial, naturally. "Dig a hole. Put Bird in it." Bird is dragged along, then nestled into the curve of a freshly dug grave, where kind words are spoken over him with a note of finality. "It's not nice that you're dead, but that's just how it is. We're going to say goodbye to you forever. Bye-bye, Bird." The funeral concludes as shafts of sunshine break through a hazy gray skyline. The group retreats for snacks, comforted at the day's end that Bird will live on forever in their minds.
This story, translated from Dutch by Laura Watkinson, draws on the same important themes as Margaret Wise Brown's The Dead Bird (1938), and the text eschews euphemisms in favor of plain talk to honor young readers' maturity about life's singular inevitability. Author Tiny Fisscher credits illustrator Starreveld's collage artwork as inspiration for this tale. The birds' eclectic patterns and vibrant colors inject spirited personality into the otherwise somber scene. The mossy-toned background and hazy skyline allow readers to focus on the birds, and their succinct dialogue is clearly attributed over the mix of single- and double-page spreads for easy readability.
Bird is dead, and this refreshingly direct story should equip kids to process their own emotions while dealing with real-life losses. "You see, it can all be over in a heartbeat." --Kit Ballenger, youth librarian, Help Your Shelf
Shelf Talker: Bird is dead, and his peers model processing their grief over the loss in a refreshingly direct and instructive story translated from Dutch.