A Bird in a Bathing Suit Reviewed by Eileen Hanley of Bookpleasures.com


By: Dawn Mitchell

ISBN: 978-1-4327-5404-4

Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc.



A little blue bird in a red bathing suit flapping his wings in a birdbath greets us on the cover of this delightful little book. He looks so happy even when we see him flying out of a tree with the children down below pointing and laughing, “what a silly sight to see.”

They continue to giggle and conjure up all sorts of situations in which birds act like people wearing bows, tee-shirts, underwear, sunglasses and a variety of outfits that they would wear. They eventually realize that the bird in the bathing suit is not going to come back if he is laughed at. The children recognize that in order to keep and make friends they have to accept how we all look dissimilar.

This is such a timely issue in that society has a difficult time accepting differences. This type of rejection can quickly escalate into full-scale bullying with disastrous results.

Dawn Mitchell has put important lessons on acceptance into rhyme with words and lessons for the young child. This is a wonderful talking point book for parents and teachers to discuss the differences that we all meet with each day.

The illustrations are engaging and the young reader can glean a multitude of contextual clues by just looking at the birds faces. In a beginning reader level, it is important that the print be large and distinctive, and A Bird in a Bathing Suit certainly fits the criteria readability.





4 1/2 Woofs