Beautiful Blackbird [hc]
By Ashley Bryan
Black is beautiful, uh-huh!
Long ago, Blackbird was voted the most beautiful bird in the forest. The other birds, who were colored red, yellow, blue, and green, were so envious that they begged Blackbird to paint their feathers with a touch of black so they could be beautiful too. Although Black-bird warns them that true beauty comes from within, the other birds persist and soon each is given a ring of black around their neck or a dot of black on their wings- markings that detail birds to this very day.
Coretta Scott King Award-winner Ashley Bryan's adaptation of a tale from the Ila-speaking people of Zambia resonates both with rhythm and the tale's universal meanings- appreciating one's heritage and discovering the beauty within. His cut-paper artwork is a joy. 40 pages
"Using a more vivid palette than usual, Bryan employs boldly colored, cut-paper artwork to dramatize the action. The overlapping collage images fill the pages with energy as the songlike responses of the birds tap out a rhythm punctuated with 'uh-huhs.'" -Booklist (Kindergarten-Grade 2)
January 1, 2003
AR Level=3.7; Lexile Level=540
