Town Parrot

Children's Literature - Judy Katsh

Part of the "Read and Wonder" series, Town Parrot introduces young readers to Turkey, a blue-fronted Amazon parrot, who lives in the city. His life and life-style are recounted in large type accompanied by appropriately parrot-colored drawings. In smaller type at the bottom of many pages is further information about parrots in general. This is a warm portrait of a parrot with quite a personality and the human who loves him as well as an enlightened study of the biology and behavior of parrots in the wild thanks to the capable author and illustrator.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-Interwoven with a story about a pet parrot named Turkey are cautions and advice about caring for this bird. The author is emphatic about not adopting a wild bird, and stresses the fact that much time must be devoted to its care, perhaps an entire lifetime. She goes on to detail Turkey's behavior and demands, and makes it clear that a parrot can be a difficult, destructive pet, as well as a good companion. A great deal of affection is shown between Turkey's owner, a writer, both in the words and in the watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations. Several pages have inserts with interesting information about wild parrots and parrot care, but they are printed in a decorative font that will be difficult for children to read. They also detract from the narrative flow. Despite its flaws, this is an easy-to-read pet story for expository reading.-Tina Smith Entwistle, Oakley Park Elementary School, MI