Pepi the parrot loves to sing but his friend Peter is getting tired of the same old song, based on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, so Pepi heads off to find new inspiration.
At the baker he finds words like: cookie cutter; rolling pin; whisk and dough. In the music studio he tries out a xylophone; flue; trombone and violin. Art art studio is filled with wonderful objects: a canvas; some clay; an easel; and colours such as chartreuse and cobalt. And so the journey continues with a visit to the market and time at the dog park.
Pepi now has a wealth of new words to incorporate into his song.
Twinkle, twinkle, little flute,
Poodle, xylophone, cobalt, fruit.
Carrot, saxophone, icing, bow,
Violet, terrier, canvas, dough.
Blurb: Pepi the parrot is ready for a new song. So he decides to step out into the neighbourhood to find some exciting things to sing about. He discovers yummy things (sprinkles! icing! dough!) at the bakery, colorful things (paint! clay! easel!) at the artist's studio, and musical things (maracas! drums! guitar!) at the instrument shop. And then he puts them all together to create a song everyone will want to join in on. From acclaimed picture book creator Laura Ljungkvist, here is a delightful read-aloud romp that celebrates community, creativity, and the fun of learning new words.
Sadly I have to report this book is out of print but it might be in a school library here in Australia because it is a title on the NSW Premier's Reading Challenge book list for Years 3 and 4. Actually that seems a little odd to me - I think this book would be thoroughly enjoyed by younger children in Year 1 and 2. If you can find this book it would be fun to share it with a group of very young children and I would also recommend putting this book into the hands of your school music teacher. You can see inside this book here. You can see Laura's art (for adults) here.
The library I visit each week continues to use date due slips inside their books. I was quite excited to see that since 2011 this book has been borrowed over thirty times.
Laura Ljungkvist is from Sweden but since 1993 she has lived in New York City. Here are a few of her other, very special books:
I was surprised and somewhat delighted to discover Laura illustrated a book by the famous Australian author Mem Fox:
