Froodle by Antoinette Portis (review)

A group of birds stick to their typical sounds at the beginning of this book, with Crow saying “caw,” Dove calling “coo,” Cardinal chirping “chip,” and Little Brown Bird uttering “peep,” until the day that Little Brown Bird decides to verbally branch out. Her playful exclamation of “Froodle sproodle!” sends propriety-minded Crow into a tizzy. Little Brown Bird’s subsequent vocal creativity inspires Cardinal and Dove to join in the linguistic fun, while Crow is quite put out by this phonetic flight of fancy, and leaves in a huff—but doesn’t fly too far away. As the smaller birds continue their silliness (“‘Buppy,’ ‘Scruppy,’ ‘Huphup-’”), Crow creeps closer until even he contributes a “Wuppy!” From then on, all the neighborhood birds enjoy sharing in the linguistic lunacy, and even the local cat (“Shmoodle!”) and dog (“Skerpoodle!”) get into the act. The text, preponderantly dialogue in and out of speech balloons, has a goofy humor that makes this a readaloud bonanza, and kids will love both the silly wordplay and the smaller birds’ persistent flouting of the Crow’s authoritarianism. The story also provides plenty of opportunities for discussing word construction, phonics, and rhyme, and the format would lend itself to a readers theater or other performance. Portis’ artwork, digitally colored pencil, charcoal, and ink, keeps the visuals fairly simple, although some smudgy textures and careful shading add interest to the retro-toned pictures printed on matte paper. Thoughtful compositions draw attention to dramatic moments, such as the enormous word balloon that marks Little Brown Bird’s first comical outburst, or the looming (and not amused) black Crow as he dominates the responsive spread, pushing Little Brown Bird nearly off the page. Pair this with Thomas’ Rhyming Dust Bunnies (BCCB 1/09) for a goofily garrulous story session.