Yeti and the Bird

by Nadia Shireen, Nadia Shireen (Illustrator)

Overview

Even hairy, scary monsters need friends! This heartwarming tale of unlikely playmates features bright artwork and a sweet message from the author-illustrator of Hey, Presto! and Good Little Wolf.

Deep in the forest lives the biggest, hairiest, scariest yeti anyone has ever seen. And he is also the loneliest yeti around.

Then one day…THUNK! Someone lands on Yeti’s head. And that someone isn’t scared of Yeti at all. Could that someone be a friend?

This fun story of fur, feathers, and friendship delights and inspires—a welcome reminder that friends can be found in even the most improbable places.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481403894
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	02/24/2015
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	401,055
Product dimensions:	10.70(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD530L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Nadia Shireen has been described as one of the “best and brightest picture book creators working in Britain today” (The Observer, London). Her debut picture book Good Little Wolf received a mention in the BolognaRagazzi Opera Prima Award and won the UKLA Book Award. Other books include The Bumblebear, which was distributed to over 700,000 children as part of BookTrust’s Time to Read campaign, as well as Billy and the Beast and Billy and the Dragon. Nadia has been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, the Week Junior Book Award, the Laugh Out Loud Book Awards and the Books Are My Bag Reader Awards, and has been Writer-Illustrator in Residence for BookTrust.


Nadia Shireen has been described as one of the “best and brightest picture book creators working in Britain today” (The Observer, London). Her debut picture book Good Little Wolf received a mention in the BolognaRagazzi Opera Prima Award and won the UKLA Book Award. Other books include The Bumblebear, which was distributed to over 700,000 children as part of BookTrust’s Time to Read campaign, as well as Billy and the Beast and Billy and the Dragon. Nadia has been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, the Week Junior Book Award, the Laugh Out Loud Book Awards and the Books Are My Bag Reader Awards, and has been Writer-Illustrator in Residence for BookTrust.

Editorial Reviews

02/09/2015
Yeti looks ferocious, with his magnificently shaggy white fur and pinprick eyes, “so everyone left him alone.” The local foxes and raccoons never suspect that “Yeti was lonely.” The solitary sasquatch sits on a log and directs his ghostly gaze into a subalpine pool. He stops brooding when a rotund red bird, who has misread her migration map, crash-lands on his head and guffaws a silly “Sqwalka-sqwalka” at his angry roar. Before long, the two are playing on a makeshift seesaw—Yeti calling out a happy “Graaah!”—and singing “sweet, sad songs together, which soothed the forest to sleep.” Shireen (Hey, Presto) sets a foreboding scene with silhouettes of midnight blue and evergreen against permafrost hues of lichen. Yeti’s coat suggests the coming winter, and the red-orange bird is the brightest presence on the pages. By the time the bird continues south, however, friendship melts the icy tension. Yeti’s fellow animals, who witnessed his kindness, feel emboldened to approach him. Although Shireen tells a customary tale of an odd couple, her appealing Yeti is well worth getting to know. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"It's a joy to witness pensive Yeti making a new friend, as is watching him learn that he belongs somewhere. The striking visual contrast between Yeti and the bird makes every page a treat, enlivening what might otherwise have been a melancholy story. Each page has a strikingly different palette, accentuating a range of feelings from isolation to coziness. Kids who themselves feel lonely or worried will be glad to hug Yeti and the Bird to their chests.

March 2015 USA Today Online

"Little ones will be charmed by this sweet and silly story of friendship."

February 2015 Booklist Online

2014-11-04
A picture book about an unexpected friendship.Big, hairy, scary Yeti lives deep in the forest, and the other animals are afraid of him, so they leave him alone. But Yeti, for all his bulk and bluster, is lonely. When a small red bird, lost, lands on him by mistake, he roars, but she is unafraid. The two strike up an unlikely friendship, playing games during the day and singing "sweet, sad songs together" each evening that "[soothe] the forest to sleep." However, the season is changing to winter, and Yeti's cold forest is no place for the bright bird. Sadly, they part, and Yeti, having known friendship, feels more alone than ever. That is, until the other forest animals, having seen Yeti's soft side, make friendly overtures, and Yeti finds a life filled with companions—including the red bird, who drops by when she can. A tale about an unlikely friendship that changes a lonely life is not a new theme, but Shireen writes with admirable restraint and fills in the narrative gaps with engaging illustrations. Her double-page spreads create potent atmosphere with carefully placed strong shapes and forthright color. Spot illustrations effectively convey easy-to-understand action and humor. Striking visuals that combine compelling use of shape, page design and color successfully carry this version of an oft-told story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews