The Rare Bird

K-Gr 2–In a soaring tribute to the power of pretend, Cooper brings readers into the world of a cat who envisions himself a bird flying through a living room “forest,” taking a refreshing dip in a bathroom’s “gurgling pond,” and then enjoying a full day of similar comically messy adventures. In images as spare as his narrative, the artist depicts a bookish kitty taking flight through domestic settings after poring over pictures of birds in an open volume, pausing to take higher flights through fleecy skies on dream wings during a nap and ignoring amusing side-eyes from avian residents after landing in a nest. At day’s end, his alighting in a child’s lap to share a volume about “other animals in the great wide world” prompts further visions of exploring new ground—tomorrow, as an “Extraordinary Elephant.”