Beautiful Blackbird

Bryan, Ashley. 2003. BEAUTIFUL BLACKBIRD. New York: Anthem Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0689847319

In the picture storybook BEAUTIFUL BLACKBIRD, Bryan retells the fable of a time when Blackbird was the only bird in Africa to have black feathers. When all of the birds gathered, everyone agreed that Blackbird was the most beautiful bird of all and the other birds all wanted to have black marks on their bodies to be as beautiful as Blackbird. Blackbird agreed to create a magic brew to blacken parts of the other bird’s feathers, but Blackbird told them that it was on the inside that matters most. This traditional tale focuses on discovering inner beauty. Bryan’s simplistic paper cut-out illustrations provide a bright and visually appealing representation of the story without distracting from the message the story conveys. Children will delight in trying to create the steps to go along with the “Show Claws Slide” dance described in the story.