The Parrot

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian studies at
Concordia University, and the author of Kurlek, Margaret Laurence: The
Long Journey Home, and As Though Life Mattered: Leo Kennedy’s Story.

Laszlo and Raffaella Gal, a father/daughter team of illustrators,
breathe new life into a retelling of an old Italian folk tale. A
merchant’s daughter is loved by a young prince and an evil king. The
king takes advantage of the merchant’s absence on a trading trip by
sending his soldiers to capture the girl. Suspecting the king’s
intent, the prince turns himself into a parrot, flies to the girl’s
window, and so bewitches her with his tales that she will not turn from
him to answer the door when the soldiers knock.

The parrot’s tale-within-a-tale cleverly echoes the outer tale of the
merchant’s daughter and the king’s schemes. The parrot/prince, an
archetypal Scheherazade, preoccupies the girl until her father returns.
Of course all ends well, with the lovers united.

The heart of the book lies in the dramatic full-page illustrations,
which typically show the girl utterly absorbed in watching a scene that
illustrates the parrot’s tale (again, a scene-within-a-scene, which
parallels the double plot). The sumptuous, richly colored paintings in
pencil, oil, and egg tempera are bold and beautiful, and reinforce the
gothic mood of a damsel in danger. The viewer becomes a third level in
this intriguing set of visual and narrative boxes that stimulate both
eye and mind. Highly recommended.