Bloor and Christie: The Mystery of the Bright Red Ribbon

Krystyna J. Higgins is the former book review editor for the Catholic
New Times.

The title of this picture book refers not to a Toronto intersection but
to the story’s avian protagonists. Christie is a bright yellow,
canary-like creature; Bloor is her orange-colored husband. One evening
Christie makes an announcement of impending motherhood. The pair set
about building a nest, into which in due course are deposited four eggs.
Three are a conventional blue; the fourth, however, turns out to be red
with white polka dots, topped by a big red bow.

After 20 days, during which Christie “sits” while Bloor handles the
other domestic duties, three chicks are hatched, which look just like
their parents. The mysterious fourth hatchling, though, matches her
flamboyant egg, right down to the red bow. Enchanted rather than taken
aback by their unusual offspring, her proud parents declare that she
resembles their respective grandmothers—though the red bow remains a
mystery!

This lightweight little story reinforces color recognition and touches
gently on the theme of accepting diversity in families. Calleja’s
brightly toned pictures are quite endearing, and sparkle more than the
rather pedestrian text. The cover and preliminary pages precede the
boundaries of the actual story by depicting the birds’ wedding and
setting up house. The end-papers feature a black-and-white “family
tree” containing additional Toronto street names and other in-jokes,
which may be more amusing to adult readers than to their young
listeners.

A curious feature of the illustrations is the way in which they see-saw
between the naturalistic and the anthropomorphic, a trait that can be
witty or merely irritating. For example, although they inhabit a very
“human” cottage, the birds nonetheless build a nest for their
eggs—which Christie leaves briefly in order to use the toilet in a
fully equipped bathroom.

This is curious little book merits a “recommended” rating on the
strength of its lively and amusing illustrations.