Aska's Birds

Joan Weller is Head Librarian at the West Branch of the Ottawa Public
Library.

Did the poet inspire the artist, or did the artist inspire the poet? So
awesome is the union of illustration and verse in this collection that
one believes the two were simply meant to be together.

“If birds were people, what jobs would they do? It’s a guessing
game for me and you.” Following this introduction, author-poet David
Day ventures his guesses: ducks would be teachers, woodpeckers would be
drummers, ostriches would be dancers, and so on.

For reading aloud, here is one example of his sonorous verse: “The
swans are nursemaids among the rushes. / In nature’s nursery / They
are the guardians / Who take lost babes beneath sheltering wings.”

In Aska’s paintings, birds in their natural habitat take on lush
tones and sparkling highlights. The eagle, with his eyes like bright
stars, becomes “the bogeyman of the bird kingdom.” The peacock
spreads his tail to become “a crystal fountain and dusts the leaves
with his plums.” The snowy owl, displayed on the book’s attractive
dust jacket, changes into “the guardian of the forest laden with
snow.”

Transcending age barriers, this book can be shared by children and
adults or treasured alone. A highly recommended companion to Aska’s
Animals (1991).