Dudley and the Birdman

Andrew Dewar was a graduate of the journalism program at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, and on the staff of the North York Public Library.

Dudley receives two tape recorders along with a lot of other interesting stuff for his birthday; instead of playing with it all, he wanders through the neighbourhood and finds the house of an old man who traps birds so he can listen to them singing in the winter. It doesn’t spoil the ending to say that Dudley makes everybody happy by giving the extra tape recorder to the old man to record the birds instead of trapping them.

If I may say so, Dudley seems a little naive, if admirably generous. George Swede, the author, is a child psychologist and poet, but he doesn’t manage to make Dudley come alive. He’s too good to be true.

More to the point, it doesn’t seem a good idea for kids to approach people the way Dudley does, completely without caution. In the end everything works out well, but I think Swede is teaching a dangerous lesson to children with this book; it is not wise to approach strangers in this way.

Otherwise, it is a workman-like effort. The writing and illustrations are fine but seem less than they could be. I don’t imagine this would become anyone’s favourite book, but it would pass the time well enough. I would feel much better about it if it weren’t for the reckless nature of Dudley’s adventure with the old man.