Louis & the Dodo

By Mark Shulman

The amazing voyage of a special boy--captured in lush, evocative artwork by an up-and-coming illustrator--will entrance young readers and teach them the importance of individuality, loyalty, and a love for all living things. Louis isn't like other boys: he loves birds as much as other kids love baseball, and he helps and protects them in every way. And today his adored birds are all atwitter: they've learned that earth's last living dodo is trapped by the eeriest, creepiest circus ever, and forced to perform dangerous tricks. Louis resolves to return the bird to its home, and, together with his feathered friends, he succeeds...and earns a visit to a magical world no other human has seen before.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1402728727
• ISBN13: 9781402728723
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Union Square Kids
• Length: 36 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.6" x 11.3"
• Age Range: 5 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

Louis and the Dodo

A poster child for outsiders everywhere takes flight-literally and figuratively-in this dreamy, oddball episode. "Those kids don't want to play with me," Louis tells his parents. "I'm not like them." Very true: In Nguyen's polished, surreal illustrations, Louis dresses in a birdlike, red-and-turquoise superhero outfit, and hangs out in trees to keep songbirds safe from cats. Learning that a local circus is mistreating a dodo chick, Louis and his feathered friends fly to the rescue and thence to a secret island bird refuge that, to his delight, magically connects to the back of his bedroom closet. Sporting yellow goggles beneath a big bird's-head cap, Louis cuts a small but intrepid figure among his brightly colored allies, particularly when facing a gang of scary clowns. Young readers will pull for him, and, who knows, may regard their less conventional peers with more tolerance afterwards. 2006, Sterling, 36p, $14.95. Category: Picture book. Ages 7 to 9. ? 2005 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Beautiful book

This is a beautiful and haunting book about trust and friendship, perfect for all ages