Bastien is eight years old, and his mother is ill. She often has what his father and grandparents call “episodes.” She screams and fights, scratches and spits, and has to be carted away to specialized clinics for frequent treatments. Bastien doesn’t like it when she goes, because when she comes home, she isn’t the same. She has no feelings, no desires, and not much interest in him. According to the doctors, Bastien’s mother suffers from “bipolar disorder with schizophrenic tendencies,” but he prefers to imagine her as a comic-book heroine, like Jean Grey, who may become Dark Phoenix and explode in a superhuman fury at any moment. Based on the creator’s own childhood experiences, The Parakeet is the story of a boy whose only refuge from life’s harsh realities lies in his imagination. In his eyes, we see the confusion and heartache he feels as he watches his mother’s illness worsen and the treatments fail. Through his eyes, we see how mental illness can both tear families apart and reaffirm the bonds of love. Poignant yet playful, The Parakeet follows Bastien’s struggle to accept the mother he has while wishing for the mother he needs.

An entertaining leveled two-part approach to reading featuring imperfect rhyme using simple sentences, whimsical rhyming stories, and a riddle.

A 2019 Buckeye Children's Award Nominee A little girl can't find her parakeet—her kitty must have eaten it! Right? Where else would it have gone? It was just here! She shouts, she accuses, and she laments her loss. But her cat might be trying to tell her something . . . With rhyming text and adorable art, Did You Eat the Parakeet? by Mark Iacolina is a sweet and silly picture book that will have children laughing through the final page.

This easy reader contains only 44 different words, repeated often to help the young reader develop word recognition and interest in reading.

There was only the bird book to tell her story. She left it as unfinished as her life seemed to be. The question of who she was led me to begin searching for the answers. Years ago I should have started searching while she was still alive; however, I did not really know about her until it was too late. I refused to have her life and legacy forgotten, and yet I was so slow in acting. I suppose there are those who would say that I should not invade the territory of one who is already gone. However, it has always been in me to find out the answers, and so for that reason, Alma's story must be told. She left her story in phrases she composed. She left her story in the pieces of artwork she created. She left her story in the memories of those who knew her.

A painter of birds in a remote Newfoundland coastal village confesses that he has murdered the village lighthouse keeper.