Learning how to fly

Calvin Can't Fly The Story of a Bookworm Birdie by Jennifer Berne is a gem of a book. This beautiful and touching story is about a little starling bird. He isn't like his brothers and sisters or his thousands of cousins. (Because starlings have big families). Calvin is different from the start. Instead of learning how to fly he learns how to read. He visits the library each day while his family learns how to swoop, fly and do figure eights in the sky. But Calvin is busy learning to read and learning about adventures, legends, folktales, poetry and facts about the world. He learns that books can take him places that his wings can't. But suddenly the weather is beginning to change and it will be time for the starling family to migrate but Calvin still hasn't learned how to fly. So the story continues with wonderful cartoon like illustrations using gouache by illustrator Keith Bendis. The colorful pictures are descriptive with wonderful facial expressions. I think this is a very original story, both heartwarming yet a little quirky but a definite must for library shelves. (Recommended for grades K-2)