Jack and Jim

Longing for adventure, Jack the blackbird decides one day to venture outfrom his forest home to seek the excitement of the sea. There he encounters adashing seagull named Jim, who welcomes Jack into his life and shows him thewonders of his seaside village. Unfortunately, the other (white) gulls aren't sohospitable. "Who's that funny bird," old Captain Seagull asks. In spite of Jim'sefforts to defend his friend, the villagers can't seem to get beyond Jack'sdifferences. Until, that is, they learn that he has a skill none of them do.Jack's ability to read funny stories from an old washed-up box of books wins thefriendship of the crusty gulls, and interspecies harmony abounds at last.Though the story has an innocent sweetness to it and the plot line is pleasantlymeandering, the denouement seems forced as lessons about the importance oftolerance and the value of literacy are blurred. No question, the book's shiningglory is in its illustrations. Kitty Crowther's ink and watercolor pictures arequirky and appealing, with the seagulls dressed in jaunty stripes and Jack theblackbird in a handsome red shirt. The seagulls in the village have a mean,quarrelsome look about them, while Jack's and Jim's open expressions reflecttheir unbiased hearts. (Ages 4 to 7) --Emilie Coulter