Poetry Friday: Redbird at Rockefeller Center

Redbird at Rockefeller Center
by Peter Maloney and Felicia Zekauskas
Dial Books for Young Readers, 1997
ISBN: 0-8037-2256-7

When I wrote about seeing the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree on I-95, I had not heard of Maloney and Zekauskas's flighty tale. Then a friend tipped me off. Psst, she said. Not only does Redbird depict the tree (this one originates in Jersey), but the ten-year-old rhyming picture book sits on the shelves of the local bookstore right now. I'd started the car before she finished her sentence.

Kate, a little girl, takes a dim view of losing her big spruce—and the baby cardinal in it. Her mom, though, wants the tree gone and calls a woodcutter with a very long truck.

But the driver worked fast and the next thing Kate knew
The tree, truck, and Redbird had vanished from view.
They sped through the snow, then under a river...

The driver had something he had to deliver:
That thousand-foot spruce, that giant green tree
Was scheduled to be in the city by three!

Silliness and lots of visual jokes, holiday magic, and an adorably imagined flock of redbirds sold me on the book immediately. A fine addition to our small Christmas collection.

For even more rhymes and verses, see the Poetry Friday roundup at Gina Ruiz's AmoXcalli blog.

Comments

[TadMack]

I have to say I'd take a dim view of losing my tree, too! But this is really cute.

[Susan T.]

It is cute. I hope I'm not spoiling anything by telling you that the tree returns to her yard and all is well. Kate is a girl after your own heart, TadMack.

[MotherReader]

Sounds cute - and different from the usual Christmas stuff. I'll keep an eye out for it.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

[Susan T.]

Thanks you, MR! And the best of holidays to you and your family, too.

[Mary Lee]

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a sparkling disco ball! (I knew you meant Jr.!)

[Susan T.]

Thank you, Mary Lee, and the best of holidays to you and yours, too!