Memoirs of a Parrot

Memoirs of a Parrot

Day Four I'm exhausted. Today a guy spent an hour asking me my name. I kept telling him. "Brock," I said. “Brock! Brock! BROCK!” He looked very disappointed. I guess he wanted it to be something else. Like Poly. Join a brilliant, but stubborn, parrot as he endures the banality of the pet store before being purchased by an equally insufferable young man. But while things between parrot and owner get off to a rocky start, the delights of having a pet (or human) bring them both around in the end. This book from the award-winning author/illustrator team Devin Scillian and Tim Bowers of the Memoirs series is sure to please fans new and old. In "Memoirs of a Parrot", young readers ages 5 to 8 will join a brilliant, but stubborn, parrot as he endures the banality of the pet store before being purchased by an equally insufferable young man. But while things between parrot and owner get off to a rocky start, the delights of having a pet (or human) bring them both around in the end. Author Devin Scillian original and charmingly entertaining story is wonderfully illustrated with the comedically cheery artwork of Tim Bowers. The result is an unreservedly recommended addition to family, elementary school, and community library picture book collections! It should be noted that "Memoirs of a Parrot" is also available in a Kindle edition ($9.99). --Midwest Book Review Memoirs of a Parrot written by Devin Scillian and illustrated by Tim Bowers is an amusing tale of Brock the parrot and his challenges adjusting to a new life with his new owner, Todd. Readers are introduced to Brock and his parrot friend Tik Tok as they discuss the communication styles of others in Wilbur s Pet shop where they both live. As they discuss others, they decide that parrots are the only real talkers since dogs seem to yap, fish don t say anything, and while cats may talk, they obviously choose not to. Brock continually expresses his frustrations with the people who come into the pet shop primarily because they keep calling him Polly and always ask him if he wants a cracker which he thinks, uh, no ! His friend Tik Tok thinks that they should enjoy the attention, but Brock says, Please and that he would rather gargle a pinecone! One day, a young man came into the pet store and spent a long time asking his name and repeatedly Brock replied Brock! Brock! Brock! Unfortunately, the man seemed disappointed. The next day though, he came back and tried talked to him and told him that his name was Todd. Later, Tik Tok told Brock that the man might buy him and take him home which was a surprise since Brock didn t realize that he was for sale. Sure enough, Todd did come back to take Brock home and for a short time he actually hoped that Todd lived in a rain forest with bananas and butterflies. That, of course, was not the case; Todd lived in an apartment, played the ukulele, and gave him crackers to eat. Really??? Frustrated, Brock thought he d rather kiss a rattlesnake than stay with Todd and listen to him play that ukelele. On the second day in his new home, Brock discovered the toaster next to his cage and when he dropped the cracker into the toaster, it would pop out warm and tasty which actually wasn t too bad. Todd gave Brock crackers every day and would tell him to say thank you but Brock refused to speak Todd s language and would only say croop in response to Todd s urgings. Frustrated, Todd played his ukulele. Todd also tried to give Brock the new name of Echo but again, Brock refused to communicate. After eleven days, Todd took Brock back to the pet shop and complained that his parrot would not talk. Brock, of course, complained to Tik Tok about Todd. When Tik Tok learned that Brock had a nice cage and was able to eat toasted crackers and figs every day, and that Brock was warm and dry, he didn t understand why Todd couldn t be a friend. Brock quipped back that he d rather wear a sweater made of ants! Days went by and Todd began to give up when Brock refused to say his name or communicate in any way. Brock was disappointed that Todd began to ignore him, but he was not willing to speak Todd s language. One night, a few days later, Brock dropped his cracker into the toaster and waited for it to pop up. He waited and waited but suddenly smoke began to pour out of the toaster! Realizing the danger, Brock yelled, TODD! TODD! TODD! He woke up, saw the smoke and ran out of the apartment, leaving Brock behind. Just a quickly, Todd ran back into the apartment, pulled the toaster plug and grabbed Brock s cage and took him outside. Brock couldn t believe that Todd had saved him and when Todd asked him if he was okay, he answered, Thank you. Stunned, Todd looked and him and said, what ? With that, Brock said to him, Echo says thank you. From that point on, Echo and Todd were best of friends with Todd playing his ukulele and Echo singing along in Todd s language. Readers of all ages will appreciate this delightful tale written by Michigan author, Devin Scil