Bowerbird Blues

Bowerbird Blues by Aura Parker (Scholastic) HB RRP $19.99 ISBN: 9781760269609

Reviewed by Dannielle Viera 

Bowerbird likes collecting blue objects, but something is missing. He searches high and low. The sky is azure, but he cannot hold it. The sea is sapphire, but it is too cold. When he washes ashore, he is surrounded by a bounty of cobalt items – enough to build a beautiful bower. Only then does he find what he is seeking … the green of budding love.

Aura Parker’s dynamic text takes flight on wings of alliterative verbs: ‘swooping, snatching, scouring, scavenging’. This draws readers aged three to seven into the tale, and brings to life the intriguing existence of Australia’s satin bowerbird. With its lyrical quality, it is no wonder that Bowerbird Blues has been chosen as the National Simultaneous Storytime book for 2024. 

Unsurprisingly, Aura’s images brim with brilliant blue tones. The endpapers even offer youngsters the chance to look for blue pegs, bottle caps and bread tags. However, when melancholy envelops the bowerbird, the gloom of grey washes over the pages; love later arrives in a blush of sanguine bliss. Colour conveys a depth of emotion beyond the reach of mere words. 

Bowerbird Blues weaves the vivid threads of story and science into a scintillating literary sanctuary. Children will adore spending time with the busy bowerbird, ever soaring towards hope and happiness.

Bowerbird Blues

Bowerbird Blues by Aura Parker (Scholastic) HB RRP $24.99 ISBN 9781761205637

Reviewed by Kylie Buckley

Bowerbird Blues is a story about a bowerbird on his pursuit to find blue items to decorate his bower. He searches high and low to add to his collection but no matter how much he finds he believes it is never enough…something is missing.

Aura Parker’s artwork is simply divine, and the front cover deserves to be on prominent display in every primary school classroom, library, bookshop, and children’s bedroom everywhere! The cover is embossed and gorgeously tactile, the blue foil title is striking when it catches the light, and the blue and brown colour palette is surprisingly stunning. The exquisite artwork, created using digital and traditional watercolour, appears as spot illustrations as well as single and double-page spreads.

Once the reader has admired the beautifully detailed artwork in the endpapers there is a lot to discuss and interact with. The contrasting colour palettes between the start and end is a great talking point, and a bowerbird challenge is set for young readers to find the listed items hidden within the endpapers’ illustrations.

Bowerbird Blues is a lovely picture book that portrays the unique scavenging habits of male bowerbirds to attract a female mate. The illustrations extend the text by highlighting plastic pollution as a threat to the environment and wildlife. This book would appeal to nature lovers and an audience aged 4 years and older.