This book is a gem that you can come back to again and again and each time, it reveals another layer. I have read this book to (and with!) each of the little ones in my life, and they each had a different reaction to the story. It is indeed a beautiful book and a wonderful teaching tool for exploration and discussion. ( )

A cute story about a little girl who moves to a new neighbourhood and is scared and nervous about meeting new friends. When Colette meets some kids in her new neighbourhood, she panics and invents a lost parakeet. The children keep suggesting new places to look and new people to ask. Colette quickly meets several new friends while discovering her neighbourhood. Her story gets bigger and bigger until it is obvious she is making it up. Her new friends accept her imaginary pet and want to learn more about their adventures. This is a story about making new friends, accepting people and treating them the way you want to be treated. Simple illustrations in darker shades with pops of colour demonstrating an urban neighbourhood. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley. ( )

I read the French version of this book titled L'oiseau de Colette, but whatever translation it appears in, this children's book is simply A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E !!! I'm a longtime huge fan of Isabelle Arsenault, a local Montreal illustrator who has justly acquired worldly acclaim for her signature style which is often described as poetic.

In this story, little Colette has just moved to the Mile-End neighbourhood, where there are many alleyways for kids to safely run around and congregate for playtime, when the weather permits (Arsenault and her own young children live there, which is no mere coincidence). At the start of the book, she is categorically told that she is to have NO HOUSEPETS! and Colette is despondent as she kicks one of the empty moving cartons and makes her way to the alley, but soon she encounters a couple of kids, and having just seen a bird in flight, in a moment of inspiration asks them whether they've seen her lost bird. They say they haven't but perhaps the next kid over has, and as the story progresses, more and more children get involved in the search for the imaginary bird and details about the bird in question are spontaneously added from Colette's fertile mind.

The illustrations are mostly in grey tones, with touches of yellow for Colette's raincoat and for the bird, which appears with more and more frequency and becomes the subject of an unbelievable tale which the children seem happy to go along with. A truly charming story, both penned and illustrated by Arsenault, who will be creating a series of children's Mile-End stories. ( )

Colette is new to the neighborhood and meets someone the same age as her but is too shy and doesn’t know what to say to them. She makes up that she lost her pet but it gets a little out of hand when the whole neighborhood is searching for her lost pet that does not exist. I would read this to students in 1st through 4th grade and use this book to teach my students that they should always tell the truth no matter what. ( )

This book was about a little girl that wants a pet, but her mom keeps telling her no. She makes friends by having them help her look for her imaginary pet that she made up in her head. This book could be used in the classroom to teach older students about dialogue and it could also be used to teach younger students about using their imagination. ( )