Eep! by Joke van Leeuwen is really one of the best children’s books I’ve read in a long time. It started out with 3 words that just grabbed me,
All Rights Reserved by Original Publisher (Gecko Press) and the Author, Joke Van Leeuwen
Warren likes birds. He is married to Tina. They seem to live a rather ordinary life, filled with repetition, doing the same old-same old, like most of us. We get into our habits, our comfortable routines. They have as well. Until one day Warren sees a new kind of baby bird, a part human bird. He brings her home and it is love at first site—they decide to keep her. She becomes their daughter in many senses and they just love her to pieces. They name her Birdy but since that isn’t easy for her to pronounce, they change it to Beedy, as she cheeps out things like a bird, rather than speaking fully. Beedy is more bird-like than she is like a human and Warren and Tina struggle to protect her and keep her safe. Tina struggles a little more than Warren and tries to force Beedy into shoes that don’t fit comfortably, both literally and figuratively. So, off Beedy flies… to explore the world, just like a bird. Along the way she meets Lottie, a lonely little girl and a well-meaning fireman–emergency responder. Warren and Tina are very sad when she leaves so they set off to find her, breaking all their normal routines, all their comfort zones. Off they go to find their little Beedy. True to her nature, Beedy flies away from everyone but she also returns, a different kind of migration. All of them end up in Getovertel — get-over-tel– a hotel of sorts where people go to get over things, to get through their issues. And then…
You can read the book to find out the rest but it will be worth it. This was really an unexpected treasure of a book for me. I love love love birds and this story just resonated with me. It is written with silliness included, quirky little sketches and digressions—a book after my own heart. Birds, quirkiness and digressions. What more could you want from a children’s book? Here are some random screenshots from Eep!:
A digression, and also a lovely little description. I really related to this way of writing…
All Rights Reserved by Original Publisher (Gecko Press) and the Author, Joke Van Leeuwen
Here is one of the quirky sketches throughout Eep!, this one is depicting the terrible headaches, in a part explaining how the news tells us of all these horrible things we could possible get or suffer from, very relevant insertion…even into a kid’s book. You can use it as an opening for discussion about how the news isn’t indicative of all reality, just a negative slice of it,
All Rights Reserved by Original Publisher (Gecko Press) and the Author, Joke Van Leeuwen
We can all get into a rut, it only took a little humanly Bird, Beedy, to help stir up some motion in all these people’s lives, with love and adventure and a sense of getting to know one another in a disconnected world. This story really does have so much to offer. I will definitely be buying a hard copy to keep in my collection! You should, too! I hope the author decides to turn this into a series! *Fingers Crossed*
