Hello, Jimmy!

December 1, 2020
A dramatic and remarkably unkind pet departs, leaving a child and parent room to become closer. When Jack stays at Dad's house, they sometimes talk and make tacos and milkshakes. But their kitchen table is long, and they sit apart, neither animated nor chatty. Dad has stopped telling jokes, and his son's concerned: "Jack couldn't be there all the time. The house was so quiet. He wondered if his dad was lonely. Jack knew what that felt like." Distance sits inaudibly between them. Then, Jack arrives one Tuesday night to find that a parrot--found on the doorstep after a storm--suddenly lives with them. Jimmy is bright green, boisterous, and mocking, even stealing Jack's underwear. Jack's intimidated and meekly jealous--but Dad, oblivious, finds Jimmy funny and "amazing." In a wondrous two-spread climax, hurt feelings take physical form: Jack's darkened bedroom fills with multitudinous parrots of many colors, all staring straight at him. Desperate, he opens the window and they all fly out. "Then morning arrived"--and three dropped green feathers show that Jimmy went too. Walker's artwork is delicate and understated; gentle precision gives a light touch to everything from facial expressions to chairs, shoes, and headphones. When Dad makes the change that's necessary for emotional intimacy, dialogue is spare and simple, and all the more satisfying for it. Jack and Dad appear White. A sensitive arc depicts a journey from alienation to connection. (Picture book. 4-8)

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Starred review from December 21, 2020
Jack and his father have worked out a quiet, if melancholy, routine during Jack’s visits: “They made tacos. And milkshakes, too. Sometimes they talked. And sometimes they didn’t.” But when Dad unexpectedly adopts Jimmy, a loud, flamboyantly feathered parrot, Jack’s world is turned upside down—and not, readers will suspect, for the first time. Dad perks up considerably in Jimmy’s presence; the parrot is clever and funny (he mischievously swipes Jack’s toothbrush and underwear), and guests love his antics. “He can walk, he can talk,” Dad says, “He’s amazing!” But Jack, wearing large headphones, presumably to block out the noisy bird, “wished he was amazing too.” A harrowing parrot-themed nightmare—an almost luridly hued scene that breaks with the spare gouache and pencil domestics that precede and follow it—prompts Jimmy’s escape. But the incident proves to be the moment of truth that both son and father need, movingly and quietly reaffirming their connection. Walker (Lottie & Walter) crafts an extraordinarily imagined book, profound in its understanding of the heart, and featuring a feathered Moby-Dick at its center—a figure capable of embodying and reflecting layers of emotional significance and meaning. Ages 4–7. Agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House.

March 26, 2021
Grades K-3 Lately, when Jack stays with his dad, Dad seems less engaged--he doesn't even tell jokes like he used to. Then Dad brings home a parrot he's found, Jimmy, who cheers him up. But Jack's not a fan of the bird; Dad has such high praise for Jimmy that Jack feels left out. Then, at bedtime one night, Jack's vision of his room filled with looming, staring parrots leads him to open the window, hoping they'll fly away. The next morning, Jack discovers Jimmy is gone, and he sets out alone to find him. Dad, meanwhile, is also searching, but for Jack, not Jimmy, and their reunion in the park is a sweet, poignant reminder of their special bond. Walker's succinct, eloquent prose is enhanced by her expressive gouache-and-pencil illustrations that extend the narrative with subtle visual details. Jimmy provides some comic relief, but this story revolves more around feelings of sadness, isolation, and jealousy of a parent's affections. With its emphasis on the importance of connection, this touching, uplifting story will resonate with many.

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