A perfectly pitched story about a bear, a bird, and a bond forged through music Spring is here, and Bear is finally emerging from his hollow to greet his forest friends. Suddenly, he hears beautiful singing coming from above. It’s Bird, practicing for the forest Opera! When Bird tells Bear that she’s auditioning for a duet, Bear decides to try out as well, and asks if he can practice with her. Bird agrees, and as the pair rehearses their song, an unlikely friendship begins. After the audition, Bird is cast in the opera–but Bear is not. Devastated, Bear returns to his hollow to hide. Bird comes to comfort him and insists that the pair are still a duet, with or without a stage to sing on. Reassured of their close bond, Bear celebrates Bird’s success at the Opera, getting the best seat in the house and quietly singing along with his friend. This tender celebration of loyalty, friendship, and song is brought to life with Judith Henderson’s lyrical text and the soft, magical illustrations of Nahid Kazemi. Together, Bird and Bear face the music and find that the strongest connections can weather the most difficult disappointments with empathy, resilience, and mutual support.
Judith Henderson is an Emmy Award-winning children’s TV composer and producer. The Missing Donut is her first children’s book. Judith lives in Montreal, Quebec.T. L. MCBETH is the illustrator of Stegothesaurus and the Big Words Small Stories series. His work has been displayed at the Society of Illustrators. He lives in New York City.
An Iranian artist from Shiraz who now lives in Montreal, Nahid Kazemi created dozens of picture books in Iran. She sees art as a way of making connections between words and ideas and the material realities of our lives. Rich and textured, her images share both the surfaces and depths of experience.
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