Mr. Biddle and the Birds

Mr. Biddle and the Birds
by Lonzo Anderson with illustrations by Adrienne Adams/ published 1971 by Charles Scribner's Sons

There is a forward of sorts in this book that goes as follows...

A Voyage to Cacklogallinia, an 18th century political satire by Samuel Brunt, has as it frontispiece a drawing similar to the "flying boat" in this story. We used it in the end papers of Bag of Smoke, a book about the beginning of human flight, in balloons. It was such a delightful picture that it kept picking at us and finally pushed us into doing the present story about Mr. Biddle and the Birds.

A strange little balding man has befriended the birds, and convinces them that building a boat that they can use to fly him about the sky is a good idea. The plan fails at first, as it is hard to tame a wild animal, even when it wants to be tamed. But in the end, friendship conquers all, and the birds help Mr. Biddle get his wish of the world in bird's-eye-view.

The story is really interesting, with lots of illustrations of Mr. Biddle drawing, planning and building his air boat. The birds are really the best part with their cockiness... My favorite line?

Crash!
Deep into a forest.
Then:
Silence.

Also by:
The Day We Saw the Sun Come Up
A Woggle of Witches
The Wounded Duck
The Easter Egg Artists
Butterfly Time
Ponies of Mykillengi