Billie B Brown 24 – The Baby Bird

Sally Rippin's The Baby Bird is a gentle Billie B Brown story for 5 year olds about a girl who finds a fluffy chick under a tree and decides it needs her.

What happens

Billie just wants some peace and quiet. She's built herself a nest out of cushions and a blanket, and she's pretending to be a bird. Then her baby brother Noah crawls in and wrecks it.

Dad says she needs to be patient because Noah's still little. Billie doesn't want to be patient! So she takes her book out into the garden instead.

That's when she hears it. Peep-peep! There, in the dust behind a tree, is a tiny baby bird with shiny black eyes.

Of course she has to show her best friend Jack. He lives next door and they get to each other's gardens through a hole in the fence (a very handy hole). Billie is thrilled. It could be their own secret pet!

Jack isn't so sure. His mum says you should leave wild animals alone. But Billie has made up her mind, and she's off to the kitchen for supplies. Cold sausages, a bowl of water. What else could a bird need?

Every time she dashes through the kitchen, Noah is there wanting to play. And every time, she leaves him crying. She feels a bit bad about it (but she has a baby bird to look after!).

What really makes this one is the way it talks to your reader. It asks them questions all the way through. Can you guess what the B in Billie B Brown stands for? Can you guess who just peeked in? Little ones who are just starting to read on their own will love answering back.

It's also a sweet story about wanting to take care of something small. Billie means well, and you can feel her worry grow when the bird won't eat. Anyone with a younger brother or sister will know exactly how she feels about Noah. The story quietly puts the baby bird and the baby brother side by side, and you'll see why by the end.

It's number 24 in a long series of short books, and each one stands on its own, so there's no need to start at the beginning.

What to read next

If your reader is keen on Billie's animal adventures, try The Honey Bees next. A new girl who grew up on a farm joins Billie's class just as some bees fly into the classroom.