A head full of birds

Gr 2--4--A sweet picture book about looking beyond differences to make new friends. Nanette is a neurodiverse girl with "birds fluttering in her head," and the other children are cruel to her. Nanette, despite this, continues to view the world in her own special way. When Noah is assigned to sit next to her in class, he discovers that there is beauty in Nanette's understanding of the world. A simple text with short sentences keeps the book accessible to picture book readers. Colored pencil illustrations show Nanette as bright and lively, while around her the scenery is gray; Noah, too, is gray until he opens up to Nanette, and as he becomes her friend his colors grow more vibrant. All the children are depicted as white. VERDICT A solid purchase for its treatment and amplification of neurodiverse characters.--V. Lynn Christiansen

A young boy befriends a girl with "a head full of birds." At first, Noah does nothing to stop his classmates when they ridicule Nanette, who can stare for hours at a spider's web and who "rocks back and forth, to and fro / fluttering her fingers like butterflies." But when Noah goofs off in class, he is told to sit next to Nanette. Noah observes Nanette, and he sees the beauty in the way she interacts with the world, whether it's setting colored paper boats afloat in the gutter or removing her boots to splash in the rain in the schoolyard. Noah and Nanette become friends who explore the worlds in their minds together. Translated from French, this third-person narrative has a straightforward quality. There are plenty of details but also ample space for readers to fill in their own. Soft colored-pencil illustrations use shading, composition, and primary colors to direct the eye and highlight Nanette, who seems to almost glow in her yellow rain slicker. Textual clues point to Nanette's neurodiversity, although no specifics are named. Unfortunately, readers never get a sense of Nanette's perspective; she feels less like a fully realized character and more like an inspirational catalyst for Noah's character development--a choice that centers a neurotypical point of view. Both characters are light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A visually appealing but ultimately one-sided friendship story.(Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.