Nightingale and Wind

Opulent paintings illustrate a mythical tale of love and freedom in this unusual but ultimately unsuccessful picture book. A wordy text tells how Falcon has imprisoned Nightingale so that she will sing to him and relieve his sadness. Yet, unhappy in her cage, Nightingale can sing only one melancholy melody until the Wind offers her freedom. In an operatic face-off, Falcon learns to accept Nightingale's independence and a new era of love descends on the world. There is little in the way of plot, and the concerns of the text--the nature of love and freedom--are not developed with sufficient imagination to maintain the interest of most readers. Newcomer Silin-Palmer's ornate artwork follows the melodramatic narrative with a range of compositions, from baroque still lifes spilling grapes and foxgloves, to wispy pastels, to a full-spread formal portrait of animals in Shakespearean attire. The artist's impressive attention to detail and the dapperly dressed animals are enjoyable, but the overall effect of the volume is overblown and even garish. Ages 8-up. (June)