Dirty Birdies

Part counting book, part tribute to messy good times, Sattler’s exuberant board book introduces five goofy-looking, none-too-clean birds. A long-legged, polka-dotted bird can’t resist a muddy puddle; it then heads indoors where a tiny green duck is going wild with purple paint (“1 dirty birdie meets 1 painting birdie”). More birds arrive, they get cleaned up (after a communal bath, they’re dried off by industrial fans that leave them fluffier than ever), but all five are soon right back in the mud. Closing questions for readers encourage additional counting (“How many blue dirty birdies are there?”), emphasizing the concepts that underlie this giggly tale. Simultaneously available: Jungle Gym. Up to age 5. [em]Agent: Anna Olswanger, Olswanger Literary. (Feb.) [/em]