This month’s book is The Bird King: An Artist’s Notebook by Shaun Tan.

My sister introduced me to the work of Shaun Tan, an Australian writer and illustrator. He’s even won an Academy Award for the animated version of his book The Lost Thing.

The Bird King is a collection of illustrations, sketches and ideas by the artist. Cooper loved the whimsical and imaginative artwork. Her favorite was the budgie on the cover and the budgie on page 50. This sketch became an illustration in the book Tales From Outer Suburbia.

(Can you spot the budgie?)

Shaun Tan (with Diego and Snowball) is also a budgie owner. His budgie Eddie helped to inspire one of my favorite stories “Eric”.