Author: Barbara C. Burgess
Publisher: Burgesswrite
ISBN: 978-1-4819-0556-5

“’Coo! Coo! Good morning, Minnah Kim!’ My pet parrot taps on my window pane. He peeks at the city street lined with maple trees. He wants to go outside and play.” Barbara C. Burgess writes in her short book, Ludwig the Piano-Playing Parrot & Other Tales.

This unnumbered but around forty page small paperback has a picture of a beach scene on the front cover and a short book description along with the author’s biography and photograph on the back cover. With no scary inferences or profanity, the book is targeted toward young elementary school children. Unfortunately no illustrations, maps or designs are included to enhance interest or imagination.

This book is actually four tomes, each six to nine pages long. One is about a parrot and the other three essentially about the country of India and its people. The first story is in book format, yet the other three are in manuscript layout and easy to read.

“Ludwig The Playing-Playing Parrot” is a tale about a third grader named Minnah who has moved from Korea to Montreal, Canada. On her first day going to her new school, she takes her parrot, Ludwig, and her mini-piano in her backpack. When her teacher introduces her to her classmates, Ludwig flies out of her bag and lands in the teacher’s hair. The children are not only fascinated with Ludwig when it plays a duet with Minnah on her piano, but also learn a little about Korea and welcome their new friend.

“The Indian Gaddi” is an educational story about the gaddi, which are shepherds in the country of India. It explains how these animal tenders guide their flocks north in the summer and return south in the autumn months as they travel through the mountainous and sometimes steep Himalayas with their sheep.

“Jalfu’s Cows” is about a man who lives with his wife and two daughters in the Himalayas of India and has eight cows. The yarn explains part of the daily lives of each person as they live above their barn that houses their animals. Jalfu and one daughter milk the cows and he sells the milk to neighbors while his wife cooks it, making butter and ghee.

“Sarika’s First Dusshera Festival” is an account of an Indian family that takes in an eight year old relative when her mother dies. Sarika is taken to her first Kulla Dusshera festival nearby that celebrates the Hindu religion. The festival has booths, dances and rides, which Sarika thoroughly enjoys.

Even without helpful visual aids, this short book has a myriad of words, concepts, geography and culture of both Korea and India for a young reader to learn.

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