Red & Lulu

Red & Lulu

Picture Book
In spiration can come in very small sizes. Matt Tavares
resolved to write about a pair of cardinals who frequently visited his
yard. One year his agent found a winged stowaway in her family's
Christmas tree. Red & Lulu is a joyous story that will warm the
hearts of parent and child alike.
Red and Lulu live happily in an evergreen tree. It keeps them
cool in the summer but sheltered from chill winds in cooler seasons.
They especially love the decorations and carolling of Christmas.
One sad day Red comes home from a food hunting foray to find the
tree with Lulu in it chopped down and lashed to a truck...
...which then drives away. Red chirps that he'll follow. Only
it's a long journey for such a little bird. After awhile the truck is
out of sight...
...only you know the book isn't going to end on such a sad
note. You'll never guess where they'll meet up!
On a personal note, my favorite cardinal memory is of an early morning
in February, a Valentines Day to be exact. We were in the calm
following a really wild snow storm. Eugene had worked 32 hours
plowing. He'd just used his company backhoe to plow out our
driveway. I went out to shovel the steps so he could get in the
house. Just as I was about to go in myself and start fixing him a
much deserved hot breakfast I looked up into the branches of a tree
that started to grow the year my Katie was born. There, brilliant
against the grey sky, was a cardinal. She (genders are colored
differently) seemed to be the perfect day for a Valentines Day that
would be romantic after all.
A great big shout out goes out to all who study and work to protect
out feathered friends in the tradition of the great Rachel Carson.
Special kudos to the dedicated bird counters who help scientists get
important information on issues like changes in population and
migration.
jules hathaway


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