Bird Watching with Bert
From Muppet Wiki
| Written by | Liza Alexander |
| Illustrator | Joe Mathieu |
| Published | 1991 |
| Publisher | Golden Press |
| Series | A Golden Sight n' Sound Book |
| ISBN | 0307740102 |
A Golden Sound Story Book, Bird Watching with Bert follows Bert, Ernie and Grover as they search for a yellow-bellied sapsucker. As they see many woodland creatures, Bert expresses only mild, temporary enthusiasm, unappeased without his goal. In all twelve illustrations within the book, a yellow-bellied sapsucker subtly appears, unnoticed by the characters.
Story
Early on the search, Grover spots a robin, which "puffs out its red breast. It looks so proud!" As the wooded trail turned, Ernie spots a grasshopper. Bert "spied some pieces from a little blue egg", and suspects the mother robin and her chicks are nearby. The guess is correct, as Bert sees her feeding her babies, through his binoculars. Ernie spots a "one big bird", which Bert identifies as a crow, "one of the most intelligent birds", and as Grover points out, one of the most noisy.
Grover then pretends to be a bumblebee; Ernie comments that Grover's just like a bumblebee, while he himself is "more like a robin." Grover changes his mind, wanting to be like a grasshopper instead of bee, and Ernie suggests Bert is like a crow "because a crow is a very smart bird!". Bert whines "I do not want to be a crow. All I want is to see a yellow-bellied sapsucker."
Ernie spots a bullfrog, which Grover proceeds to act like, then spots a chipmunk eating acorns. Ernie and Grover list off all the interesting animals they've seen on their hike, Bert still sighs, expressing that his heart is still set on a sapsucker. Ernie thinks he sees one of a branch, but Bert identifies it as a dove. Ernie hears a "racket in the field over there", which Grover identifies as three blue jays. "Groovy!" Bert says, commenting that they're having a "blue jay party". He starts to cheer up, as they review the animals they've seen.
The three see a loon, which Grover decides that he'd like to be like. They soon hear a rustle in the bushes, and spot yellow through the leaves. "A big yellow bird crashed through the thicket. He was carrying a picnic basket." Ernie asks Bert if he'd settle for Big Bird as a substitute, which Bert agrees. The three review what animals they've seen to Big Bird. They settle in to eat brownies, that Big Bird baked himself.
Trivia
- The buttons on the book's soundbar aren't ordered by order of appearance. They are ordered chipmunk, bullfrog, grasshopper, bumblebee, crow, yellow bellied sapsucker, blue jay, dove, loon, robin.
- While some of the animals are labelled as being a certain variety, the mourning dove is simply a dove, perhaps to not confuse readers between the homonyms morning/mourning, or make children believe that the dove is sad.
