I Am a Bird

‘I fly like a bird on Daddy’s bike,’ the narrator joyfully croons as we watch father and daughter whizz through a coastal, colored-penciled town. . . . Suddenly she spies ‘a woman with a blue coat and a big bag … walking very fast,’ and clutches her dad’s sweatshirt, as gouache graffiti demons appear on a wall and a graphite shadow joins the gray-haired figure like an evil twin. Yet there she is one day in the park, ‘whispering a song to the birds!’ Lim’s text and Yum’s art soar as the two ‘see’ each other at last.
—New York Times Book Review

The soft, textured illustrations expertly pair with the understated text and its beautifully simple, implicit message to look closer before jumping to conclusions…A gentle story about connection that will connect with readers of all ages.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

A little girl and her father take regular bike rides through their coastal town…It’s a tale that celebrates imagination; birds (the monochromatic drawings of graceful birds in flight on the endpapers are a highlight); and the value of getting past fears to discover that we all have more in common than we might think.
—The Horn Book

Lim’s simple, heartfelt narration deftly captures the perturbation kids can develop around an adult who seems unfriendly, and there’s enough amiable reassurance to counterbalance the sympathy. Yum’s softly textured colored pencil and gouache illustrations capture the airy freedom of a zippy bike ride through a lovely seaside Korean (judging by store lettering) town…Kids who’ve had their own encounters with hard-to-slot adults will appreciate the validation and the encouraging outcome.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Each day, a rosy-cheeked girl rides to school in the booster seat on the back of Daddy’s bike, pretending to fly and sing like the many birds in their coastal town… It’s a simple tale for the youngest set of readers, written around an overt message of not judging too quickly and finding connections in unexpected ways… Yum’s soft colored-pencil illustrations complement the words with a pleasant atmosphere, setting the tone through gently bright colors and the simple, smiling features of her characters… A sweetly serene story with a useful lesson.
—Booklist