The Baby Bird, page 1
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Copyright Page
Billie B Brown has five cushions, one blanket and three books to read.
Can you guess what the B in Billie B Brown is for?
Bird!
Today Billie is pretending to be a bird. She has built a nest out of cushions. Doesn’t it look great? No-one will bother her here!
But then someone peeks in. Can you guess who?
Oh no! It’s Billie’s baby brother, Noah.
‘Mum!’ Billie yells. ‘Can you take Noah?’
‘I’m busy, Billie,’ her mum calls back. ‘Can’t he play with you for a bit?’
Uh-oh! Now look what Noah has done.
‘Dad!’ Billie yells. ‘Noah’s wrecking my nest!’
Billie’s dad comes over. He picks up Noah. ‘He’s only trying to help, Billie,’ he says. ‘He’s still learning.’
‘He’s not helping!’ Billie huffs. ‘He wrecks everything.’
‘That’s because he’s little, Billie,’ her dad explains. ‘You have to be patient with him.’
‘I don’t want to be patient,’ Billie says. ‘I just want some peace and quiet for a change.’
Billie’s dad smiles. ‘All right,’ he says. ‘Why don’t you go outside? Noah can come and help me in the kitchen.’
Billie runs into the garden. She finds a spot under a tree. No-one will bother her here!
She lies on her tummy to look at the pictures in her book.
Just then she hears a noise from behind the tree. Billie closes her book and sits up to listen.
The noise comes again. ‘Peep-peep! Peep! Peep!’
Billie tiptoes around the tree and gasps.
There, in the dust, is a little baby bird.
Billie looks down at the bird. The bird looks up at her with shiny black eyes. Its feathers are so fluffy.
‘Oh, you are so cute!’ says Billie. She can’t wait to tell Jack!
Jack is Billie’s best friend. He lives next door. Billie and Jack do everything together.
Billie squeezes through the hole in their fence. She runs up to Jack’s back door.
‘Jack! Jack!’ she calls. ‘Come and see!’
‘What is it?’ says Jack.
‘Shhh! It’s a secret!’ Billie says. She grabs his hand. They run to the fence and climb through the hole into Billie’s backyard.
They arrive at the tree. The bird is still there.
‘Look!’ Billie says. ‘Isn’t it adorable?’
The bird blinks up at them. Suddenly, it flaps its wings up and down very fast. Flap! Flap! Flap!
‘Ha! It’s trying to fly!’ Billie says, laughing. She squats down to peer at the bird.
But Jack looks worried. ‘Mum says you should leave wild animals alone,’ he says.
Billie snorts. ‘It’s not a wild animal,’ she says. ‘It’s just a teeny tiny bird!’
‘I think we are scaring it,’ Jack says. ‘Look how fast its heart is going.’
The little bird’s chest goes up and down. It flaps its wings again very fast. But it stays on the ground.
‘It’s just puffed out from trying to fly,’ Billie says. She is annoyed that Jack isn’t as excited as she is.
He’s spoiling all the fun! She looks up into the tree and all around them. ‘And anyway, its mum has gone. Someone needs to look after it!’
Jack chews his finger nervously. ‘I don’t know …’ he says.
‘Come on, Jack. It will be like our very own secret pet!’ Billie pleads. ‘It will be fun.’
‘Well, all right,’ he says slowly.
‘Hooray!’ says Billie quickly, before he can change his mind. ‘Wait here! I know what it needs.’
Billie runs back to her house. Her dad is rolling out pastry on the kitchen table. Baby Noah is helping him make biscuits. When Noah sees Billie, he squeals happily.
Billie looks in the fridge. She finds a plate of cold sausages. She slips two of them into her pocket.
‘What are you looking for, Billie?’ her dad asks.
‘Nothing!’ Billie says. As she runs outside again, she hears Noah crying.
She feels a bit bad for not saying hello to him.
Billie arrives at the tree. ‘How is it doing?’ she asks Jack. She is puffing because she ran so fast.
Jack looks more worried than ever. ‘Not good, Billie!’ he says. ‘It’s just sitting there. It hasn’t moved since we found it.’
‘It’s probably hungry,’ she says.
Billie pulls a cold sausage out of her pocket. She breaks off some sausage and puts it in front of the bird. The bird blinks up at them. But it doesn’t touch the sausage.
Billie feels her heart begin to flap about like a bird.
Why won’t it eat the food she gave it? It must be hungry! Now she is starting to feel worried, too.
‘I really think we should leave it alone,’ Jack says.
But Billie ignores him. ‘Don’t worry,’ she says. ‘I know what it needs!’
She runs back to the house.
Noah and Dad are washing the dishes. Noah is splashing water everywhere. When he sees Billie, he shouts, ‘Beebee! Beebee!’
‘Sorry, Noah,’ Billie says. ‘I’m busy right now!’ She grabs a bowl out of the cupboard and fills it with water.
‘Where are you going with that bowl, Billie?’ her dad asks.
‘Nowhere!’ Billie calls. She runs out the back. She is careful not to spill the water. She can hear Noah crying. Billie feels bad for leaving him twice now. But she has a baby bird to look after!
Billie crouches down next to Jack. She puts the bowl of water near the little bird. It opens its eyes. But then it closes them again.
Jack’s bottom lip sticks out. He looks like he might cry. He stands up and begins to run back to his house.
Billie knows how he feels. She is scared for the little bird, too. She doesn’t want to leave it alone. But she also doesn’t want her best friend to be upset.
‘Wait!’ says Billie. She runs after Jack. She grabs his arm before he squeezes through the hole in the fence. ‘Please don’t be upset, Jack,’ she says. ‘It will be OK.’
Jack turns around and nods. And then all of a sudden, he starts to smile. Then his smile turns into a laugh.
Billie is very confused!
‘What are you laughing at?’ she asks.
She turns around to see what Jack is looking at. A big bird swoops down from the tree towards the baby bird. Then another bird swoops down, too. Billie and Jack hide behind a bush to watch. From where they sit, they can see everything.
First, the mama bird pecks a bit of sausage. She hops over to the baby bird. Then she pops some sausage into its open beak.
The papa bird hops over with some sausage, too. The baby bird squawks hungrily. Its beak opens wide to gulp down the sausage.
‘Look how greedy it is!’ Jack giggles.
‘They must have been there the whole time,’ Billie whispers. ‘They were waiting for us to go so they could look after their baby.’
‘Oh, look,’ Jack says. The little bird flaps its wings. ‘It’s trying to fly again!’
They watch the bird flip and flap its wings. Finally it lifts up into the air and lands on a branch of the tree.
Billie and Jack cheer. ‘You were right,’ Billie says. ‘Sometimes it is best to leave wild animals alone. Come on!’ She takes Jack’s hand. ‘I’ve got something to show you.’
A little bit later, Jack and Billie are in her nest. They are playing Mama Bird and Papa Bird.
‘Cheep! Cheep! Cheep!’ says Billie.
‘Cheep! Cheep! Cheep!’ says Jack.
‘Beebee! Beebee!’ comes a noise from outside their tree.
Oh no! You know who that is, don’t you?
‘Dad!’ Billie yells. ‘Noah’s going to wreck our game.’
Noah crawls into the space under the table. He climbs into their nest.
‘Beebee! Beebee!’ he says happily.
Billie’s dad pops his head under the blanket. But Noah puts his arms around Billie’s neck and holds on tight.
‘Beebee! Beebee!’ Noah says. He looks up at Billie with his big brown eyes.
‘Aw, he’s so cute!’ says Jack. ‘He sounds just like a baby bird.’
Billie realises Jack is right. Noah does sound like a baby bird!
‘Come here, Noah,’ Billie’s dad says. ‘You can help me in the garden.’
But Billie smiles. ‘That’s OK,’ she tells her dad. ‘He can stay.’
‘Are you sure?’ Billie’s dad asks.
Billie nods. ‘We can’t play Mama Bird and Papa Bird without a baby, can we, Jack?’
Jack smiles. ‘And he’s much easier to look after than a real bird!’ he whispers to Billie. Billie giggles.
‘Well, that’s very kind of you both,’ says Billie’s dad. He walks off to finish tidying up the kitchen.
Billie looks at her baby brother. Noah looks up at Billie. Then she slips a cold sausage out of her pocket and breaks some off for him. Noah gulps it down in one mouthful.
Just like a real baby bird would!
The Baby Bird
published in 2021 by
Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing
Wurundjeri Country
Ground Floor, Building 1, 658 Church Street
Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia
www.hardiegrantchildrenspublishing.com
All rights reserved.
Text copyright © 2021 Sally Rippin
Illustration copyright © 2021 Aki Fukuoka
Series design copyright © 2021 Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing
eISBN 9781743587232
Hardie Grant acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the country on which we work, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation and the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and recognises their continuing connection to the land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
We welcome feedback from our readers. All our ebooks are edited and proofread vigorously, but we know that mistakes sometimes get through. If you spot any errors, please email info@hardiegrantchildrenspublishing.com so that we can fix them for your fellow ebook readers.
Sally Rippin, The Baby Bird
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