River Tweets by Aimi Medina
An adventure about Florida birds who live among the mangrove trees along the Indian River Lagoon.
What's all the chatter?
Staying pink isn’t as easy as you think when you’re Rosetta Spoonbilletta trying to catch a shrimp with a spoon. Rosetta is a local artist who lives among the mangrove trees in the land of “Old Florida.” Her paintbrush suddenly comes to a stop when her reflection reveals her feathers have lost the ink that keep them pink. Rosetta can’t catch a break. She can’t even catch a shrimp! Luckily, Parsley the Pelican, the town chef, tweets her an invite to his Royal Shrimp Boil. He promises a gathering of friends and a bellyful of shrimp to turn her rosy pink again. The invite is tweeted along to Charminga the Anhinga, Chuckle the Laughing Gull, and other local birds. Each bird brings a special talent and ingredient for the pot. While Parsley is busy tricking shrimp into coming to his early-bird special, the birds realize the food is too heavy to fly across the river to Pelican Island. Rosetta comes up with a plan, but it takes everyone’s help to make it happen. One clever shrimp is out to spoil the boil and rescue his friends. The race is on to turn Rosetta pink so she can finish her painting and return to the stunning Rosetta Spoonbilletta that everyone adores.
Age Range: River Tweets is a fictional story with a whimsical sense of humor. The book is a short 100-page chapter book geared to children ages 7-10. The characters are Florida birds who all have a special talent. Spot illustrations and photographs make for a fun read-aloud for young children and a good starter chapter book for readers ages eight to ten.
Character Traits: The story revolves around friendship, working together and giving back to the environment.
Learning Skills: The story is scattered with rhymes, poetry, puns, similes, alliteration, vocabulary, and word play. A recipe from the story is included as a fun follow-up activity. The mix of fantasy and reality is a great way to inspire children to learn more about wildlife and the natural environment.