A charming story about two unlikely friends. Chickadee is a baby songbird whose curiosity gets the best of him. He explores beyond the safety of his forest home that borders a sandy beach and the open ocean. Meeting a variety of creatures and experiencing some exciting adventures, he does not notice that he is getting too far away from safety. A storm comes up and the winds carry Chickadee over the water, where he eventually falls in. He is saved by a baby Humpback Whale and they become friends. After the storm ends the baby whale and his mom take Chickadee back to land and to his family. This story introduces a variety of actual wildlife in the forest, on the beach, and in the ocean. The artwork portrays the characters with sweetness and charm, and each animal iintroduces a real bit of educational information and personality that will enthrall the child in each of us. AUTHOR: Catherine Clark grew up drawing and painting wildlife in Binghamton, New York, where her grandfather would hang finished works in the front window of his restaurant when she was 5. Gradually she started painting and selling wildlife art at local shows. She volunteered and was eventually hired at Ross Park Zoo as a graphic artist. She now lives on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, where she moved to learn about whales, becoming a whale watch naturalist. Clark has been illustrating in a weekly newspaper column, "Ask the Bird Folks", for Bird Watcher's General Store for 7 years. Her paintings, and especially, collectible hand-painted Christmas ornaments are collected by folks around the world. Her whale murals can be seen on buildings and in restaurants throughout the northeast. 40 colour illustrations
