ABOUT THE BOOK

A PARAKEET FOR ERIC tells the story of an insecure boy whose parakeet dies, unbeknown to him, soon after he acquires it. The boy’s mother, who discovers the dead parakeet, is faced with the dilemma of whether she should let the boy find his parakeet dead when he returns from school, thus possibly adding to his feelings of insecurity, or whether she should secretly replace the parakeet with one that looks exactly like it, and have the boy take pride in the good care he has given his parakeet. The story of how the mother resolves this dilemma will raise in the mind of the reader, young or old, important questions about moral judgment.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in Israel (then called Palestine ), Judith Weinshall Liberman came to the United States in 1947 to pursue higher education. She earned four American university degrees including two in law, a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School and an LL.M. from the University of Michigan Law School. After settling in the Boston area in 1956, she studied art and creative writing. Beginning in the early 1960s, and for four decades thereafter, Ms. Liberman created numerous series of artworks. Her art has been widely exhibited, and is represented in the collection of museums and other public institutions. During her long career in visual art, Ms. Liberman wrote several books, among them some children’s books. Her book THE BIRD’S LAST SONG (Addison-Wesley, 1976), which she also illustrated, won a citation as one of the fabulous books of the year. Since 2012, she has published several additional picture books, including ICE CREAM SNOW (2012), THE LITTLE FAIRY (2013), COLOR IN OUR WORLD (2014), THE VERY OLD PAINTER AND HER HUSBAND (2014), HAIFA (2014), ANGEL’S PUPPIES (2014), THE GIANT HOUSE (2014), THE BEE AND THE BUTTERFLY (2014), THE MOUNTAIN (2014), THE TUNNEL (2014), THE OLD DOLL (2014), THE LITTLE SONGBIRD (2015), FIFTEEN FABLES (2015), TWELVE MORE FABLES (2015), and THE BIRD WHO WENT TO HEAVEN (2015). Judith Weinshall Liberman’s archives can be found in the Arts Department of the Boston Public Library and at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

This is the tenth book on which Judith Weinshall Liberman, the author, has collaborated with Gail Davis, the illustrator. Since she did not feel that, in light of her deteriorated eyesight, she could do justice to illustrating A PARAKEET FOR ERIC herself, Ms. Liberman selected a fine artist, Ms. Gail Davis, to create the illustrations under the author’s guidance. The two had previously collaborated on THE LITTLE FAIRY, on THE VERY OLD PAINTER AND HER HUSBAND, on ANGEL’S PUPPIES, on THE GIANT HOUSE, on THE MOUNTAIN, on THE TUNNEL, on THE OLD DOLL, on FIFTEEN FABLES, and on TWELVE MORE FABLES In the present book, Ms. Davis beautifully captures the spirit of the story and its characters.