Policeman Bluejay

by Laura Bancroft (Pseudonym), L. Frank Baum

The question is often asked me whether Twinkle and Chubbins were asleep or awake when they encountered these wonderful adventures; and it grieves me to reflect that the modern child has been deprived of fairy tales to such an extent that it does not know -- as I did when a girl -- that in a fairy story it does not matter whether one is awake or not. You must accept it as you would a fragrant breeze that cools your brow, a draft of sweet water, or the delicious flavor of a strawberry, and be grateful for the pleasure it brings you, without stopping to question too closely its source.

For my part I am glad if my stories serve to while away a pleasant hour before bedtime or keep one contented on a rainy day. In this way they are sure to be useful, and if a little tenderness for the helpless animals and birds is acquired with the amusement, the value of the tales will be doubled.

-- The Author

Genres: Fantasy, Classics, Fiction, Childrens, Animals

98 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

Pen name of L. Frank Baum

Reviews

[mark monday · Rating 5 out of 5]

TEN FUN & GOOD RULES FOR TEH CHILDREN!

1. Always be humble, kind, respectful, clever, and a little sly! Being both nice and cheeky is allowable. And remember: no one thinks a suck-up or a tattle-tale is charming.

2. Respect and love all animals! They are God's creatures just like you and deserve to be cherished. Never torment them. Be aware that they are born vulnerable and their lives are filled with enough terror and death already. And what comes around goes around, children.

3. Avoid all hunters and especially avoid becoming one! They are monsters given human form. Except fisherman, who are possibly okay. Maybe.

4. The Paradise of Birds, the Garden of Eden, and all such heavenly places are truly wonderful and beautiful and you will probably never get to enter them unless you retain your innocence! And who can do that anyway? So don't get your hopes up. Also, those places are usually full of snooty types who enjoy a lot of preening, and that's not too fun to hang around forever anyway. Maybe good for a day trip though.

5. Respect authority and if you find yourself in a position of authority, be respectful! Even a lovely, helpful bluejay in a position of authority may find himself at the mercy of an unkindness of ravens, if he's a little too strenuous while fulfilling duties. Don't get too casual with that police baton.

6. Positive Self-Regard and Strong Opinions are both okay! Love yourself and say what's on your mind... but please don't be obnoxious about it. No one likes obnoxious.

7. If you encounter a "tuxix" - a creature that looks like a spiny turtle, but is in reality "a magician, a sorcerer, a wizard, and a witch all rolled into one" - quickly run away! If not, you may find yourself transformed into a little bird except with a tiny human head on top. Yuck.

8. If such a transformation happens, be generous with the picnic basket that you brought with you! The other birds will appreciate it. Plus it's now so heavy you can't carry it anymore, so why not be generous.

9. When visiting an eagle's nest, avoid the eaglets! They will try to eat you, the repulsive things.

10. "Laura Bancroft" is actually the famous children's author of The Wizard of Oz series, L. Frank Baum! Everyone should always feel free to disguise themselves as a lady.

[Quirkyreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story uses the vernacular that was popular at the time it was written.

Still, it is a good story that features birds and nature. So if you know a little one that likes nature, they might enjoy it.

[Ty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a kids book by L. Frank Baum, the guy who wrote THE WIZARD OF OZ, but he wrote it under the name Laura Bancroft. On his wikipedia page I learned that he had several male and female pseudonyms, and sometimes advocated womens suffrage, and sometimes advocated the genocide of Native Americans. "Why not annihilation?" A confusing person. Anyway, this book is about two kids who fall asleep in the woods and are turned into birds with human heads by a porcupine-witch-turtle. As a result they have some very specific problems: They're birds, but they weren't raised as birds so they don't know how to find food! How will they eat! An eagle will bring them a picnic basket. They're birds, but they have human heads! With neither hands nor beaks, how will they eat! It will be slightly difficult, but they will manage. Soon they meet a bluejay who shows them around the forest and they hear many tales of the joys and sorrows of being a bird. If you have a kindle you can download this book for free right here, but I've already told you all the good parts.

http://tymelgren.com/books/september2013.html

[Martha Netoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two children are changed into larks by an evil witch and are befriended by the local policeman bluejay. They get to see a garden of paradise in the forest that is forbidden to all except the birds of paradise. Charming.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’ve read this book and remember just one thing from it, I’d wager 10 to 1 it’s the part about the four baby titmice “all dead and each one impaled upon the thorn of the bush.” I thought the earlier chapter about Susie Oriole’s horrified encounter of her own taxidermied husband (complete with small wires and glass eyes) was rough until I read of the weasel’s quadruple mouse murder. That’s nature, I guess. Or an old German fairytale. Either way, it’s not the sort of thing I want from a kids book about birds. Yikes. The blue jay needs to be policeman of the forest for good reason.

Chapter eight contains a better bit worth remembering. Twinkle’s encounter with the majestic King Bird of Paradise contains great insight into vanity and false humility (and to my memory, the only time I’ve heard Baum write of God):

“‘My mama says people ought not to think themselves nice, or pretty,’ said the child. ‘With us, to be vain is a fault, and we are taught to be modest and unassuming.’

“‘How remarkable!’ exclaimed the King. ‘And how very thoughtless your mother must be. Here we think that if God creates us beautiful it is a sin not to glory in His work, and make everyone acknowledge the kindly skill of the Supreme Maker’s hand. Should I try to make others think, or should I myself think, that I am not most gracefully formed and most gorgeously clothed, I would be guilty of the sin of not appreciating the favor of God, and deserve to be punished.’

“Twinkle was amazed, but could find no words to contradict this astonishing idea. ‘I had not thought of it in that way,’ she answered. ‘Perhaps I am wrong, your Majesty; and certainly you are very beautiful.’”

Good words. This book contains many interesting parts here and decent writing, but one read was enough for me. I’ll take the impaled nightmares and move on.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that was strange. Baum was fascinated by transformation, and in this one two kids end up as birds, but retaining their child's heads. This is inconvenient for them and challenging for the illustrator. At first it seemed like a nice nature story, a la Thornton Burgess, but then in one horrifying scene most of their animal friends get slaughtered by hunters. And then the birds admit that they aren't any better than the humans, and some of them go around murdering each other's babies. There's also a visit to bird paradise, a most exclusive and snooty paradise, which our heroes find fun but not for them.

I'm not sure what the point of the book was, but Baum is always fun to read.

[Naim Fazrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, the story is all about birds... Where two children been chanted and turned to childlarks... I don't really like the beginning of the story where there were too much story-tellings from the other birds... I wish more stories about policeman bluejay's adventure... But I love when the childlarks were in the paradise... It's so much fantasy... But the ending is kinda cringy and no challenge... Like too easy... And I felt like the childlarks didn't give much love enough to the kind hearted policeman bluejay... I feel like they should be more emotional to leave the kind bird... LoL

[itchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

eponymous sentence:
p11: "I'm the forest policeman--Policeman Bluejay, you know--and it's my duty to look after everyone who is in trouble."

The past generation can stomach a lot more than the present, that's for sure.

[Constance M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

another fun story that you could enjoy with your family

[Jennifer Niskanen · Rating 2 out of 5]

We hadn't expected this to be such a blatant anti-hunting story. Okay, you could use it as a platform to talk about conservation and sustainability but it sort of went a good deal further than that. The original villain sort of steps out of the story pretty much after her evil magic bit and then it's all about the evil hunters. Kai liked it not too badly but not in the same way as the Wizard Of Oz books. It felt a lot more preachy and less fun. We might just have to stick to Oz but fortunately there is a lot of depth and grey things there to still explore together.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hidden in an overly infantilized structure and veneer are some intense subjects: death, war, human treatment of nature, and oligarchy, to start with. Another aspect worth mentioning is the detail and variety given to describing plants and animals.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vivid imagery and semi interesting plot points.