A second-person narrative leads a brown-skinned boy through the preliminary stages of writing a story. Much of the book focuses on the difficulty of coming up with an idea for a story, showing the boy becoming more and more discouraged. When he notices a chickadee outside his window at a winter bird feeder, an idea slowly takes shape. His observations of the bird also serve as a metaphor for writing a story, as he watches the determined bird pick at one seed, carry it to his nest to eat, then come back for another seed, over and over, until it’s had an entire meal. An author’s note at the end encourages children to think about what the boy’s story, entitled “The Chickadee,” might say, breaking it down into The Beginning, The Middle and The End. There’s a brief description of each part of a story, including three writing prompts for each section, e.g. “The chickadee loved sunflower seeds, but whenever … ” The concise text offers both information and encouragement. (Ages 7-10)