5^th Grade and Up

Ten years ago, an impossible thing happened: a flock of pigeons picked up a human baby who had been abandoned in an empty lot and carried her, bundled in blankets, to their roof. Coo has lived her entire life on the rooftop with the pigeons who saved her. It’s the only home she’s ever known. But then a hungry hawk nearly kills Burr, the pigeon she loves most, and leaves him gravely hurt.
Coo must make a perilous trip to the ground for the first time to find Tully, a retired postal worker who occasionally feeds Coo’s flock, and who can heal injured birds. Tully mends Burr’s broken wing and coaxes Coo from her isolated life. Living with Tully, Coo experiences warmth, safety, and human relationships for the first time. But just as Coo is beginning to blossom, she learns the human world is infinitely more complex—and cruel—than she could have imagined.

After reading that summary, you’re probably thinking the same thing I did when I first read it: “WHAT! A GIRL RAISED BY PIGEONS!? HOW!? Finding out how a flock of pigeons could possibly take care of a human baby was the main reason I wanted to read this book. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t go into enough detail about how Coo survived on the roof during her infant years. It just starts with how the pigeons find her and skips about 10 years later to her current life living with the pigeons.

This story turned out to be so much more emotional and heartwarming than I could have ever imagined. I highly recommend listening to this story in audio form. That way you can hear every emotion radiating from every word said in Coo’s sweet, squeaky voice. What makes this such a great story is that even though the concept of a girl being raised by pigeons is completely unbelievable, the story is so well written that everything seems possible.

Coo is a sweet, strong, innocent character that you can’t help falling in love with. I love her realistic reactions to experiencing so many new things, from eating warm food to bathing for the first time.

After reading this book, you’ll gain a soft spot for pigeons. Each pigeon has their own name, personality and their simple straightforward Yoda-like language is so creative and cute. Pigeons aren’t that bad. They are funny interesting creatures who are actually very intelligent. They don’t bite or attack and are actually very clean and there is very little evidence that they transmit disease. They just poop a lot. And I believe that it would be just as hard to get humans to stop dropping their gum everywhere as it would to be to stop pigeons from pooping on cars.

If you want to learn more about pigeons, click on the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8Y7Q1eja-E&list=WL&index=4&t=46s

As a bonus, here’s a funny YouTube video of a pigeon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm1_ShLn_u8&list=WL&index=4

And as another bonus, here are some funny pigeon pictures I found. Enjoy!

This weeks’ Weird but True Fact about Pigeons

Pigeons can recognize themselves in a mirror.