The Shoe Bird: A Musical Fable: A Musical Fable by Samuel Jones. Based on a Story by Eudora Welty

Welty's only "children's book", this was just enormous fun for me to read. Full of word play and puns, and bird characters that act exactly as they ought to given their personalities and the incredible situation they find themselves in. Arturo the Parrot is an essential employee of Mr. Friendly's Shoe Store, where Mrs. Thompson brings her children to outfit their feet for a new school year. Robbie Thompson is not thrilled with this project, and upon finally leaving the store makes the pronouncement that "Shoes are for the birds!" Well, Arturo's motto is "If you hear it, tell it", so naturally he repeats the phrase where it will do the most harm, in the hearing of the silly, bossy, self-absorbed Goose. What ensues is a store full of birds all trying on shoes with hilarious results, until ultimately everyone except the Goose decides that shoes are not for birds and Arturo decides his motto ought more properly be "If you hear it, think it over". I'm not sure at what age this might begin to appeal...there are an awful lot of words on the page, it is definitely not "easy reading", and many of the jokes would be lost on a child with less love of language and knowledge of birds than our wonderful Miss Eudora had. But I'm very glad I discovered it.

The story is WONDERFUL! My granddaughters, ages 3, 5, 5, and 9 are entranced by the orchestral presentation of each bird.The children's choir is also very good.Two problems with the CD. First, the sound mixing of the story teller and the orchestra and choir is not well balanced. ------I have to do a lot of manual volume control. Second, the choir's words are sometimes difficult to understandOn the whole, a delightful alternative to a movie in the car.

Samuel Jones' adaptation of Eudora Welty's book, Jim Dale's narration, The Seattle Symphony conducted by Gerard Schwarz, and pitch-perfect Seattle Boychoir & Girls of Vocalpoint, Seattle conducted by Joseph Crnko have joined forces creating a timeless classic sure to appeal to adults and children. Mr.Jones has skillfully interwoven his music and story, using the instruments of the orchestra to give voices to the birds. The nuances of Jim Dale's narration give each bird their own personality, bringing them most vividly to life. Filled with wit and wisdom it is a piece that begs to be listened to time and again, each listen providing something new. Dare say the next time you hear a bird singing in the wild both lessons learned, and the songs of the birds from The Shoe Bird: A Musical Fable will come to mind.

This is wonderful for all ages! The story is terrific and the narration and music really bring the book to life. The children's choir adds to the depth of the recording (and is terrific). Our whole family has enjoyed this! I'd have given it 5 stars but there are some sound level/volume challenges during the recording (which means you have to adjust the volume a tad so you can hear or so it's not too loud). Despite that, it is still WONDERFUL! The story is captivating and is packed with teachable moments/morals. Highly, highly recommended!

My three year old son loves this recording and tries to sing along too. Jim Dale's voices are magnificent and the music is just incredible. If you love Peter and the Wolf, you must add this recording to your collection!