No One Noticed Ralph by Bonnie Bishop, 1979.

Ralph is a parrot, living in an apartment with Mr. and Mrs. Muggs.  Ralph can whistle and talk, and he likes doing it because he enjoys the attention he gets from people when he does it.

He has certain times when he whistles, like when he wakes up Mr. and Mrs. Muggs in the morning, and certain words he says to get treats.  Sometimes, in the evenings, Mr. and Mrs. Muggs will light a fire in the fireplace and make popcorn, so Ralph will say, “Fire!” to remind them.

Ralph gets lonely when Mr. and Mrs. Muggs leave for work, and one day, he notices that they’ve left a window open.  He decides to fly outside and look for people to give him attention.

When he reaches the street, there are plenty of people, but they don’t pay attention to Ralph.  He tries whistling and using words he knows.  It has an effect on the people around him, but not what Ralph expects, and still no one notices him.

Then, Ralph sees an apartment on fire, and says, “Fire!”  It makes a man nearby notice the fire and call the fire department. The man who called the fire department realizes that Ralph is the one who yelled “Fire!” and calls him a hero.  Finally, Ralph gets attention!

Mr. and Mrs. Muggs return home to see everyone with Ralph and hear the story about how he became a hero.  Ralph is rewarded with a ride on the fire truck, his picture in the paper, and a lifetime supply of sesame seed crackers but it’s the attention he loves most.

I love this picture book and thought it was funny when I was a kid, when I had a pet bird myself.