Max, the Bad-Talking Parrot by Patricia Brennan Demuth, illustrated by Bo Zaunders, 1986.
Don’t worry, Max’s “bad” talk isn’t really that bad.
Max is a parrot who belongs to a woman named Tillie. They live in a house that has been made into two apartments. The woman who lives in the apartment above them is Mrs. Goosebump. Mrs. Goosebump is Tillie’s friend, and Max likes her, too.
Because Mrs. Goosebump works the night shift in a toll booth, she always comes to see Tillie and Max in the morning, when her shift is over. Max always greets her with one of his rhymes. Everything Max says is a rhyme.
However, one day, as Max is dozing on Mrs. Goosebump’s shoulder during one of her visits, he thinks that he hears her calling him an ugly bird. Max gets upset and returns to his cage, not ever saying goodbye to Mrs. Goosebump when she leaves. He feels badly about the insult, and when Mrs. Goosebump visits later, he only gives her insulting rhymes, like, “Cupcake, bagel, cinnamon roll, Your brain’s as full as a donut hole!”
Mrs. Goosebump and Tillie have no idea why he’s so angry. The only thing that they can think to do is ignore him.
Later that night, a burglar breaks into Tillie’s apartment and starts stealing some of her things, including Max! Max is scared, but by coincidence, the burglar stops to pay at Mrs. Goosebump’s tollbooth. When Max recites some of his rhymes for her, she recognizes one of his usual rhymes and calls the police.
After Max is rescued, he finally tells Mrs. Goosebump why he was so angry, and Mrs. Goosebump explains that she actually said that he was “snugly”, not ugly. With the misunderstanding cleared up, the two of them become friends again. Max is also considered a hero for alerting Mrs. Goosebump about the robber.
When I was a kid, I thought that Max’s rhymes were funny, and the scene with the robber at the tollbooth is funny because Max tricks Mrs. Goosebump into believing that the burglar is insulting her before he says the rhyme that Mrs. Goosebump recognizes. The book is also a good lesson about the importance of talking to people about what you’re feeling in order to clear up misunderstandings.
A boy called Nicky and his mother are looking for a new place to live somewhere in New England. The mother wants to buy an old cottage with the idea of turning it into a tea room. At first, they have trouble finding a place, but finally they buy an old house that badly needs fixing up, not knowing that there is an old witch living there.
Jestress's Forgotten Books and Stories 