Scoot

A Tiny New York Bird with a Great Big Idea

Illustrated by Bruce Degen
Look inside
A little sparrow displays big courage as she journeys across the iconic New York City skyline to save a flock of travelling birds. With showstopping artwork from Bruce Degen, illustrator of the Magic School Bus series.

Scoot! Busy people on the bustling New York City streets shout at a little sparrow, but Scoot loves exploring the tasty smells and sparkling sights of the city with her new friend Scram. Busy cabs on Fifth Avenue. Glitzy dancers at Radio City Music Hall. Shoemakers, dressmakers, and bakers working all day. Scoot wants to be a part of it all, but what can a little bird do?
 
“Rise up!” answered Scoot.
“Follow me! Aim high:
I see a way we can help
in the sky!”
 
When flocks of migrating birds get lost among the shiny windows and nighttime lights, Scoot and her new friends guide the birds to safety, discovering that she can do more than get out of the way.
 
Inspired by the real danger skyscrapers pose to urban wildlife, Fran Manushkin, author of the beloved Katie Woo series and member the New York Audubon Society, has crafted an uplifting tale with an important urban ecological message.
 
Illustrator of beloved children’s books like The Magic School Bus series and Jamberry, Bruce Degen captures the dazzling views and lively energy of the city in vibrant gouache. Scoot! tells a classic New York City story from the perspective of the city’s most overlooked residents with wonder and heart.
 
Fran Manushkin is the author of many popular picture books, including How Mama Brought the Spring; Baby, Come Out!; Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Story; and The Tushy Book. She is also the author of the long-running Katie Woo series with 36 books and Pedro series. Fran lives in New York City. 

Bruce Degen is the illustrator of the Magic School Bus series and both author and illustrator of the classic picture book Jamberry. He lives in Newtown, Connecticut.
"Rhyming text, composed into short, approachable verses, will appeal to those just stretching their independent reading skills or those seeking a story with connections to bird ­migration or urban life. . . . With memorable, colorful illustrations filled with New York City sights, this rhyming story ties together Scoot's ambitions to survive in the big city and kindly help others navigate the migration path."—School Library Journal

"Snappy, staccato text by Manushkin (Plenty of Hugs) energizes this metropolitan tale about a new New Yorker contributing to the city’s welfare. . . . In architecturally attentive pencil and gouache panels, Degen (the Magic School Bus series) zooms in tight to see action from a sparrow’s-eye view, then pans wide to present famous city landmarks, changing perspectives to chime with the sparky narration in a title that shows how everyone has gifts to give."—Publishers Weekly

"Melodious, sprightly text charts the course. . . . Degen’s detailed, bustling pencil-and-watercolor cartoons present a variety of perspectives, from aerial streetscape views to binocular-like closeups of Scoot in action."—Booklist

"An intriguing idea. . . ."—Kirkus Reviews

About

A little sparrow displays big courage as she journeys across the iconic New York City skyline to save a flock of travelling birds. With showstopping artwork from Bruce Degen, illustrator of the Magic School Bus series.

Scoot! Busy people on the bustling New York City streets shout at a little sparrow, but Scoot loves exploring the tasty smells and sparkling sights of the city with her new friend Scram. Busy cabs on Fifth Avenue. Glitzy dancers at Radio City Music Hall. Shoemakers, dressmakers, and bakers working all day. Scoot wants to be a part of it all, but what can a little bird do?
 
“Rise up!” answered Scoot.
“Follow me! Aim high:
I see a way we can help
in the sky!”
 
When flocks of migrating birds get lost among the shiny windows and nighttime lights, Scoot and her new friends guide the birds to safety, discovering that she can do more than get out of the way.
 
Inspired by the real danger skyscrapers pose to urban wildlife, Fran Manushkin, author of the beloved Katie Woo series and member the New York Audubon Society, has crafted an uplifting tale with an important urban ecological message.
 
Illustrator of beloved children’s books like The Magic School Bus series and Jamberry, Bruce Degen captures the dazzling views and lively energy of the city in vibrant gouache. Scoot! tells a classic New York City story from the perspective of the city’s most overlooked residents with wonder and heart.
 

Author

Fran Manushkin is the author of many popular picture books, including How Mama Brought the Spring; Baby, Come Out!; Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Story; and The Tushy Book. She is also the author of the long-running Katie Woo series with 36 books and Pedro series. Fran lives in New York City. 

Bruce Degen is the illustrator of the Magic School Bus series and both author and illustrator of the classic picture book Jamberry. He lives in Newtown, Connecticut.

Praise

"Rhyming text, composed into short, approachable verses, will appeal to those just stretching their independent reading skills or those seeking a story with connections to bird ­migration or urban life. . . . With memorable, colorful illustrations filled with New York City sights, this rhyming story ties together Scoot's ambitions to survive in the big city and kindly help others navigate the migration path."—School Library Journal

"Snappy, staccato text by Manushkin (Plenty of Hugs) energizes this metropolitan tale about a new New Yorker contributing to the city’s welfare. . . . In architecturally attentive pencil and gouache panels, Degen (the Magic School Bus series) zooms in tight to see action from a sparrow’s-eye view, then pans wide to present famous city landmarks, changing perspectives to chime with the sparky narration in a title that shows how everyone has gifts to give."—Publishers Weekly

"Melodious, sprightly text charts the course. . . . Degen’s detailed, bustling pencil-and-watercolor cartoons present a variety of perspectives, from aerial streetscape views to binocular-like closeups of Scoot in action."—Booklist

"An intriguing idea. . . ."—Kirkus Reviews

Reading with Purpose Summit Event

On Monday, June 10th, Penguin Random House Education and DK Learning co-hosted a Reading with Purpose Summit Event in collaboration with Molly Ness, PhD. The event took place at Penguin Random House’s NYC headquarters and included sessions featuring leading education experts and a lunchtime author panel. The in-person professional learning event was built to show

Read more

2024 Elementary School Collection

The Penguin Random House Education Elementary School Collection features outstanding fiction, nonfiction, and picture books from Penguin Young Reader’s, Random House Children’s, DK, and Grupo Editorial, as well as children’s publishers distributed by Penguin Random House. Explore online or download this valuable resource to discover great books in specific topic areas such as: Leveled Readers,

Read more

DK Learning Phonic Books Sampler Request

Thank you for your interest in DK Learning | Phonic Books. To download the DK Learning | Phonic Books sampler with four complete readers, please click here and complete the form. Once your information is successfully submitted, a link to download the sampler will be provided on the confirmation screen.   Click here to learn

Read more

PRH Education Translanguaging Collections

Translanguaging is a communicative practice of bilinguals and multilinguals, that is, it is a practice whereby bilinguals and multilinguals use their entire linguistic repertoire to communicate and make meaning (García, 2009; García, Ibarra Johnson, & Seltzer, 2017)   It is through that lens that we have partnered with teacher educators and bilingual education experts, Drs.

Read more