Heinz Janisch and Helga Bansch Zack bumm! (Ker-boom!) Verlag Jungbrunnen, 2000, 24 pp. ISBN 3-7026-5722-3 Sigmund is a baby bird longing to be able to fly. So he leans out of the nest, just too far, and before he even has time to cry 'Help!' is sailing through the air and has landed on his head. 'Ker-boom!' he wails sadly. It sounds like a door shutting. From then he is completely unable to sing or twitter like the other little birds. All he can do is utter his painful squawk. All the animals in the wood just call him 'Ker-boom'. Then one day an old white hare called Carl Gustav appears by the tree in which Sigmund lives. He takes out a book and settles back comfortably against its trunk. 'Ker-boom!' croaks Sigmund. 'You sound very sad', says the hare. 'Can't you twitter like other birds?' 'Ker-boom', answers Sigmund. 'Then we'd better think of something to cheer you up', says the hare. 'Come and see me on Monday.' Sigmund flies all the way over the fields and woods to the sea, shouting 'ker-boom!' madly. He perches on a rock, still shouting 'Ker-boom!' Four little fishes watch him. Then he flies on to a meadow to see Carl Gustav. In the middle of the meadow is a grass-green sofa. 'That's the thinking sofa', says Carl Gustav. 'Lie down and try to remember when you first said 'Ker-boom'. Did you fall out of the nest and land on your head?' Just then something small comes hurtling through the air. Quick as an arrow Sigmund swoops to rescue it. It's another little bird that has fallen out of its nest. 'Bravo,' says Carl Gustav,' I never saw a bird fly as well as you.' Sigmund? Carl Gustav? Ring any psychological bells? Strictly for the birds - and adults - that bit, of course. But this simple, funny story and delightful coloured pictures are for children and their parents alike.