Viva Cisco is a parrot who lives in the valley of Topopootl (sorry, do not know how to say Topopootl). This parrot has a rather large ego and a desire for fame. Unfortunately, his job is at the Topopootl Public Library as The Answer Man. Now, there is nothing wrong with working in a library. I t... more

Viva Cisco is a parrot who lives in the valley of Topopootl (sorry, do not know how to say Topopootl). This parrot has a rather large ego and a desire for fame. Unfortunately, his job is at the Topopootl Public Library as The Answer Man. Now, there is nothing wrong with working in a library. I think it would be a wonderful place to be employed. Most every library is quiet, friendly, comfortable and full of books anyone can read. I think Cisco agreed with all of that until his office was moved to the basement where no one could find him. Many of the questions Cisco receives he responses to with really dumb answers, being more concerned about his own sanity than helping the caller. Eventually he goes off to find better attention getting employment. In the second of three stories, Cisco decides to become a private eye (PI), to solve the growing numbers of burglaries in his village. Topopootl is which usually very peaceful with those that live there generally not wanting for anything. The villagers are scared. Cisco plays PI in order to catch the rat stealing from his village. Along the way he is helped by two friends who are more dimwitted than dead light bulbs or fireflies that have lost their rear-ends. If this were a movie, story two would be partly slap-stick. In the end Cisco was never needed as a PI. The dirty little rat stealing from the villagers was merely a ”collector” from Mexico. The final story has Cisco and his friends taking on the task of finding Topopootl’s history. The ancient writings, telling the story of the animal’s problems with humans, are uncovered along with an unexpected discovering involving all the skunks. Turns out the skunks in Topopootl are not the little stinkers their biology has us believing. Mr. Shannon has written very imaginative stories, vividly. At times, he writes a tremendous amount of dialogue in a row which keeps the story moving quickly, but who is speaking can be confusing if not closely paying attention, because of the same quickness. I personally did not like the stories and there is no reason for that except personal preference. Mr. Shannon is a good story teller and he has a vivid imagination. I normally love those two things in a movie and especially in a book. I even like stories with talking animals in a suspended world. There was something that threw me which I find hard to explain. For that reason, check this book of three stories out and decide for yourself. Received from readthebook.com, courtesy of the author

This book contains three short stories about the life of Cisco the parrot and all his animal friend of Topopootl. ….. The first story introduces us to Cisco and his gift of words, how he has finally got the job that he thought was perfect for him, the Answer Man at the library, he found himself u... more

This book contains three short stories about the life of Cisco the parrot and all his animal friend of Topopootl. ….. The first story introduces us to Cisco and his gift of words, how he has finally got the job that he thought was perfect for him, the Answer Man at the library, he found himself unhappy. Thinking that the job lacked fame and fortune, he set out to find another line of work. Trying to find his place in the community of Topopootl seemed to be more difficult than he first expected. In fact, wrestling, flamenco dancing, and even soaring high in the sky was much more difficult that he originally thought it would be, but with the help of his friends, he may find the fame he had always wanted in a way that is much more his speed. … Cisco and his friends return in the second story to solve a very interesting mystery of Topopootl’s crime wave that had most of the town nervous and worried about leaving their homes. ….. In the third story Cisco and his friends want to find the true, original reason and meaning for their favored celebration, the Fiesta of Little Flowers and to discover why it is made so special for the skunks. The Word Man really is best at being the Answer Man, he goes to the strangest lengths to solve the mysteries that he finds himself in. The back of the book is marked as “Nearly true tales of a really cool parrot”, not sure about the nearly true, but the really cool parrot is accurate. While reading this story (out loud to my kids) we discovered that while at first the names were awkward, the fun was just beginning. The crazy antics of Cisco and his assurance that he was on the right track only made it easier to laugh at him when he fell on his face or in the water. While this is mostly just a fun book to read with the kids, it also make a good point (if a little subtle) that you should be ok with yourself as you are and not want to be like others, because it sometimes just doesn’t matter what you want. If you can’t fly high in the sky, you can’t fly that high.