Book excerpt: Curiosity overcomes fear A little blue bird is afraid to learn to fly, but is still very curious about the world beyond his nest. "Mama, mama, what is out there?" he asks. "Nothing," his mother replies. "Now go to sleep." But the little bird can't stop thinking about what his mother said. What is this nothing? Finally, curiosity draws the little bird from his nest into the wonders of the great outside world - and he learns to fly. When he returns, his family asks him, "What happened?" "Nothing!" replies the little blue bird, happily. With his characteristcally expressive and richly textured illustrations, Tomek Bogacki - whose fables for the very young have been likened to those of Leo Lionni - shows how a little bird, in his search for nothing, finds everything.