Read Kwik's book

Kwik is a white and blue budgie who lives with Bep in Deventer and waits for the kettle to click. His book has the crossword he steals, the green parrot on a cushion, and the two words he says very clearly. An example. 4 photos, the answers to the questions, about ten minutes. Yours is made the same way.

• 

  Kwik
• 

  Kwik

  2022

  Kwik

• Kwik

  2022

  For Kwik, who talks all day and means most of it.

  Kwik1

  Breed

  Budgerigar, white and blue

  Born

  2022

  Lives with

  Bep, in Deventer

  Visitors

  The grandchildren, Wednesday afternoons

  Loves

  The kettle, and coffee

  Fears

  A green parrot on a cushion

  Kwik2

• Half past seven. The cloth comes off.

  Kwik3

  The Cloth Comes Off

  At half past seven the cloth comes off the cage, and Kwik says nothing until it does. Then he starts, and he does not stop until the radio is on. After that they talk together, him and the radio, two voices going at once, neither one waiting for the other.

  Kwik4

• 

  Kwik5

  

  Kwik6

• He Waits for the Click

  The kettle makes Kwik come running. When it clicks, he calls out. Bep once made coffee without switching the kettle on, just to see, and Kwik stayed quiet the whole time. He was not fooled by the kettle sitting there. He waits for the click, and only the click will do.

  Kwik7

  

  Kwik8
• 

  On the rim of the cup, head against the bars, watching the street.

  Kwik9

  Not on the Perch

  Kwik does not sleep on his perch. He sleeps on the rim of the food cup, head against the bars, where he can watch the street. When the cage door is open, he has another spot: the arm of Bep's reading glasses, but only if they have been left on the table.

  Kwik10

• The Crossword Thief

  Kwik gets away with the crossword. He walks straight across the paper and pulls at the corner until it tears, working at it bit by bit until the whole edge is ragged. Bep lets him carry on, because while he is busy pulling at the paper, he is not down in her coffee cup instead. It is a fair trade, one ruined crossword for a saved cup.

  Kwik11

  

  Kwik12

• 

  Kwik13

  The Green Parrot

  Kwik is terrified of the big green parrot on the cushion Fleur brought home. Fleur, who is six, won it at the fair in August and put it straight on the sofa. It did not stay there long. The cushion lives in the hall now, well away from the cage.

  Kwik14

• Yes Yes

  When the neighbour was visiting and telling Bep about her knee, Kwik said 'yes yes' at exactly the right moment. The neighbour thought it was Bep. Bep didn't explain. The neighbour laughed until she had to sit down when she worked out whose voice it really was, and now she says 'yes yes' to Kwik before she even says hello to Bep.

  Kwik15

  

  Kwik16

• Who Else Loves Kwik

  • Bram, eight, teaches him words
  • The neighbour, who says 'yes yes' first
  • Bep, who cleans the cage anyway

  Kwik17

  The Regulars

  Bram, who is eight, teaches Kwik words that Bep is not going to repeat, and Kwik keeps them. The neighbour used to visit and just say hello, but now she says 'yes yes' to him first, every single time, before she has even greeted Bep. Between the two of them, Kwik has built himself a proper little audience.

  Kwik18

• Two Words, Very Clear

  Bram taught Kwik two words Bep is not going to repeat in full: 'Grandma smells.' Very clear, every time Bep cleans the cage. The first time he said it, Bram was at the table and did not look up from his sandwich. That was how Bep knew exactly where it had come from.

  Kwik19

  Grandma smells.

  Kwik20

• Words Around the Cage

  Kwik

  His name, and the first word he says

  Yes yes

  Learned by accident, now used on purpose

  Coffee

  Picked up from Bep herself

  Grandma smells

  Courtesy of Bram, said while cleaning the cage

  Kwik21
  KwikYes yesCoffeeGrandma smells

  Kwik22
• 

  Kwik23

  Still watching the street.

  Kwik24

• The cloth still comes off at half past seven, and Kwik still says nothing until it does. Bep cleans the cage, and he still says the same two words, clear as anything. The neighbour still says 'yes yes' before she says hello. The cushion stays in the hall.

  Kwik25
  

  Kwik, on the rim of the cup, watching the street.

  Kwik26

• This book was made for Kwik, from the words and photos of the people who love Kwik.

  bookofmypet.com