SOLVED. Main character Penelope, something about a (talking?) parrot, and adventure - childrens/YA fantasy. [s]

[N E]

In the mid-80s when I was a kid, I read a book that had a beautiful coloured hard cover which memory tells me was covered in feathers, like a tropical parrot (or possibly leaves like a jungle - memories are tricky things!)

The main character was a girl called Penelope. I remember because as a kid I didn't know how to pronounce that name (and thought it was "penny-lope"). I'm sure there was a talking parrot, and they went on some kind of treasure-hunting adventure (maybe).

I think the book was newish because the colour was so bright and vibrant. I borrowed it from the library (Tasmania, Australia)

It's been killing me for years because I can't remember anything else! Would love to find it again!

[Mai]

Hi! Do you think they could be talking about your book in this other forum? It came up searching "children's book" "80s" "penelope" "parrot".
"Gerald Durrell, The Talking Parcel (later republished as The Battle for Castle Cockatrice), 1974. This might be a bit of a longshot... Penelope and two other children are recruited by a talking parrot to go to Mythologia, a world of fantastic animals by means of a magic train, in order to save the land from marauding cockatrices. They meet many creatures, such as mooncalves, werewolves, a sea serpent, phoenix, and more. The author is much better known for his amazing (and very funny) books for adults about his adventures in animal tracking and collecting. You can definitely see the influence in this work: each of his fantastic creatures has its particular habitat, diet and needs. This book was later made into a very odd animated film!"
http://www.loganberrybooks.com/solved...

This is the later edition:

You can see pictures of both covers here: https://www.google.com/search?q=Geral...

[N E]

Gosh that didn’t take long! That’s the one! I knew it as The Talking Parcel. Wow! Thank you so much!!

[Mai]

Remembering a character's name helps a lot in the search! I'm glad this was the book you were looking for!!

[Sycorax]

Got here too late to name it, but wow, didn't know there was a film!