Free as a Bird

Jonas, the lighthouse keeper, wakes one morning, having dreamed about flying, free as a bird. Desperate to share with his friend, Blue the whale, Jonas sets off at once to find her. When he finds her, Jonas sees Blue has an exhausted bird on her head. Quickly, the friends take the bird back to the lighthouse where he is able to tell his story to Blue who can understand his tweets. Forced to flee from a beautiful country which is now in the grip of war, the little bird has undertaken a perilous journey in the hope of finding a safe place. As the little bird grows stronger, other birds arrive, singing the same song of freedom. Helped by Blue and Jonas, they stay until they have regained their strength before moving on, but their new friend has found a new home.

Revisiting the characters from ‘I Love You, Blue’, ‘Free as a Bird’ is a gorgeous story, celebrating the importance of compassion, love and a place to call home. Thought-provoking and moving, the story uses the idiom ‘free as a bird’ to explore the plight of refugees, cleverly contrasting the freedom from worry and trouble which the expression implies with the realities of the bird’s experiences.

To use another idiom, Blue and Jonas are the bird’s ‘lighthouse in a storm’, a place of safety where he is lucky to find a compassionate, understanding welcome. Their care for the bird and the refuge they offer to the many other birds who come seeking sanctuary is a joy to see as the book reaches its very satisfying, heart-warming conclusion. The illustrations are just delightful, full of charm and character.

A very powerful story, perfect for developing empathy, ‘Free as a Bird’ is a must have!

Free as a Bird

Barroux

Otter-Barry Books     ISBN: 978-1915659330

You can read my review of ‘I Love You, Blue’ here.

I Love You, Blue

A whale called Blue rescues Jonas the lighthouse-keeper from stormy seas and the two become friends. But when Jonas sets off to find the whale on the following day, he discovers Blue ill and in great danger, needing Jonas’s help.

This charming story is perfect for introducing children to the dangers of plastic pollution and the need to care for our oceans and the creatures that live there. As Jonas explores the beauty of the ocean, the sharp-eyed reader will notice hints of the problem to come in the water beneath him as amongst the fish, carrier bags can be seen, offering the perfect starting point for discussions about how some things end up in our oceans when they really should not be there.

Jonas’s enthusiasm for the world around him and his joy at meeting Blue are infectious. His care for this massive creature is evident in his anxiety when he cannot find his friend, leaving the reader with the heartfelt plea to ‘Save our oceans. Save our whales.’ Although the story is simple and perfect for using with the youngest children, teachers of KS2 children will also be quick to see the possibilities it offers when working with older children. A message from Barroux at the end of the book says that Blue represents all whales- over 20 different species- and different children could undertake research on different species, perhaps recording their findings as non-chronological reports, perhaps preparing a persuasive speech with a view to taking action or perhaps simply sharing their research findings with their peers.

The story might also inspire children to take part in a beach clean or to organise a clean up of their own school grounds, investigating the different types of rubbish commonly found and developing suggestions for how the school community could tackle the issue.

The illustrations are just wonderful and sure to inspire children to experiment with using watercolours to create seascapes of their own or to explore techniques for creating the sky/ sea as Barroux has used here.

A complete delight, this is a book I will be using in school again and again!

I Love You, Blue Barroux

Otter-Barry Books ISBN: 978-1913074500