Bluebird by Lindsey Yankey (Children's, Picture book, 8/10E, semi-short 'n' sweet review)

November 2013, Simply Read Books, 32 pages, Hardback, Review copy

Summary from Simply Read Books

The wind is missing! Little Bluebird has never flown without her friend the wind before and is afraid to try. So she sets off on an adventure to find it.
 

Is it making wishes with the dandelions? Playing with the kites? Tickling the grass? Dancing with the balloons? She searches everywhere. In the end, she finds more than her favorite friend--she finds confidence too!

Nayuleska's thoughts

By having her friend Wind go missing Bluebird discovers how life can go on without something, but it's never exactly the same. This sense of loneliness isn't a negative emotion because there is a lot of hope from Bluebird, until the end when she discovers something wonderful. The graceful illustrations use bright colours to hone in on particular elements of the story, sometimes a small area is bright and other times a large one. I liked the contrast this provided - I found it fun spotting where Bluebird was first then I would look at the rest of the picture. 

There is a lot of fine detail in the drawings, with the weeping willow looking distinctly unhappy and the newspaper being lines of actual text. The one thing which pulled the grade of this down was how some parts of some scenes were drawn at a different angle to how it would be seen in reality. I strongly dislike topsy turvey objects because they look weird and can give me strange dreams, hence why such a drop for what is an exceptional book.

Find out more on Lindsey's website.

Suggested read

Another thought provoking read is Whimsy's Heavy Things by Julie Kraulis (Children's, Picture book, 10E/10E