Windhover - Hardcover

Brown, Alan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0001982044 ISBN 13: 9780001982048

Publisher: HarperCollinsChildren’sBooks, 1997

Synopsis

A baby kestrel gets abducted by a lonely child who eventually thinks better of it. We follow the growth both of the bird and the misguided child.

“When I open my eyes, the sky is the first thing I see.” A baby kestrel is born high up in the wall of a school and he learns quickly about his parents, who bring him food and the children who play in the yard below. But one day, the little hawk is snatched from the nest by a school bully. But Dan is really just a lonely boy looking for a friend. He has not yet learned that a wild creature cannot be owned.

Movingly told, beautifully illustrated.

About this title

Review:

Windhover by Alan Brown will appeal to all ages. It’s about a baby kestrel who gets abducted by a child who eventually thinks better of it.
The large illustrations are strangely calming. It’s the perfect just-before-bedtime item because it puts everyone into a good mood and takes only five minutes to read. (The Observer)

This is one of the most beautifully illustrated books I have ever seen and its message – that you should never try to own a wild creature – is crystal clear.
(London Parents Guide)

From the Back Cover:

High above the playground, safe in a clover leaf-shaped hollow, a kestrels chick is born. Life is safe and warm in his hideaway home, surrounded by his brother and sister, fed and nurtured by loving parents; life holds no dangers for the young chick.

Until one day, footsteps sound on the stairway, a large shape looms above the nest, and the chick is snatched from his home and bundled into the darkness. A lonely boy, looking for a friend, keeps the chick locked in a cage. Refusing to eat, the chick grows thinner and home becomes a distant memory. Will anybody help, will somebody find the young 'Windhover' in time?

A compassionate and moving story, beautifully illustrated, creating a real sense of how the world is seen through the eyes of a young bird.

Christian Birmingham graduated in illustration from Exeter College of Art and Design in 1991. Since then he has illustrated several books for Collins, the first of which, 'The Magic Bicycle' by Berlie Doherty, was shortlisted for the Kurt Maschler award. Other titles include 'The Sea of Tranquility' by Mark Hidden and Charles Dickens' classic 'Oliver Twist'.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollinsChildren’sBooks
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0001982044
• ISBN 13: 9780001982048
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 36
• Illustrator: Birmingham Christian