Bird to Bird
Age 5+
Picture Books
Bird to Bird is based on a true story of recycled timber that dates back to a convict ship.
A bird drops a seed on the floor of the forest, it grows into a tree. The tree is then cut down and the lumber sent to London. The wood is used to build beds on a convict boat that sails to Australia. It then becomes a loom, then part of a kitchen until finally it is carved by a craftsman into a beautiful bird.
Creators
Claire Saxby is an award-winning and best-selling picture book author. Her two previous Nature Storybooks, Big Red Kangaroo (2013) and Emu (2014) both illustrated by Graham Byrne have won numerous awards. Big Red Kangaroo was a 2014 CBCA Notable Book, and won the CBCA Crichton Award for illustration, and Emu was short-listed for 2015 CBCA Eve Pownall Award and won the Environment Award for Children's Literature. Claire lives in Melbourne, where she works part-time in a bookshop. Her latest book is Koala, illustrated by Julie Vivas.
Reviews
A gentle story of Australia’s beginnings is given a broader scope through the illustrations showing Australia through time; beginning with the convict ships arriving on Sydney’s shore to the building of looms to prepare cloth, the settlers’ huts miles from the city, then back to the place it started, the harbour where children play with the last product of the original tree.
Fran Knight - Read Plus
Bird to Bird is a book that packs a powerful punch.
Kids' Book Review
This book can be used to discuss how things change with time, and how some things can be used over and over for different purposes
Karen Colliver - Read Plus
Harris’ evocative paintings are the perfect pairing to Saxby’s simple, poetic text
Books+Publishing
The beautiful and sparse writing of Claire tells a story of a tree and its importance. A delight.
The Little Book Emporium
An imaginative, thought-provoking book.
Reading Time
Saxby’s text is elegant and sparse, filled with gentle repetition and a beautifully circular narrative. Wayne Harris’ accompanying illustrations are stunning.
Books+Publishing
Lovely artwork helps young readers to engage with aspects of history.
Blog of Dog
This is an excellent, thoughtful book.
Patreon
I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading to classes in the school library.
NZ Book Council
