To my mind, Julia Donaldson is a wonderful children’s author which is why every time we spot another book of hers (and indeed there are many!) I just have to add it to my daughters’ collection. Our latest addition is Follow the Swallow.
This delightful tale tells of the wonderful relationship between two birds – Apollo the Swallow and Chack the blackbird. When we first meet them they are very young birds both learning to fly which is how they meet. They start to tell each other little bits about their lives but somehow, it all sounds a little far-fetched and they find it difficult to believe what the other is saying. For example Apollo tells Chack that one day he will fly away to Africa and in return Chack tells Apollo that one day the tree covered in white blossom will bear loads of orange berries and also that his now brown feathers will become black. Of course, as Apollo is going to spend half the year in Africa he will never witness the orange berries!
One day when Chack wakes up he sees the orange berries and can’t wait to tell Apollo. Unfortunately, this is the day that Apollo has set off to fly to Africa so he has gone. Chack tries to follow but when he gets to the sea he knows that he can’t go any further. However, he spots a dolphin and asks him to take a message to Chack which is ‘come to the tree!’ The dolphin in turn passes the message to a camel who passes it on to a crocodile and then finally to a monkey. However, along the way, much to my daughters’ amusement, the message keeps getting changed so finally the message Apollo receives is ‘one, two, three’. He doesn’t understand this at all but as it’s time to set back to England he decides that he will find out from Chack what he really meant. Of course, by the time he returns, the orange berries have all been eaten but Chack’s feathers are still black as he proudly shows off his mate, Rowena, and the eggs she has laid in their nest. The two birds finally believe what the other one has been telling all along.
This story is totally charming and the two birds really are delightfully sweet characters. It’s an enjoyable story which has more than a touch of humour. It reminds me of the game of Chinese Whispers that children play when you cannot pass a sentence orally along a line without it changing in some way. The girls thought that this was very funny.
The language is very accessible but also nicely descriptive. There are lots of adjectives used to describe the different creatures such as ‘jumpy dolphin’, ‘grumpy camel’, ‘greedy crocodile’ and ’playful monkey’. How these creatures behave really demonstrate why the adjectives were chosen. There is not too much text on any one page and my elder daughter who is nearly six (and really taking off with her reading) can read virtually all the words with ease.
Every page has a gorgeous illustration. I am used to seeing Julia Donaldson teaming up with the illustrator Axel Scheffler, but in this book she is working with Pam Smy. The effect is so different from books like The Gruffalo. Here the pictures are soft and muted with an almost mystical feel! They are really lovely and both girls really enjoy looking at these as we read the story.
This story has also really prompted an interest in these birds’ behaviour for my two girls and it’s a useful way in to talking about migration and why some birds do this. This interest has really pleased their bird loving dad as he has been able to share all his knowledge with them.
We have already read this book many times and I’m sure it’s likely to remain a firm favourite for some time to come. It is published by Egmont Press and has a RRP of £5.99.
On the back cover it is described by Books for Keeps as ‘a simply perfect picture book’ and we definitely agree!
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