Two Picture Books With Boy Appeal

Fly, pigeon, fly! by John Henderson & Julia Donaldson; ill. Thomas Docherty. London: Little Tiger Press, 2006
This story of a boy's attachment to a baby bird he rescues from starvation (later even teaching it to fly!) is a delight. First-time author Henderson has joined forces with established writer Julia Donaldson in recording this incident from his own childhood in working class Glasgow. Don't be put off by the inexplicably dull monochromatic cover--Thomas Docherty's illustrations inside the book are quite beautiful.

Wind-wild dog by Barbara Joosse, ill. Kate Kiesler. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2006
'The night Ziva was born, the wind held its breath' . Ziva, a huskie pup has been born with one eye brown, the other blue, and no one wants her because this supposedly means she is half-wild, impossible to train as a sled dog. Ziva's prospects look bleaker than the weather in her remote Alaskan home, but luckily her path is crossed by a man who also has a wild streak....

Both books could be seen as illustrations of the rather cliched saying 'If you love something, set it free', but they deal with their contrasting subjects in a fresh, original way that is moving without being sentimental. Both are good read-alouds that should appeal to boys in the middle-senior primary school range.

Reviewed by Cecily