Free

by Sam Usher, Sam Usher (Illustrator)

Overview

The first in a new quartet of enchanting picture books where a boy and his beloved grandad discover the wonder of the natural world

When a boy and his grandad take care of a little bird, the boy wants to keep it, but Grandad knows it must return to its natural habitat in the wild, where it can spread its wings and be free. And so begins an exhilarating journey into the mountains to return the bird to where it belongs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536217049
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	04/20/2021
Series:	Nature Quartet
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Sam Usher’s debut picture book, Can You See Sassoon, was short-listed for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. He is also the author-illustrator of Snow, Rain, Sun, and Storm, the first of which was long-listed for the Kate Greenaway Medal. He lives in England.

Editorial Reviews

A child and grandfather help a fine feathered friend...Opening itself up to myriad conversations and interpretations, Free is fabulous.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

A boy finds a sick bird on his windowsill and asks his grandfather for help. . . Children familiar with Usher’s Seasons with Grandad series, including Snow (2015), Rain (2017), and Storm (2018), will cheer the return of this adventuresome duo in a new quartet of nature-themed picture books, beginning with this volume. The main characters’ relationship grounds the story so firmly that even the magical flight seems believable. Expressive ink drawings, tinted with watercolors, illuminate the story. An imaginative picture book with broad appeal.
—Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 2021-02-09
A child and grandfather help a fine feathered friend.

The child’s first-person narration recounts the discovery of a sickly bird one morning. The grandfather and child (who both appear White) nurse the bird back to health throughout the course of the day. Each time they do something for the bird, they leave it outside to set it free, but it returns to them. Finally, the grandfather suggests that they search for a tree like one he sees alongside a picture of the same type of bird in a bird book. At this point in the story, the colorful watercolor-and-ink illustrations take a turn toward the fantastic, with the child and grandfather traversing rocky, mountainous terrain to reach the tree and the mild, English pastel palette taking on dramatic tones. Soon after they reach their destination, an enormous flock of colorful birds (depicted on the cover) alights on the branches, with the human characters perched alongside them. They all enjoy a “midnight feast” of oversized berries and then the birds fly the child and grandfather “all the way home” for breakfast. Usher’s art, which bears a resemblance to Quentin Blake’s style, makes the most of panels to show sequential movement in this scene. The mechanics of the feat are not quite clear, but the thrill is. The bird they rescued stays with the flock, but there’s no sadness in that fact (though the child hopes that the bird “visits again tomorrow”).

Opening itself up to myriad conversations and interpretations, Free is fabulous. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews