The Bird in Me Flies

by Sara Lundberg, B.J. Epstein (Translator)

Overview

A prize-winning, illustrated novel in verse about a young girl who dreams of being an artist, inspired by the life of Swedish artist Berta Hansson.

What do you do when it feels impossible to live up to everything expected of you? When the only person who understands you disappears? When you are young and long for something that seems out of reach?

Berta dreams of being an artist, but as a girl growing up in a small Swedish farming village in the 1920s, she has little hope. She finds solace in nature, and in drawing and shaping birds from clay for her mother, the only person who seems to truly understand her. When her mother succumbs to tuberculosis, Berta feels alone, in despair and even more burdened by all the work on the farm. Can she find the courage to defy her father and the social conventions of her time, and fly free?

This beautifully illustrated novel in verse, inspired by the paintings, letters and diaries of Swedish artist Berta Hansson (1910-1994), is a universal story of grief, longing and following your dreams.

Includes an afterword by journalist Alexandra Sundqvist.

Key Text Features
captions photographs biographical information

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.7
Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781773062600
Publisher:	Groundwood Books
Publication date:	08/01/2020
Pages:	120
Sales rank:	647,223
Product dimensions:	6.75(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.76(d)
Lexile:	600L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

SARA LUNDBERG studied at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland, and at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. She was a painter before she began to focus on picture books. She won the August Prize, Sweden’s highest literary honor, for the original edition of this book, among other awards. In addition to authoring several titles, she has illustrated more than thirty children’s books, including Skriv om och om igen, another August Prize winner. Sara lives in Stockholm, Sweden.

B.J. EPSTEIN is a writer, editor and translator. She is also a Senior Lecturer in the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. A native of Chicago, she now makes her home in Norwich, UK.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Praise for Sara Lundberg and The Bird in Me Flies:

Shortlisted, CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal, 2021
Mighty Village Spring Book Picks, 2020
Booklist Top 10 Art Books for Youth, 2020
Evanston Public Library, 101 Great Books for Kids List, 2020

“The text itself is often spare and melancholy, translated beautifully from the original Swedish by Epstein, but it’s also infused with intimacy and familial warmth. The striking illustrations—of gouache, aquarelle, and collage—reflect the emotional journey.” — Booklist, starred review

“Melancholy and moving.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Lundberg’s handsome biography of self-discovery remembers an artist who came to know without a doubt who she was meant to be.” — Publishers Weekly

"Anyone who has cultivated a dream that defies societal demands and cultural ­expectations will appreciate this affecting story of a young girl’s struggle to achieve her creative aspirations." —School Library Journal

“The sparse written text flows smoothly and poetically. … For readers with an interest in art, The Bird in Me Flies is a book especially worth reading.” — CM Review of Materials

“Lunderg’s illustrations done in aquarelle, gouache and collage are exceptional, and easily transcend you to this time and place. The prose is equally compelling and introspective.” — Mighty Village

"A pensive, thoughtful and thought-provoking read." — Fab Book Reviews Blog

“A beautiful, vital children’s book about art and life, which inspires its readers to dare to follow their own bird wherever they want.”— August Prize Jury

“Lundberg tells the story with tenderness, specificity, and a spare eloquence.”— Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast Blog

“[I]mpressive. Certainly worthy of discovery.” — A Fuse #8 Production Blog

"The Bird in Me Flies is a perfect refrain for a young rebel. … The greater story is about following one’s heart.”— Gunilla Brodej, Expressen

“… a piece of (women’s) history for the youngest, but executed in a fashion of high artistic originality — never preachy or stilted. The illustrations are incredibly beautiful … The language is poetic and lovely, and full of implicit sorrow and longing … This is children’s literature at its finest.”— Ida Therén, writer and cultural critic, ETC

“This book shouldn’t be missed, by neither children nor adults …” — Västerbottens-Kuriren

Editorial Reviews

04/06/2020

Gracefully translated by Epstein, this illustrated biography of Swedish painter Berta Hansson (1910–1994) traces a rural childhood that twines tragedy with the burning desire to create art. Berta loves to draw, but she lives on a farm, where art is a luxury not to be thought of—especially since her mother is bedridden with tuberculosis. The family doctor recognizes Berta’s talent, but her father dismisses it. She considers her future with only scraps of inspiration—a Sistine Chapel picture from her uncle, paintings glimpsed through a window. In verse and dozens of poignant, intimate gouaches, Lundberg shows Berta’s family at their tasks, the countryside around their farm, and images of Berta drawing and molding clay, forming small bird shapes that symbolize her readiness to take flight. Lundberg’s handsome biography of self-discovery remembers an artist who came to know without a doubt who she was meant to be. Ages 9–12. (May)

Publishers Weekly

[I]mpressive. Certainly worthy of discovery.

A Fuse #8 Production Blog

The text itself is often spare and melancholy, translated beautifully from the original Swedish by Epstein, but it’s also infused with intimacy and familial warmth. The striking illustrations—of gouache, aquarelle, and collage—reflect the emotional journey. STARRED REVIEW

Booklist

A pensive, thoughtful and thought-provoking read.

Fab Book Reviews Blog

08/01/2020

Gr 2–6—This fictionalized biography depicts Swedish artist Berta Hansson's childhood. Told in verse, the text chronicles the events leading up to Hansson's departure from her village as a young woman in 1927. Hansson wanted to continue her education and pursue her interest in art; she was expected to stay and help with the family farm until she got married. Her passion for art, however, couldn't be suppressed. Hansson's uncle, who was a painter himself, inspired his niece. The family doctor, who noted and nurtured Hansson's talents, also supported her. Ultimately, her father gave her permission to leave the farm and embark on an art career. The illustrations, done in gouache, collage and watercolor, add context and detail to the story, allowing for the passage of time and change of place without explicitly naming these transitions. The power of Hansson's story comes through the matter-of-fact first-person narration (informed by her diaries) and is enhanced by Lundberg's illustrations, which echo Hansson's art. A lengthy afterword continues and completes the details of Hansson's journey to becoming a prominent expressionist; photographs and original artwork are included. VERDICT Anyone who has cultivated a dream that defies societal demands and cultural expectations will appreciate this affecting story of a young girl's struggle to achieve her creative aspirations. Recommended for larger collections to supplement artist biographies.—Lynn Van Auken, Oak Bluffs Sch., MA

School Library Journal

2020-03-25
Swedish artist Berta Hansson grows up on a farm and finds it stifling in this fictionalized account.

In 1920s Sweden, a family farm requires a lot of work. Everyone pitches in except Mama, in bed with tuberculosis. Berta covers Mama’s sickroom wall with drawings and makes birds of clay for her; it is achingly painful that she and Mama can’t hug for fear of contagion. Berta wants to be a bird herself, to “fly off. / Away from our village— / to something else. / To a place where I could be myself”—to stop doing farmwork and housework, and to make art all the time. Even as a job—and even though she’s a girl. Viewing a reproduction of Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam, Berta relates to Eve, who’s “waiting for her turn to come / into existence. To be seen. To come alive.” Lundberg’s full-color, page-filling paintings make this verse novel a picture book. They are damp and moody, the colors dark and tertiary, the shapes full of shadows and stark angles. Some faces are jarringly rouged, with red noses, like Hansson’s real-life work. Cold and hot temperatures emanate from the pages. Beauty pours from close-ups of Berta’s hands, in pink-peach-gray watercolor shadings and exquisite lines. Papa insists Berta become a housewife, but at roughly age 17, this budding artist stages a coup by burning a pot of soup—and gets herself sent off to art school. An afterword by Swedish journalist Alexandra Sundqvist adds biographical details; unfortunately, the backmatter includes only two Hansson reproductions.

Melancholy and moving. (sources, references, photos) (Picture book/historical verse fiction. 7-12)

Kirkus Reviews