How to Heal a Broken Wing (Bob Graham, Walker Books, $27.95 hb, ISBN 9781406307160, May) *****

The opening scenes are of city skyscrapers and a lone bird flying towards a glass tower in the clouds. For adult readers these images will evoke 9/11 New York. Then, in cartoon-style vignettes we see grey crowds of city folk walking past the wounded bird which has hit the building and plummeted to the footpath. But little Will, clad in a red jacket and illuminated by a kind of spotlight, insists that his mother stop and help him take care of the bird. This book beautifully demonstrates that ‘less is more’: with artwork more pared-down than his usual, and very few words, Graham tells the story of the bird’s nurture through to recovery, early attempts at flight and its final triumphal release near the site of its fall. Will and his parents show courage and patience in caring for this lowliest of birds, a common pigeon. In the background newspapers and television give glimpses of weapons of war: perhaps an alternative title could be How To Heal a Broken World. Children from as young as three will empathise with Will, while older children and adults can sharpen their visual literacy skills, noting the filmic techniques that inform and move readers of this perfectly designed and heartwarming book.

Robin Morrow was a specialist bookseller and now teaches and reviews children’s literature

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

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