Little Bird Lost; Patricia Hegarty, illustrated by Sebastiaan Van Doninck

Little Bird Lost is another edition to Stripes Publishing's series of first chapter books. This is a lovely adventure story about one bird’s journey to be reunited with his flock, accompanied by a very kind and helpful deer. It is a delightful read with messages on friendship, kindness, helping others and overcoming difficulties.

Deer is enjoying his day when he stumbles upon a small bird lying helpless in the grass. The Little Bird needs help, he has fallen from the sky and has broken his wing becoming separated from his flock. Deer is keen to help Little Bird and after seeking advice from some forest friends he and Little Bird set out on an adventure. They just need to follow the sun to find Little Bird’s flock. But the journey is fraught with danger and the friends will have to over come dangerous animals and freezing weather.

Embedded within the story and illustrations is knowledge on the four seasons and a nice bit about the special detection system that bats have. The story is split over four chapters, one for each of the seasons. Each chapter begins with a lovely rhyming couplet. Patricia Hegarty does not hold back on her use of ambitious and challenging vocabulary and this is an excellent book for immersing young children in rich, descriptive prose. The illustrations by Sebastian Van Doninck are vivid and perfectly capture the different seasons.

Little Bird Lost would be a fantastic book to read with a child or to let a child read independently. This is a truly beautiful book, the pages are thick and it feels likes you are holding something magical, you can almost hear the pages as you turn them and it just adds that extra special feeling.  

Recommended for emerging readers of 6+.