Little Bird

A man drives his truck up to a cliff's edge. Unable to go any further, he opens the back door of his truck and a flock of birds flies out, but, as the man soon discovers, a small timid bird remains. Surprised and delighted, the man acts kindly towards the bird and an intimacy develops. After lunch, the man tries to show the bird that he should fly off and join his friends. The man's comic attempt at flight deepens the encounter between these two very different creatures. Soon the bird flies off and the man drives away, but in a surprise twist the bird and his friends return, and in a starkly lyrical moment we see them all experience something entirely new.

Germano Zullo is a prolific writer and poet who lives in Geneva, Switzerland. He writes for adults and children alike, and has written many popular children's comics and stories.

Albertine has illustrated loads of children's books and also illustrates for many of the daily French newspapers in Switzerland. She teaches at the School of Visual Arts in Geneva.

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Little Bird

Germano Zullo is a prolific writer and poet who lives in Geneva, Switzerland. He writes for adults and children alike, and has written many popular children's comics and stories.

Albertine has illustrated loads of children's books and also illustrates for many of the daily French newspapers in Switzerland. She teaches at the School of Visual Arts in Geneva.

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Little Bird

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Overview

Germano Zullo is a prolific writer and poet who lives in Geneva, Switzerland. He writes for adults and children alike, and has written many popular children's comics and stories.

Albertine has illustrated loads of children's books and also illustrates for many of the daily French newspapers in Switzerland. She teaches at the School of Visual Arts in Geneva.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781592701186
Publisher:	Enchanted Lion Books
Publication date:	03/20/2012
Pages:	72
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	5 - 11 Years

About the Author

Germano Zullo: Germano Zullo is a prolific writer and poet, who lives in Geneva. He writes for adults and children alike, and has written many popular children's comics and stories.

Albertine: Albertine has illustrated loads of children's books and also illustrates for many of the daily French newspapers in Switzerland. She teaches at the School of Visual Arts in Geneva.

From the B&N Reads Blog

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Editorial Reviews

Shimmering, color-saturated landscapes and a message about cherishing small things make this English-language debut by a Swiss team an unexpected treasure. It’s about a man whose job, apparently, is to release a truckful of large, colorful birds into the endless expanse of a golden desert—perhaps they’ve been rehabilitated, or confiscated at the border of some unnamed country. He sets his flock free, but discovers a small black bird in the back of his truck who won’t leave. They share his lunchtime sandwich, after which he reminds the bird gently (and comically) how to fly. The bird leaves, but returns with an offer so enchanting that the man can’t refuse, and readers may long to join him. Zullo’s text lets the artwork do the storytelling, instead presenting a parallel series of spare philosophical reflections: “There are no greater treasures than the little things,” it concludes. “Just one is enough to change the world.” To enter into the spirit of the story, it’s best to sit down and pay close attention to it—just as the bird-delivery man does with the small black bird. Ages 5–up. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Shimmering, color-saturated landscapes and a message about cherishing small things make this English-language debut by a Swiss team an unexpected treasure.” - Starred Review, Publishers Weekly
“Uplifting in more ways than one, this prizewinning import suggests that little things can change lives – and perhaps even the world.” – Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews
"Children’s picture books — the best of them, at least — have this magical quality of speaking to young hearts with expressive simplicity, but also engaging grown-up minds with subtle reflections on the human condition. Such is the case of Little Bird (public library) by Swiss author-illustrator duo Germano Zullo and Albertine, published by the wonderful Enchanted Lion Books. Illustrated in Albertine’s signature style of soft, colorful minimalism, this little gem is like a beautiful silent film, only in vibrant hues and on paper." — Brain Pickings
“An impressive picture book that is modern, fresh and will have readers looking for tiny treasures in their lives too.” – Waking Brain Cells
“I’m a big fan of Brooklyn-based publishing company Enchanted Lion […] they always have excellent taste in artists and unique storytellers. Their latest release, a prizewinning Swiss import [Little Bird], is no exception.” – Ben Partridge, Apartment Therapy
"It's high time we here in the U.S. started paying better attention to books published internationally.
Take for instance, Little Bird, winner of the 2011 Prix Sorcières for illustration (the French Caldecott).
Yes, the book is visually stunning. It's clear why it won an award for illustrations. But it's a great story, too. About the small things in life. About keeping your eyes open for the little ways that make every day different, unique, and a day to be treasured." — A Year of Reading

From the Publisher

K-Gr 2—In this book with 16 lines of text, a Swiss team shows that "…little things are not made to be noticed. They are there to be discovered." Spare, rustic cartoons in bright colors follow a truck driver in overalls as he delivers a wealth of glorious birds from an enormous red van into the golden wild. When one tiny blackbird refuses to leave, the man offers flight coaching. The bird finally departs but returns with his original companions to pursue the van and lift the driver into the skies, where he, too, soon takes flight to "change the world." This quirky caprice can be enjoyed for its art on one level, and valued by older readers for the message of its poetry.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

School Library Journal

Uplifting in more ways than one, this prizewinning import suggests that little things can change lives--and perhaps even the world. Placing small, uncomplicated shapes against large fields of uniform color to create an aptly simple look, Albertine provides a visual plot for Zullo's meditative abstractions. Some days "have something a little more," which is "not made to be noticed" but "there to be discovered." A man pulls up to a cliff in a truck and opens the back to release a flight of birds. Spotting one small, shy bird remaining, he companionably sits with it, then persuades it to take wing by flapping his arms and falling comically to the ground. Later, though, it returns--leading all the other birds--to carry the man up into the sky so that he can take flight on his own. Drawn with delicate precision, the characters express fear, friendship, yearning and delight through glances, posture and other cues that are not too subtle for observant children to pick up. More than half of the spreads are wordless, and for younger audiences at least, the rest could just as well be too. Adult explication may be needed for the textual rubric; the visually told story is enthralling all on its own. (Picture book. 6-8, adult)

Kirkus Reviews

…an engaging invitation to embrace small, often overlooked treasures. The story unfolds leisurely, almost like an animation.
—The New York Times Book Review

Sophie Blackall

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