A Bird Day

An entertaining wee story about two birds who like to play all the sorts of games that children like to play.

Lena and her little brother Bo are typical kids – they don’t like what’s for dinner, they love playing games that could end badly – but they always stop, just in time! The story tells about all the things they like to do and how they use their imaginations. Lena, being the older sister, likes to tease her little brother who predictably gets scared and wants to fly home. Like any big sister, Lena also gets fed up that her little brother gets away with doing things she wasn’t allowed to do at his age.

Originally published in Sweden in 2002, A Bird Day was translated into English by Julia Marshall. It is one of many books by author and illustrator Eva Lindström, who received the world’s largest literature award, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, in 2022.

The illustrations are simple but cute in the water colour style with pencil detail and feature a lot of pastel and muted colours.

This book would be suited to a younger audience and read for enjoyment as younger children would see the relationship between the birds parallel their own lives, games and family dynamics.