Age 8+

This beautiful book celebrates simple joys. Set in a northern town and operating on several levels, it hints at a sad and serious reality but reads like a playful fairy tale. It tells the story of motherless Lizzie, whose father has to be cajoled by his daughter to shave, eat or dress, and who believes he is a bird. He plans to enter the Great Human Bird Competition and is making himself a pair of wings. Auntie Doreen says he is daft. But even in his madness there is delight and affection, and the flying competition itself, with its comically unsuccessful entrants including the headmaster with rockets tied to his bottom and Benny the Bee Boy, is not the disappointment everyone expects. Despite its themes of loss, mental illness and the burdens borne by carer children, this original and touching tale is an affirmation of love, trust and hope. Polly Dunbar’s colourful, circusy illustrations bring out the fun and sweetness of this fable, which will make children laugh while encouraging them to believe in themselves and others and to tolerate strangeness.

MY DAD’S A BIRDMAN by David Almond, illustrated by Polly Dunbar
(Walker £8.99)

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