The Blue Songbird by Vern Kousky

"Once there lived a blue songbird. 
every morning she would wake up, hop to the edge of a high branch, and listen to her sisters' lovely songs. 
The songbird always tried to join in with them, but she could never sing like they could sing."

The blue songbird is not mute. Her song is not yet formed. Her wise mother suggests the songbird needs to find her own special song - "that only you can sing."

Songbird sets off, leaving her home and traveling great distances. She asks every bird she meets how she can find her own special song. The Crane sends her to the wisest bird who lives beyond the mountains.

Image Source: Brainpickings.

Songbird finds the wise bird - the Owl - but his only answer is 'whoooo'.  She flies on asking other birds, the pigeons and penguins, until finally she meets Mr Scary Bird - the Crow. He tells her to keep flying east to a small island.

"She flew through 
storm and wind,
through night 
and day, until she
was more tired 
than she had ever
been. But the
songbird did not
rest, for she
knew that soon
she'd find her
special song."

When she arrives at the island she makes an amazing discovery. Songbird has flown around the whole world. The island is her home. Her mother is waiting for her and now, after all those adventures, songbird has her own special song to sing.

When I saw this book during a recent library visit it instantly appealed to me. The cover has such a simply image and as one reviewer suggested it looks quite Japanese.  what I did not expect was such a powerful story about identity, self discovery and most importantly perseverance and tenacity.  This book is at heart a fable. It covers topics we've seen before - who am I, why am I here, there's no place like home, life is a journey of self discovery, experiences give us stories to share.

The paperback copy of this book is not expensive. I highly recommend this book as a great addition to any school library.

Kousky’s watercolor illustrations have a delicacy that matches both his prose and his heroine, simply rendered with daubs of light blue onto which are painted a little beak and dots for eyes. Kirkus

After reading this book I am now adding these two books to my "to read" pile.  One is by Vern Kousky and the other was suggested by Maria Popova in her detailed review (for Brainpickings) of The Blue Songbird.