A Feather on a Wing by Maria Speyer

"You're a flower and we're linked together in a daisy chain. You're a raindrop in a shower, and we need each drop of rain."

"You're a stitch along a scarf, and every stitch keeps out the cold. You're a branch in a treetop and this tree is big and old."

This book feels like one an adult or grandparent might gift a child. There are a lot of these “wisdom” books on the market right now but this one is a good addition to that cannon. I like the song/lullaby on the final pages. The idea of being important but also a small part of everything is beautifully expressed especially with the idea of stitches in the knitting and one voice in a choir. The underwater page is especially appealing – the treasure in the open box appears to shimmer. Several pages look quite ethereal and certainly match the lullaby tone of the text. 

The colour palette here works so well to create a lovely night-time effect and dream-like quality. Although the back of the book tells us that this is about a little girl and her sister, the text has much more of a universal appeal – this message could be being told from parent to child or sister to brother.  

The rhythm and rhyme here are gentle and are essential in creating the lullaby tone. Together the words and images combine to make a beautiful bedtime story.  There’s also a wonderful sense of movement created – the journey across the ocean, the flight across the sky – contrasted perfectly with some gorgeous moments of utter stillness (especially that final sleeping image). 

It is such a bonus to have the musical score and a link to hear the lullaby. 

This is Maria Speyer’s first book in English. The publisher site has a link to some useful teachers notes. 

Maria Speyer is a Danish-born artist, illustrator and author who lives with her husband and daughters in Sydney, where she draws, paints and writes in her studio at home. She has presented papers on imagistic thinking and the phenomenology of drawing and published and illustrated a number of Danish children’s books.

Read this interview with Joy Lawn at Paperbark Words. You can see inside the book too. Maria Speyer says: A Feather on a Wing is about making kids feel included. It’s about how we imagine ourselves in the context of the world and how we encourage others to imagine themselves. It’s natural, of course, that we want our kids to be strong and independent, but I think it’s equally important to reassure them (and ourselves) that we don’t have to do everything alone.

With a Scandinavian feel, each double page spread image is filled with loose sketches in soft water colour that creates movement and comfort. The siblings are identifiable in their turquoise and coral and Speyer has added subtle details that add to the joy of the story. Storylinks