Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Coming Home by Michael Morpurgo illustrated by Kerry Hyndman



Day Six
Come my heart, and come my wings,
Fly, fly before the cruel snows,
Carry me, carry me home.
I must be on my way.



Coming Home follows the journey of a lone robin. This is an annual journey of migration by the brave robin from Scandinavia to Britain. The language is so poetic and the rhythms match the wing beats of the little robin who has to battle against driving rain, thunder and lightning, huge mountains and violent storms as he struggles to reach his home to his mate.

Take your time to look closely at the final scenes. As the robin swoops over the houses you can see a snowman, wreaths on front doors, and a glimpse of a Christmas tree. I should also mention the beautiful end papers decorated with holly and other red berries.

We don't have robins in Australia but as with other Christmas symbols the little robin does appear on our cards and tree ornaments.

Image source: https://welshgiftshop.com/products/christmas-decoration-wool-robin
Image source: https://www.johnlewis.com/caroline-gardner-robin-christmas-card/p3703107


You can see the whole book here read by Michael Morpurgo. You can see some of the glorious illustrations from this book on Kerry Hyndman's web site. Here are a set of very detailed teaching notes.

I am not sure how this works - did the book or the ad come first? I think perhaps the ad came first. Waitrose in the UK who then seem to have asked Michael Morpurgo to write Coming Home to link with their 2016 Christmas television advertisement. The ad shows the whole story with no words just a beautiful music sound track.



A highly unusual picture book to satisfy the heart of anyone who enjoys making the natural world part of a Christmas celebration.  Kirkus

No comments: