The Go-Away bird rejects every offer of friendship from her rain forest companions.
"I am the Chit-Chit bird. Will you chat with me? We can talk of the weather and other things like the colour of eggs, the the ache in our wings."
"I'm the Peck-Peck bird. Will you eat with me? There are juicy berries on every twig. We can peck, peck til we both grow big."
The four potential friends are each rejected and then along comes a huge brown bird - the Get-You Bird. This huge bird will not go away simply because the Go-Away bird demands this. Luckily the rejected friends see the danger. They form a team and save the day. But what of the Go-Away bird? Her life has been saved - how will she react? How should she react? I love stories that contain a life lesson but not in a didactic way. With an older group you should take a look at Shelter which is a perfect book if you want to talk about rejection and forgiveness.
Everything about this book is of the highest quality as you would expect from the team of Julia Donaldson and Catherine Rayner. Too many authors attempt rhyme and it just fails but rhyme in the hands of a master like Julia Donaldson can sing. In fact in this book the words do feel like a song. The rhyme is not used for every line and the repetition of "go away" is simply a perfect way to engage young children. This is a book that should be added to preschool read aloud program.
Make sure you take time to notice the fern leaf pattern on the end papers which is repeated on the title page and then used in various ways throughout the book.
This is a delightful story about the value of friends especially in times of need. Kids' Book Review
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