The Bridges by Tom Percival

With busy parents and no books in her life Mia lives in a grey sad world. Then one day a kind person leaves a book on her doorstep. If you look closely you can see the giver of this gift. Mia begins to read her new book and the world opens up. There are adventures and colours and new friends and best of all she has something wonderful to share.

Publisher blurb: Mia feels alone; so alone that it's as if she lives on a small island, far out to sea. But then one day, Mia is given a book - the first she has ever been able to call her own. As Mia reads the book, bridges appear and her island fills with colour and life. And the more Mia reads, the stronger the bridges become, opening up a world of connection and hope...  Because a book can take you anywhere...

See inside The Bridges here. 

This is a book you could use as a jumping off point to talk about the 2025 Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book Week slogan.

Here are some review comments about The Bridges:

This is a must for every book corner and would be a great read-aloud for Years 1 and 2. With older children, I can see it being used as a start of term stimulus for a wider project about books and reading. It would elicit some interesting discussions about the metaphor of the bridges and islands. What would you find on the islands you visit through reading? Just Imagine

The illustrations connect the reader closely with the child in the book, moving the colour palette from sombre greys at the start to sharper, bright colours as Mia begins to cross the bridges. Books for Keeps

Tom Percival uses the metaphor of bridges throughout the book to demonstrate how reading, words and books can lead us to new worlds and can help us to make incredible connections. Mia follows bridges which grow stronger the more she reads. She visits magical worlds, discovers new facts and makes friendships all because of the power of reading. Now a confident, volitional reader, Mia knows how to help others who look lost and alone – she offers her book to them and continues to build even more bridges. Books for Topics

Look for these other splendid books by Tom Percival:

The Invisible; The River; The Sea Saw