"All through the night they flew, pale shadows in the moonlight,
over the cold brown land, through the stinging snowflakes, on, on never stopping."
It is time for the swans to fly south. This will be the first journey for young Moonshadow but he has the guidance and reassurance of his wonderful grandfather.
The language in this book is lyrical - sunrise washed their feathers with gold and rose; they came to the wrinkled sea; lightning ripped the clouds; and white wings feathered the wind.
Moonshadow was published in 2009 so sadly it is now out of print but you might be lucky and find a copy in a library. In other places this book has a different title - Moonshadow's Journey. After you read Moonshadow you will want to hunt out more books illustrated by Karin Littlewood.
Here are the full plot details by Little Parachutes:
Moonshadow is a young swan about to set off on his first migration. He is nervous, but his grandfather reassures him along the way. His grandfather is the head of the swan family and leads the swans in their journey, which involves flying over many lands and seas. On the journey, Moonshadow struggles and his grandfather, knowing this, guides them down to rest whilst watching over them. On the journey there is a terrible storm. Moonshadow starts to fall but is helped by his mother and father. When the winds die down, Moonshadow cannot find his grandfather and is told of his loss in the storm by his mother. Moonshadow grieves for his grandfather and his father takes over as head of the swan family. His father explains to him that even though he is gone, his grandfather will always be in his heart and one day Moonshadow will grow up to lead the swan family too, as his father does now.
With a group of older students, you could compare this book with another title for younger readers:
No comments:
Post a Comment