Ride the Wind by Nicola Davies illustrated by Salvatore Rubbino

In order to understand kindness perhaps you need also experience unkindness. The same might apply to the concepts of empathy and anger. 

Tomas, a fisherman, has lost his wife. He grief has turned into anger. Javier, his son, has lost his mother. He is afraid of his father but he is also desperate for love. When an albatross is caught in their fishing net Javier is able to pour his love and kindness into the care of this glorious bird. She reminds him of his mother. Tomas does not want his son to keep the bird but in contrast the people in the town are so kind. Senora Araya gives him ointment, Senor Ortiz gives him a soft bed for the bird and Senorita Vidal supplies small fish for "just a little money."

Then comes the day his father has said they must release the bird. It is a day of wild wind and big seas. Javier is so pleased because this means his father will not be able to set sail but when he arrives home he makes a devastating discovery. His father has sold the bird. Now it is Javier who is angry but he turns his anger into action. He runs off to find the man who has his bird. 

"Javier smashed his way into the car and took the bird from her prison. The police would be called, but he didn't care."

Now we come to the most dramatic scene. Tomas sees his son running towards the cliff. Javier is not thinking about the cliff, he is thinking about his bird and the wind and freedom for his albatross. His only intention is to see the bird fly home. Tomas, however, has no thoughts about this bird. He thinks he is going to lose his son. The depth of his anger and his withdrawal from the world have been so profound. Tomas needs to be shocked in order to understand just how precious his son truly is. He sees his son disappear over the cliff edge but his son is not gone.

"He took his son in his arms and held him, knowing that nothing, nothing, nothing in all the world was more precious."

The word placement in this book is perfection. Look at these contrasts:

rough seas ... colours of the little houses gleamed against the green slopes

icy water ... (the boat) chugged into port like a clucking hen

weak and childish ... ointments to heal its wounds, an old bed for a nest

furious, scowled, stormed out ... patted his nephew's shoulder, (his face) lit up with a smile exactly like his mother's

The emotional arc of this book is also perfect. Yes the anger of Tomas is harsh and upsetting. But the ending where the father is reunited with his son is heartwarming and so very real. An adult reader might think Javier planned to jump off the cliff perhaps to return to his own mother but I truly think all Javier wants is for this huge and beautiful bird to fly away, to fly away and find her mate, her own true love.

I would share this book with a child aged 7+ making sure there is plenty of time to talk about the relationship between Javier and his father. My own dad was often quite angry. I don't think we need to shelter kids from this emotion but it does need to be handled carefully.

In this guest post Nicola Davies talks to Walker books about her book and her interest in the albatross.

I have mentioned Salvatore Rubbino previously on this blog - Our very own dog; and I discover he is the illustrator of the poetry book Orange Silver Sausage. His art in Ride the Wind is almost tactile. The end papers are wonderful and the storm clouds on the last pages allow the tenderness of Tomas hugging his son to really shine.

I have also talked about Nicola Davies. She was a major guest speaker at the last USBBY conference held in Austin, Texas in 2019. Here are just a few of her books you should explore:

Nicola Davies includes some facts about the albatross in her book. Read more here.

I would pair Ride the Wind with Fly by Jess McGeachin and The Storm Whale by Benji Davies.

The ferry birds by Helen Dunmore illustrated by Rebecca Cobb

When you see seagulls flying beside a ferry do you ever wonder where they are going?  Do the seagulls simply travel back and forth with the ferry all day?  In The Ferry Birds by Helen Dunmore flocks of turnstones, birds that are related to sandpipers, spend their days travelling from one side of the harbour to the other.  Jago and his mum catch this same ferry when they regularly visit Great-Gran.  

When she was young Great-Gran was a pilot and Jago likes to try on her flying jacket and goggles when his visits. 

Then Jago discovers the truth about the turnstones. They travel from shore to shore collecting feathers and fine pieces of seaweed.  This is woven into a net and can be used to fly any traveler who needs to fly to the far north. Jago needs to make this journey to see his dad.  He is away exploring the rocks to find precious metals. Late at night the turnstones visit Jago and so his adventure begins.  You can probably guess what happens but somehow this is still quite a magical story.  The illustrations are perfect. You can almost touch the feathers on these special birds.

This book was inspired by a true story :

"For six years two Turnstones caught the 8.15 ferry from Falmouth to St Mawes crossing the Fal Estuary, a journey of three miles, they returned on the 5.15.  They were nick-named Freddy and Freda by the skipper and became famous worldwide for this extraordinary behaviour, featuring in the Daily Mail and Telegraph."

I found this book in Cornwall when I visited a lovely bookshop. I was looking for books by local authors.  We do have books by Helen Dunmore in our school library. She is the author of the Ingo series.  Another author from Cornwall is Liz Kessler author of the Emily Windsnap series.