Wild is the Wind
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley April 22, 2021
Author Grahame Baker-Smith
Distributor: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 9781787417854
Publisher: Bonnier/Templar
Release Date: February 2021
Website: https://www.allenandunwin.com
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Wind is something that is just a part of everyday life, except when it is not; when it became fierce, rough, tumbling its way across the earth, causing damage and harm to the small birds and creatures of the earth.
Award winning Author Grahame Baker- Smith takes the journey of a small swift and follows its flight journey the healing hands of Cassie in Africa, as it gets ready to take flight with the rest of flock to the summer fields and pastures of the world.
The swift waits, as do the others, for the perfect time to take to the sky to begin their journey. As the land warms, the seed pods burst and the wind begins to wake, the tiny bird joins the flock to follow the pathway across the skies, a pathway that goes far, far back in history.
Not once do these tiny birds break their flight as they soar with wings outstretched on the currents of the wind, over desserts, oceans and mountains to finally, after three months come to a place far, far away from Cassie and her dessert country.
Kun has been waiting for the arrival of the swifts as it means the summer is almost here once again. The swifts lay their eggs hidden away in their ancient nesting spots. The babies hatch, grow big and strong and when the wind begins to call, they are ready to follow the ancient flight pathway once again to summer.
Deep, rich, sweeping illustrations combine with text that not only follows the flight to the swift, but tells much of the dessert country, the wild winds that form the majesty of the storms at sea and across the lands, and the changing warmth that tells of the seasons changing and the beginning once again, of a timeless journey for the swifts as they return to the summer in Cassie’s lands.
Graham Baker Smith in Wild Is The Wind, gently offers a story wrapped up in a non-fiction basis that is both entertaining and educational as he has captured in word and picture the extraordinary flight of such tiny birds to reach their nesting place on the far side of the earth, only to return year after years following an ageless, timeless breading cycle
Wild is the Wind could also make a worthy vehicle for the introduction and discussion of Climate Change and Environmental Management in a gentle and informative manner for younger children.