The cover is stunning. Black, gray, gold and white are the colours used. The front depicts a young girl with six golden birds hovering over her bleached hair. Her eyes are covered by the bird’s wings. The back shows the same girl with closed eyes, head resting on the back of her hand which is placed on the upper part of her bent other arm, hand on head. A golden bird sits on top of this hand. A second bird sits on her shoulder. A pair of aviator goggles hang around her neck. She has a dreamy expression on her face as if her mind is far from her body. The gold end papers are the same colour as the birds.
Frame by gray frame shows birds in flight or flapping their wings. Minutes separate each frame. The girl moves onto the page from the shoulders up, dressed in a white aviator’s suit. Her face is a picture of innocence. Her eyes are looking into the distance, perhaps at the birds in flight. Is she is imagining herself as one of them, free and floating in the air?
On come the goggles. The straps are tightened around her chest. She carries a wedge, then a plank of wood. Till here, the right page shows a frame of a bird transforming into a child with wings.
The child is now a boy with wings. As he lands on the opposite end of the plank, the girl shoots into the air. She is slowly transformed into one of the birds.
Create your own story. Change it each time you open the covers. You are limited only by your imagination.
Title: Bird
Author: Beatriz Martin Vidal
Publisher: Simply Read Books, $27.99 RRP
Publication Date: November 2015
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781927018644
For ages: 5+
Type: Wordless Picture Book