The Second Sky

Written by: Patrick Guest

Illustrated by: Jonathan Bentley

Published by: Little Hare Books   2017

Ages:   3 – 6 years

Theme: dreams, limitations, discovering oneself.

Opening Lines: Gilbert peeked out from his egg and saw the sky for the first time. The moon glowed. The stars sparkled. The birds wheeled. And Gilbert knew where he wanted to be.

Synopsis: The first thing Gilbert sees when he hatches from his egg is the sky. It is love at first sight and from that moment on Gilbert longs to fly like other birds.

But Penguins don’t fly, they waddle, and so begins Gilbert’s quest to find his place in the world.

Great things happen when you reach for the sky.

Why I like this: I don’t just like it, I love it! Isn’t that fella just sooooo cute. You could hug him! Gorgeous double spread illustrations From the first page as we, like Gilbert peer out at the moon from the opening in his shell. The watercolour hues of blues and greys from the sky to the slippery ice , the snowy landscape and underwater world are beautifully depicted on full double page spreads. The author uses three’s to show emotion, and dramatic short sentences to build to a climax. And then without even telling us we are drawn into… The Second Sky! You can almost feel yourself flying.

This book has been shortlisted by The Children’s Book Council of Australia for the 2018 Early Childhood Book of the Year.

Both Patrick and Jonathan live in Australia.

Resources/Findings:   Teachers aid/notes…   http://www.lamontbooks.com.au/media/102320/publishers-notes-the-second-sky.pdf

Draw a view of what a bird would see above land and what a penguin would see under the ocean.   How similar and how different are they?

I’m always pleased to be able to bring you some more special books that have come my way and be able to share them with you and join other great writers over at Susanna’s Blog, where there are literally hundreds of book reviews to view.  So pop over  and visit the lovely author, Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog and find the tab for Perfect Picture Books.    Her blog is full of resources links and activities associated with books reviewed by many authors