Fly, Pigeon, Fly!

When a boy finds a young pigeon, half starved, in a derelict warehouse in Glasgow, he names the pigeon Percy and takes him home. He looks after him and even teaches him to fly. Da says that Percy should be set free, but even though he knows it would be for the best, the boy is reluctant to lose his friend. Eventually he does return the pigeon to freedom.

This is an earnest and engaging picture book telling the story of an unusual friendship, co-written by new writer John Henderson and Julia Donaldson, award winning author of The Gruffalo. Docherty’s industrial urban landscape illustrations depict the forbidding Clydeside shipyards in subtly muted colours. These enhance a richly atmospheric and refreshingly different picture book, suitable for children aged 6+. The relationships between the boy and the pigeon and between the boy and his father, an ex-Clydeside docker, are beautifully depicted in text and illustration.