Lonely Bird’s Dream
by Ruth Whiting; illus. by the author
Primary    Candlewick    40 pp.
10/24    9781536226195    $18.99
e-book ed.  9781536240580    $18.99

The titular protagonist (Lonely Bird, rev. 11/23) has begun to notice something unusual about herself. To readers, she already stands out as a small, stark, and white line drawing against a three-dimensional painted world. From where she stands on the windowsill, she sees birds using their wings in a way that she can’t, and she begins to wonder about “who she is and where she fits.” She surrounds herself with books, feathers, drawings, and images of flight to help develop her calculations and determine the materials she needs. At last, she builds a “contraption that is very exciting to look at”: a flying machine. As with many experiments, an initial faulty flight eventually leads to a successful soar out the window and into…a spiderweb. Once it’s clear her contraption has crumpled, she worries she won’t be able to find a way back home. Thankfully, Lonely Bird makes an eight-legged friend who inspires an invention that just might work. This story champions ingenuity and aspirations and is a lovely extension of the journey in the first book. Subdued and thoughtful, it instills in readers that a dream can both send us soaring and bring us home.

From the ">November/December 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.