My Dad's a Birdman

David Almond (author)
Polly Dunbar (illustrations)

Walker Books, UK: 2007; 118pp

ISBN: 9781406313246

Genres: adventure, realistic fiction

Issues: grief, family, identity, individuality

Lizzie is a little bit concerned about her dad. He seems to think he's a bird.

He refuses to eat normal food - how can he fly, weighed down by such heavy things inside him - but eats... well, like a bird. Then the great Human Bird Competition, run by Mr Poop, comes to town and Lizzie must make a choice between her dad's rather strange approach to life at present and her Auntie Doreen's more down to earth approach. Surely the main thing is to stick together? To fly or fall as a family?

This is David Almond's first novel for younger readers and it showcases his remarkable talent. In 'My Dad's a Birdman', Almond has created a whimsical, touching, slightly mad (in the best sense) narrative that is about grief, hope, trust and most of all, love. Almond shows the reader that love is expressed in a marvelous variety of ways; that love may not be able to make you fly but it can help you jump pretty high; and that love is the basis of hope and the ladder out of despair. All of this embedded in a wonderfully wacky story that will have children laughing aloud and demanding more.

Polly Dunbar's colour illustrations are delightful, enriching an already outstanding story, being full of movement, humour, colour - and yes, love.

Highly recommended.