About this item
A grandfather shares with his grandchild the quiet wonder of birdwatching - and a wry talent for telling a tall tale."When I go birdwatching, things happen," Granddad tells little Jess. Sometimes, he says, while he’s drawing pictures of the birds, they draw pictures of him. And sometimes they help him out by finding their own names in his bird book. "Birds are amazing," says Granddad, but Jess isn’t so sure. So one day she goes birdwatching with Granddad to see for herself. With expressive line-and-wash drawings, Simon James captures the leafy grandeur of the outdoors and the warm, special rapport between a child and a granddad, illustrating once again the huge happiness to be found in little things.
About the Author
When speaking about his influences, Simon James talks fondly of the cartoon collections he found on his father's book shelves. As a boy, he grew to love The New Yorker Magazine cartoonists. Artist's such as George Booth, Charles Addams, William Steig and James Sevenson all captured the imagination of a young boy who liked to make little stapled books with pictures and words for his own amusement. Simon James' first book was the outrageously funny, 'The Day Jake Vacuumed', quickly followed by two more books about Jake. 'My Friend Whale', was the first of several concerned with a child's relationship with the natural world - 'Dear Greenpeace', 'Sally and the Limpet', 'The Wild Woods' and 'The Birdwatchers' have established Simon as one of the country's leading author/illustrators. 'Leon and Bob' won the Smarties Book Prize Silver Award and was the New York Times' Best Illustrated Book of the Year, and 'Days Like This', a collection of small poems, was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal. 'Baby Brains' was the overall winner of the Red House Children's Book Award in 2005, voted for by 25,000 children. Simon continues to be a much sought-after speaker in schools, and at festivals and conferences both in the UK and in the US. He continues to enjoy international success with his latest books, 'George Flies South', 'Nurse Clementine' and 'Rex'. His latest title, due out this year is 'The Boy From Mars'.
