Earnest Sandpiper’s Great Ascent
Timothy Basil Ering
Walker Books

In this deeply heartfelt story we meet three young members of the Sandpiper family on the day they are, so their parents expect, going to learn to fly for the first time. Spur and Rouse are full of confidence; not so Earnest. Under their parents’ tutelage: “BREATHE… TRY… JUMP… FLY!” Earnest’s siblings take to the air; Earnest however baulks at the edge of the dune. “I think my feathers are too heavy for me,” he tells his mother as he looks for a second time over the edge.

Using her wing tip, Mum draws a heart shape in the sand, adding the promise that “soon your heart will glow like the morning clouds. It will shine with desire and belief. ” This magical glow, she assures him, is a sign that magical things are going to happen. Other family members further encourage Earnest and then leave him wondering if he’ll ever feel the glow. He climbs carefully up a piece of wood, breathes in and tries a jump but … lands flat on his back. From his supine position, he spies a yellow balloon floating above him with that same heart decoration his mum drew. Earnest follows the balloon across the beach till it lands in the sea and he follows his curiosity into the water but as the tide comes in, he finds himself entangled in the balloon’s ribbon and thoroughly afraid.

Happily, his family returns just in time, and their loving concern triggers that magical glow his Mum had spoken of, as well as Earnest’s self-belief. With those basic instructions in his head and a powerful SNAP! Earnest takes flight.

The author’s naturalistic paintings are superb, brilliantly expressive, making that plastic-looking balloon stand out against the natural environment, a meaningful message indeed, helping to make this a cautionary tale about the dangers posed to wildlife by balloons floating free, as well as a powerful story of believing in oneself.