Tag Cadno

The Bird Thief

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The Bird Thief
Rachel Keating
Cadno Graffeg

Twelve year old Erin has OCD with symptoms including continually checking things and counting. Her mother is depressed and has been since her much loved sister, Erin’s aunt Sophie, died in an accident some years ago.

Now it’s the summer holiday and Erin, her parents and younger sister, Lena, are staying in a static caravan in the Welsh countryside near to a spot that was special to Erin’s mum and Aunty Sophie and near to where Bampi (the girls’ grandad) lives.
Before long strange things begin to happen: first Erin sees a girl lying face down beneath the caravan next door and then later that day the woman staying in the same caravan is screaming in alarm about there being snakes in her son’s bedroom.

The following day Erin has a through the fence encounter with the girl she’d seen under the caravan, only this time she’s telling Erin not to feed bread to the ducks. The girl introduces herself as Bess, says that she’s thirteen and offers to show her a nest with chicks in. Despite Bess’s somewhat unkind behaviour Erin feels drawn to her and with Lena, ends up going through a hole in the fence surrounding the caravan park and into the woods beyond. Several times she goes and eventually Bess tells her the truth about the ‘snake’ episode. Later she takes them to the Goldfinch nest. Erin climbs up to get a closer look and ends up falling to the ground. It’s then her bird experiences begin: not only do the goldfinches heal Erin, they pass on some if their avian nature. Erin finds she’s able to fly, to slow down time and to communicate with one of the goldfinches, calling it Fable as it reminds her of her soft toy comforter.
Over the next few days Fable and Bess (despite some misunderstandings) lead Erin to realise that there’s something threatening the goldfinches and they find themselves caught up in a very dangerous situation when a forest fire breaks out.

Can Erin save herself, her friends and family, with or without her special powers?
Erin is a fascinating character and the author draws on her own childhood experiences both for her protagonist and her magical tale wherein mental health, the natural world and friendship are explored. There are occasional strategically placed black and white illustrations by Naomi Bennet that add to the emotional power of the telling.

Zac and Jac

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Zac and Jac
Cathy Jenkins, illustrated by Monique Steele
Graffeg (Cadno)

Early in the school year, nine year old Jac’s teacher asked the class to write about their real-life heroes and Jac had chosen his dad, a lorry driver. That though is before Jac is asked to join the soccer team his good friend Zac belongs to. Thereafter things at home start getting uncomfortable.

Then comes the news from class teacher, Miss Parker: three professional footballers are coming to talk to the class the following day. They are members of an organisation and what they talk about is racism. As he listens, Jac feels extremely uncomfortable as he starts to realise that the dad he previously thought a hero is in fact, a racist, and that his best friend Zac and his father David, have been the subjects of some of Dad’s racist remarks.

Now with a heightened awareness of racism and how such prejudice is usually passed down from one generation to the next, Jac (from whose viewpoint the story s told) becomes determined to help make change happen in society, starting with his own family. His mum admits she’d been aware of his dad’s attitudes but hadn’t challenged them. Can he with the help and support of his friends and Mum show his Dad that people should not be judged simply by what he thinks they are?

Using football (a children’s local team) as a backdrop, Cathy Jenkins has created a powerful story, sensitively showing what an evil racism is and encouraging youngsters to challenge it whenever it raises its ugly head. That way lines a better future for everyone.