Sky Hawk

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Gill Lewis' beautifully understated writing gently sweeps her reader along and the story, itself, quietly and lyrically conveys her moving and timely message of the interconnectedness of people with nature and people with people - whether within one village or across the earth. This is a beautiful book which will have resonance for many readers beyond its target readership.

Summary: Lovely story of love, loss and conservation and how one wild bird can bring friends, families and even strangers together. This one will be great within a school context, but is just as fulfilling to read at home. Recommended. Nizrana Farook – ‘A story of love, survival, loyalty and lifelong bonds. It tugged at my heart and made me sob, it made me yearn with Pup for the love he so desperately sought… It’s a book that everybody should read – it’s man’s best friend in a whole new light.’ Michael Morpurgo – ‘The most unusual book about the lives of dogs I’ve ever read. It’s a dog world out there in Gill Lewis’ accomplished storytelling. Not sure I’ll ever look at a dog again the same way. Unforgettable.’ The way that love of animals often seems to bring out the best in people, e.g. Callum and his friends.

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The truth that the internet can forge long distance friendships that are real (some people argue/ worry that time spent on the internet deprives children of "real" friendships)

If I were to use this text in my future classroom, I would create a receptive context by creating a display based on the book so that the children can imagine themselves inside the book as they are reading it. I would get some toy osprey and some pictures to put in the classroom so that the children can see what they look like. I may also get them to draw their own osprey pictures just like Iona did in the story. Another way in which I might create a receptive context for this story is by using drama and hot seating. I would choose some children to be the main characters in the book and then get the rest of the class to ask them questions so that they can understand the characters emotions and actions more clearly. This activity also gets all of the children involved in the story and keeps them interested. Before reading the story I would ask the children if any of them knew what an osprey is and also if any of them are from Scotland as this can create a bond between the children and the story. Then there was the sad moment in the book, I was heart broken when I read that Ioana had simply died, in one way it was predictable, but at the same time I did not expect it. I have mixed feelings on how the book dealt with it, from a child's point of view it felt like a good explanation of what happened. However for older readers it felt almost glossed over, it happened and then it was forgotten. The way that Gill Lewis portrayed each of the characters relationships with one another was also fantastic. The group dynamic between Callum, Euan and Rob was so well constructed, it felt very relatable as well, where two friends are closer than the third for some reason. There is also the opportunity for the inclusion of drama, role-play and art as children could create their own tree house/den like Iona’s and Callum’s which could be filled with drawings the pupils have created of birds from their local area. The novel is written as a fiction genre. The book holds strong themes of relationship - family and friendship.The Strawberry Post https://thestrawberrypost.wordpress.com/2021/01/22/book-review-swan-song-by-gill-lewis/ Shortlisted for the Tir na n-Og award – for a book in the English language category https://llyfrau.cymru/en/gwobrau/tir-na-nog/tir-na-n-og-awards-shortlist-2022/