Author(s): Sarah Ann Juckes

Adventure and Real Life Stories

Discover the healing power of nature in one boy's heartbreaking and hopeful journey back from the wilderness.

Bird fact no. 30: a nightingale song is one of the most beautiful sounds on the planet. 

Ten-year-old Jasper has been waiting all spring for his beloved nightingale to return to his garden and sing.  But it's not there, and neither is his sister, Rosie.  His parents seem sad and preoccupied,  so gathering his courage, his backpack and his treasured Book of Birds, Jasper sets out alone on a walk to find them both.  The expedition takes Jasper through town and country, meeting a host of characters who are also searching for lost things. Helping his new friends, Jasper begins to see that he may not find what he is looking for when he reaches the journey's end, but even in the darkest of moments, a nightingale's song can be heard somewhere.

A love letter to the natural world, Sarah Ann Juckes' stunning middle grade novel, illustrated by the award-winning Sharon King-Chai will have you turning the last page with tears in your eyes and a heart full of hope.  For fans of Pax, Wonder and Wild Child.

Kathleen's review - This is a sad but lovely story about Jasper's search for the missing nightingale, and for his missing older sister. Jasper simply has to go looking on his own because his parents, who were too busy to remember his last birthday, are even more distracted than usual. He leaves them a note.

Jasper has anxieties, but he learns to face them. He has fears - and we hope that the journey will help him with those too.

I thoroughly enjoyed this delightful trip with its facts and illustrations about birds, and across some of the countryside of England. It's a gentle story about finding friendship and not letting obstacles stand in your way.