The Little Tern : A Story of Insight

by Brooke Newman

A delightfully illustrated inspirational fable, reminiscent of Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Sara Midda. The Little Tern is a fable for adults, a beautifully painted journey with a number of messages. It is the enchanting story of the little tern who discovers one day that he has lost his ability to fly. Life becomes meaningless. Deserted by his airborne friends, he is left alone on the shore. But then, new friends arrive and every one of them brings with them a new aspect of life. Through this experience and the friendships that are formed from it, the little tern encounters things he had never noticed before. And soon, he realises, life is much richer than he had previously realised and that our real strength comes from our seeming weakness. The Little Tern is a stunningly illustrated modern parable on how to find hope in disappointing or frustrating circumstances. An imaginative journey painting the landscape of who we are, it is a journey of the heart to the soul.

96 pages, Hardcover

First published November 5, 2001

Reviews

[Hamid]

باید صبور باشم... باید یاد بگیرم که انتظار کشیدن با اتلاف وقت فرق دارد... باید

[Myrophora]

A insightful parable about reflection and gaining a different perspective of things. Inspirational how the Little Tern finds hope and builds resilience. Book makes a great gift too as it is beautifully illustrated.

[Felicity Terry]

Picking up the book I was hoping for a book in the vein of The Velveteen Rabbit or even The Little Prince. What I wasn't expecting was a fable for adults that whilst not unsuitable for children per se because of its overuse of metaphors which goodness only knows I struggled with and general lack of charm I wouldn't have thought appealing to them.

A short philosophical picture book with water colour illustrations by Lisa Mann Dirkes. The story follows a now flightless little tern who, as season follows season, searches for meaning, discovering things through his newly found friends that he'd never noticed when he could fly.

Perhaps a tale I'd have enjoyed more if I hadn't thought it so charmless, the author so self aware. Maybes a book I'd have got more out of if I had merely taken it at face value instead of spending so long looking for a deeper philosophical meaning but as it was I'm afraid this simply wasn't a book I enjoyed.

Copyright: Tracy Terry @ Pen and Paper.

[Aelita Hopper]

Very deep meaning about how a little bird find a way to fly again, but sorry that I couldn’t get all the meaning. What I got is just: the bird couldn’t fly not because of he injured somewhere, there is something from inside him insisted him to fly. While staying in land to learn how to fly again, he talked to star, observed flower, and made friend with ghosted crab. At the end, he found his shadow on sand, which he didn’t see when he was flying in the past. There is thing that is invisible, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. And then the bird flies again in the sky.
By the way, the pictures inside the book are very beautiful.

[Aditi]

The book is a hardcover with beautiful water colour illustrations.
The content is short, I read it within a few minutes.
It carries a lot of symbolism, and it resonates with me.
Instead of a destination, it's about the journey. This story is a journey of a tern discovering himself. Understand who he really is. And he questions him after life stops for him one day.
Through solitude and infrequent companionship, he tries to understand what life is to him. What is it being himself, and what is it being others-that are not him.
His lonely days are eventually used by him as a path to self discovery.
The book has a simple language, no complicated phrases that intentionally sound preachy, which I liked.
I liked this book and I'll be reading it again!

[Rachel✨]

٫٫یک روز صبح آفتاب طلوع کرد و بر ساحل پرتو افشاند و من متوجه شدم سایه‌ام در کنارم است. آن سایه می‌بایست قبلا هم آنجا بوده باشد اما من پیش از آن صبح، هرگز متوجه آن نشده بودم. چقدر عجیب است که چیزی بتواند همه وقت وجود داشته باشد و تو، تمام آن مدت، اصلا متوجه آن نشوی.٫٫

٫٫سایه، یادآور آن چیزی است که وجود دارد، حتی وقتی که نیست.٫٫

[Fiona]

The best thing about this book were the beautiful illustrations.
I think the author wanted to say something deep and meaningful. For me it ended up a mishmash of cliched sayings that didn't say anything profound at all. Some of it didn't make any sense to me and it it skipped about from topic to topic.

[Ineke]

De illustraties zijn erg mooi. Het verhaal, over de kleine stern, die niet meer kan vliegen en moet leren om beter waar te nemen wat er is, ook het onzichtbare en ongrijpbare leert kennen, is mij iets te moralistisch.

[Eliztak]

Aka Little Prince. Nice watercolors…

[Nazanin Zare]

2.5
از ته قلبم دلم میخواست کتابی با این همه زیبایی و بیشتر میتونستم دوست داشته باشم:)خیلی خیلی خیلی زیبا بود خیلی.
ولی داستانش اصلا گیرا نبود:(

[Shu]

‘True friendship is a flower of very slow growing’

[Araam Bayaani]

من متوجه شدم چیزهایی وجد دارند که از برون آسیب میبینند مانندِ دُم و بال و چیزهایی هستند که از درون میشکنند مانندِ باورها و اعتقادات.
از رویِ غریزه به این نتیجه رسیدم آنچه که شکسته است باید در درون باشد که در آن لحظه مرا دلسرد کرده بود.





به راستی عجیب است که لحظه ای می توانی فاصله ها را ببینی و لحظه یِ بعد هیچ چیز را نمیبینی!


چیزهایِ غیرِ عادی فقط وقتی غیرِ عادی هستند که آن را آنگونه ببینی

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این کتاب که حکایتِ درون بینی است از پاراگراف هایِ کوتاه تشکیل شده و تصاویری ساده در دقایقی کوتاه 2بار خواندمش یک بار برایِ خودم بی صدا و دگر بار با صدایی بلند و باز هم برایِ خودم

آری اینگونه است باید بیابی خود را اگرچه زمان در گذر باشد، صبر باید تا به خودشناسی برسی و پاسخِ آنچه تردید هایت است
باید از نو ، بهترین را ساخت

[Emily]

This book is not very long, but is surely in dept. It's a serious and sad story about a little tern finding his ability to fly again. It's quick, realistic and will bring you deep in thought. If you havn't read it, read it! It's definitly a good read.

[Doron Yam]

A very smart story about a bird that lost its ability to fly. A strange item for itself.
But this short story teaches us about the things that we see and dont see. Things we take for granted and things we have to open our eyes to see them, even if they were under our nose.

[Julie Bennett]

Oh this is just a fabulous philosophical metaphor. About a bird who forgets how to fly....

[Hirosasazaki Sasazaki]

good read. cute story.

[Kathie H]

Adorable, mystical little book that spoke to my soul. The watercolor illustrations are sublime. A gem.

[adan ktnani]

3

[Tissy]

um livro gracioso, com aquarelas bonitas, nos faz lembrar das coisas sutis