The day he starts school, a young boy falls in love for the very first time. Sylvia sits in front of him at school, and he's so in love with her, she's all he can see. But sadly, Sylvia doesn't see him. In fact, it seems the only thing Sylvia has eyes for is birds. “There are birds on her pants and dresses. She wears bird barrettes in her hair. She draws birds on her notebooks and folders. And when she speaks, her voice sounds like birdsong.” So in a bold attempt to get Sylvia's attention, the boy decides to go to school dressed up as a bird. He endures the stares and giggles of his classmates, and a great deal of discomfort, but the boy doesn't care. Because when it comes to love, sometimes you have no choice but to follow your heart and spread your wings.
In this sweetly funny picture book, Ingrid Chabbert perfectly captures the emotional essence of a child's first love. The boy's voice as narrator is realistic and endearing as he engagingly and honestly shares the wonder of his experience. With imagination and gentle humor, Guridi uses spare lines in mostly black and white drawings to tenderly express the poignant heart of the story. This book offers a terrific exploration of young children's self-discovery and self-expression, as well as the early development of social skills. It makes a wonderful read-aloud to launch a classroom discussion about relationships and feelings.
Ingrid Chabbert est née en 1978 en Aveyron et vit aujourd'hui à Carcassonne. Elle écrit depuis sa plus tendre enfance, partout et sur n'importe quoi. Elle n'a pas fait d'études de lettres mais jouer avec les mots, parler de la vie aux enfants, c'est sa passion. Son tout premier album jeunesse est paru en 2010. Depuis, c'est prés d'une trentaine de titres qui ont vu le jour.
A picturebook written by French author Ingrid Chabbert and illustrated by Spanish artist Raul Gurid for younger readers about a boy who falls in love with a girl who loves birds. This makes him see birds differently, and develop a passion for her passion for birds. So, he makes a bird costume to catch her eye, and one day, one sweet day, Sylvia finally sees him and it's worth the effort.
Gurid makes sketchy, delicate line drawings, with something slightly surreal about it that is matched in the poetic text. The book feels kind of dreamy and open for a picturebook, with plenty to talk about, including the way friendship depends on expanding your interests to the interests of others. And the nature of love, too, there’s plenty to talk about here about that. It reminded me of the work of Jon Klaasen; it doesn’t talk down to young kids and over-explain. The sweetness is in the unsaid. I liked it a lot.
I also read Chabbert's memoir, Waves, which is about her miscarriage but maybe is really more about her relationship to her sweet and supportive wife, and A Drop of the Sea, which is about a boy and his great-grandmother. Three subtle books about quiet, loving relationships.
A boy falls in love with a girl in the first day of school, but Sylvia is only interested in birds, so he decides to became one. The boy makes a wonderful bird costume, and wears it to school every single day, which proves to be a challenging task. Sylvia only notices him when the boy's face appears through a hole in the worn out costume.
I liked the story because of the potential I saw in it, but I found it kind of lacking in the overall. The semi-open end didn't work for me. Sylvia didn't notice the boy when he was just a boy, nor when he was just a bird, but when in some way he was both. I would have liked to understand why is that. The illustrations are original and beautiful, all in greys scale.
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
يعني، أفهم القصة، حلوة شوي. لكن تغيير طبيعتك بالكامل من أجل أحدهم كي يبادلك الإعجاب— عفوًا، أقصد كي يلاحظك فحسب، هذا ليس شيئًا أود للأطفال أن يصدقوه ويؤمنوا به. إذا احسست للحظة بأنك بحاجة إلى تغيير شخصك لأجل أن يراك الطرف الأخر، إمّا انك بحاجة إلى تحسين مهاراتك في التواصل، أو ربما هذا الشخص ليس هو "الحب الحقيقي"، ربما ليس حبًا حتى.(خصوصًا لمن تكون طفل في الابتدائية..)
Ingrid Chabbert & Guridi De dag dat ik een vogel werd
Wat doe jij als je iemand erg leuk vindt? Wat doe jij als er enkel plaats is voor één iemand in je gedachten? Wat doe jij als die iemand je niet ziet staan? Wat durf jij dan te doen, alleen voor die ene iemand?
In ‘De dag dat ik een vogel werd’ wordt een groots verhaal verteld. Een verhaal over de liefde. Een eerste keer als een bliksemschicht bij heldere hemel verliefd worden en aan niets anders meer kunnen denken. De wereld bestaat uit hem, bestaat uit haar.
In dit boek overkomt jongetje dit grootse gevoel, maar helaas… hij wordt niet gezien. ‘Ze zit precies voor me. Ik zie haar wel. Zij ziet mij niet.’ Hij kijkt naar waar zij van houdt. Zij kijkt naar vogels en omarmt ze. Zij praat als een vogeltje. Vogels krijgen alle aandacht van haar. Het gevoel van hem voor haar is zo sterk, zo uniek, dat hij alles durft en zich niets van zijn omgeving aantrekt. Hij durft kwetsbaar te zijn. Hij besluit als vogel naar school te gaan. Er ontstaat kleur, hij voelt zich sterker, hij heeft hoop, hij gaat ervoor. Het is lastig zo’n verenpak, hij zet door. Hij slaat zijn vleugels uit en volgt zijn hart: ‘onze ogen ontmoeten elkaar, eindelijk.’
Een zuiver ontroerend verhaal over een universeel thema in sobere, minimalistische tekenstijl en in weinig, maar veelzeggende woorden. Een vertaling die zeer goed getroffen is en prettig leest. Aan de vormgeving is liefdevol zorg besteed. Een verhaal waarin zelfs enige informatie over echte vogels wordt gedeeld.
In al zijn eenvoud is dit een wondermooi verhaal waar het in de kern van het leven om draait: de liefde. Het samen zijn en niet alleen in de wereld staan. Liefde geven, liefde ontvangen. Soms zegt een gebaar meer dan woorden. Wat is er mooier dan de ander een rijk boek te geven om je liefde kenbaar te maken?
This is the second picture book I've read by the Ingrid Chabbert/ Raúl Nieto Guridi duo. It's a cute story about a little boy's first crush. The only problem is Sylvia, the object of his crush, is into birds and doesn't really have eyes of anything else. We are all influenced by the people in our lives, especially those we get crushes on, and how this tale unfolds is lovely. The illustrations are adorable and made me smile.
This is a book about falling in love whose wisdom and truth lie behind beneath the lines of the pictures and words. Having become smitten by a girl in his school who loves birds, a young boy designs a costume which he hopes will grab her attention and allow him to be seen by her. What attracts him to the girl in his class, Sylvia, is largely unknown, but there is enough in the book to work it out and enough unsaid to show that the complexity of love, especially first love, is as deep and agonising as it is joyful.
In a series of minimal, thick-pencilled sketches, we see a boy who chooses to dress like a bird in order to attract the girl of his dreams. In doing so, his own life becomes more challenging but he finds that he sees himself and the world around him in a different light: 'I don't look at birds the same way I did before.' It is this idea that we undergo a change within ourselves, a willing sacrifice, in order to try and understand and want to spent our time and emotion with another.
Other reviews are not as kind, stating that the story feels flimsy and insubstantial but I think that Chabbert and Guridi have captured that first love so well and use the art of a picturebook to show it too. They 'get' what love is like for the young and it is in what it does not explicitly say about how we experience love, I feel, that is its strength.
If I could give this book six stars, I would! It's delicious! The wordless spread where the boy's and Sylvia's eyes finally meet took my breath away. I could look at that spread all day.
Congratulations to Kids Can Press for finding the pearl in the Spanish sea.
On his first day at school, the narrator of this Spanish picture-book falls helplessly in love with Sylvia, the girl sitting in the desk in front of his. Unfortunately, Sylvia only has eyes for the birds, whom she observes from afar. Gaining a new appreciation for these avian creatures, the narrator decides that if he is to win his lady love's heart, he must dress up as one himself...
Originally published in Spain as El dia en que me converti en un pájaro, this lovely book from French author Ingrid Chabbert and Spanish illustrator Raúl Nieto Guridi - credited only as Guridi on the cover - offers an interesting, open-ended tale of first love, and the extraordinary lengths to which we will go to attract the attention of the beloved. I found the narrative here very appealing - perhaps because of its quirky quality? - and thought the artwork, created with pencil and photoshop, was beautiful. I'm not sure to whom I would recommend this one though... perhaps to those, like me, interested in picture-books in translation, or perhaps to those looking for children's stories that address first love?
The Day I Became a Bird is a heartwarming story of young love written by French author Ingrid Chabbert and illustrated by Spanish artist Raul Guridi. Originally published in Spanish, the story follows a young boy as he falls in love with a classmate on his first day of school and implements a plan to get her to notice him. The beautiful way in which he tries to win her heart conveys the message that getting to know a person by taking an interest in what they are passionate about is evidence of true love. This is a perfect story to read to primary aged students on Valentine's Day or during a lesson on sharing and respecting individual interests.
Chabbert, Ingrid The Day I Became a Bird illustrated by Guridi. PICTURE BOOK. Kids Can Press, 2016 $16.95.
A little boy falls in love with Sylvia, the bird loving girl who sits in front of him. Unfortunately, Sylvia's love of birds keeps her so occupied she doesn't notice the little boy. In an effort to win her heart, the little boy dresses up as a bird. Although it makes life at school considerably more difficult, the little boy is rewarded not only with Sylvia's attention, but a hug that makes his heart soar.
This was a cute first crush story with quirky illustrations that add an abstract feel to the story.
This book is dear to my heart. I found it while searching for books to add to the collection at the library where I work, and I was immediately drawn in by the art and the theme. It reminds me strongly of the story of myself and my best friend. I am the girl who only has eyes for birds, and he is the boy who follows me to hikes and shows and raptorly fun, because he loves me.
The sweetest story incorporated with a simple yet beautifully drawn illustration. The two complement each other and provokes a special feeling onto me. :))
"At home that night, I drew a picture of her. Then another. And another. And one with hearts and a smiling sun."
"Sylvia is in my class. She sits in front of me. All I see is her. But she doesn't see me."
"I'm not a bird anymore, but I feel like I am flying." ahHhhhh😻🥰🦉
I'd been meaning to read this picture book for awhile now but I thought it was going to be super weird for some reason. But, I'm kicking myself for thinking that since this is one of the sweetest love stories I've read recently.
Υπέροχο. Ρομαντικό. Δάκρυσα με τον απλό τρόπο περιγραφής του έρωτα, που είναι το δώρο της ζωής και μας κάνει όλους να κάνουμε τρέλες γι' αυτούς που αγαπάμε. Απαραίτητο για την βιβλιοθήκη κάθε ρομαντικού και το κατάλληλο δώρο για να εκφράσετε το πως νιώθετε δίπλα στον έρωτάς σας, χωρίς να πείτε λέξη.
“ The boy decides to go to school dressed up as a bird. He endures the stares and giggles of his classmates, and a great deal of discomfort, but the boy doesn't care. Because when it comes to love, sometimes you have no choice but to follow your heart and spread your wings “.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.