Fly Boy

by J.J. Bola, Clara Anganuzzi (Illustrations)

From bestselling adult fiction author and renowned poet JJ Bola comes his astonishingly powerful debut picture book.Fly Boy is angry. Fly Boy is mad. Fly Boy is jealous. Fly Boy is sad. Fly Boy’s wings are dark and red. At school he breaks pens and shoves and hits. Fly Boy is desperate to fly far, far away and escape all the pain. But there is always too much noise. Thomas’s wings are bright and blue—as clear as the sea and sky. Maybe, just maybe, he can help Fly Boy heal. . . . Masterful, mesmerising, and the perfect entry point for parents looking to encourage conversations about children’s mental health. An unmissable picture book.  

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

32 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 25, 2023

About the author

A Kinshasa born, London raised writer, poet, educator and workshop facilitator. London and UK based, but also international; Paris, Brussels, Boston etc, most recently San Francisco and Oakland, where he won the Oakland Poetry Slam. Performs regularly at shows and festivals such as Tongue Fu, Vocals & Verses, Chill Pill, The Round House, Ventnor Fringe, etc as well as Universities; SOAS, UCL, Oxford, Lincoln, University of Birmingham, Standford University and Merrit College in the Bay and other public institutions. Also includes various Radio and Television appearances.

JJ Bola has successfully published two books of poetry Elevate and Daughter of the Sun (ebook). His third, and latest, is his most comprehensive poetry collection WORD, which was launched to a sold out crowd, during Refugee Week on the 18th of June 2015 at Dalston Roof Park. JJ Bola’s work is centred on a narrative of empowerment, humanisation, healing of trauma as well as discovery of self through art, literature and poetry. Creating the increasingingly popular addage, 'hype your writers like you do you rappers', he believes that the true purpose of poetry (art) is to expose the reality of this world and how to, most importantly, survive it.
[taken from author's website]

Reviews

[Black Flamed Candle Books 🕯️📚 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully illustrated book navigating a boy who grows up around his parents fighting at home. He gets angry and sad at school unable to control his negative emotions by lashing out on things and other people. He exhibits the same traits as his parents, as he expresses himself the only way he knows how; the same way his parents do, by shouting and screaming, yelling and being mean and abusive. Luckily, his friend Thomas is supportive of him and helps him calm down and be more at peace with himself. I rate this 4.25 stars.

[D Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for PSHE. I loved this.