“High above the city, no one heard the soft thud of feathers against glass.” A dramatic story slowly unfolds in this spellbinding picture book that follows the fate of an injured pigeon. No one sees the bird fall onto a busy city sidewalk. No one notices it lying there until a young boy named Will comes up from the subway. “A loose feather can’t be put back . . . but a broken wing can sometimes heal.” The bird is taken home at Will’s insistence, and is carefully tended by the boy and his parents before a triumphant return to the city and release into the sky. The marvelous visual storytelling includes full-page and double-page spreads varying with multiple panels on a single page, revealing in fine detail the striking moments and affecting scenes. Will is always easy to find in a bright red coat or shirt that singles him out from the gray city streets and their inhabitants, and from his more soberly attired parents at home. The entire color palette shifts to brighter hues as the bird’s healing progresses. What might have been an effective wordless book takes on an even greater richness and emotional weight with an elegantly spare narrative in which every word matters. Winner, 2009 Charlotte Zolotow Award (Ages 3–8)

Graham’s watercolor, chalk, and ink illustrations of an urban tale are visually detailed, evocative, and variously arrayed as full-page spreads, pan els, and small vignettes. The story opens in the peritext, as a pigeon wings across the sky and into a reflective skyscraper, plummeting to the street below. The plot centers on the rescue and care of the injured pigeon by a small boy—the only pedestrian among the busy foot traffic who notices the bird’s plight. Prompted by the child, his mother wraps the bird in her scarf and tucks it in her open bag. Together, they carry the bird home and build a healing haven until it can fly again. 2009 USBBY Outstanding International Book, Kate Greenaway Medal–Shortlist, ALA Notable Children’s Books, CYBIL Award, 2009 Charlotte Zolotow Award, Children’s Book Council of Australia’s 2009 Book of the Year: Early Childhood, 2008 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards. nlr

“Such a visual piece . . . readers young and old will return to the story to look more deeply; they won’t be disappointed.” — Booklist (starred review)

In a city full of hurried people, only young Will notices the bird lying hurt on the ground. With the help of his sympathetic mother, he gently wraps the injured bird and takes it home. Wistful and uplifting in true Bob Graham fashion, here is a tale of possibility — and of the souls who never doubt its power.