Today we welcome superstar author Fiona Barker into The Reading Realm to talk about her beautiful new picture book, A SWIFT RETURN, which is stunningly illustrated by Howard Gray!
Before we sit down in The Reading Realm and start chatting about your book, what’s your drink and snack of choice?
Without giving too much away, can you tell us about your new book A Swift Return, which is illustrated by Howard Gray?
It’s the story of two children who meet and make friends while nursing a swift, and their beautiful city, back to life.
How is A Swift Return similar to your other picture book with Howard Gray, Setsuko and the Song of the Sea? How is it different?
Swift is a sister for Setsuko. Where Setsuko was about the sea, this is about the sky. There’s still a subtle message about the environment, this time with a focus on air pollution. But the friendship and links between humans and the natural world are still there.
The illustrations are stunning – so atmospheric! Do you have a favourite one you could tell us about?
I really love the final illustration where the children are looking out over a blooming, green city. The colours are beautiful and it’s so atmospheric. I’ve been to Jordan and Egypt and I can really feel that atmosphere in this image. And I love the way it subverts many of the images we see of middle eastern cities on the news.
The story is accompanied by beautiful Arabic text by Maysoon AbuBlan. Why did you feel this was important to include?
The story is set in the Middle East where Howard lived as a child. So we wanted very much to include the beautiful Arabic script to mirror the Japanese included in Setsuko. Maysoon was amazing to work with. I’ve always been fascinated by the different ways that humans communicate and this is an expression of that. It’s been brilliant to visit schools and share the book with children who speak Arabic. They’re proud to see their language in a children’s book.
Finally, can you describe A Swift Return in three words?
Beautiful, urgent, hopeful
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