Birdsong

A lone bird sits in a big tree, merrily singing its tune to the world. But soon it will be joined by a friend, and then another, and another. . . . As each colorful bird lands on the branch of the tree it joins the last in a cheerful song. But one flashy bird wants to rule the roost - until something small changes his tune.

When Ellie Sandall was a student in Bath, England, she used to visit an aviary. She says "I was listening to the birds there one day while sketching them, and I loved the way in which all the different sounds wove together to create a seemingly continuous conversation. I wrote down some of the bird sounds in my sketchbook, and I liked the idea of a single bird being joined by more and more friends so that the air became filled with different calls, only to be silenced by the screech of the biggest bird." Birdsong is Ms. Sandall's first picture book, and she lists Vincent van Gogh, Gustav Klimt Brian Wildsmith and Eric Carle as her influences. She lives in England.