Today for World Environment Day

We have been reading

One Little Bird

Written by Sheryl Webster

Illustrated by Helen Shoesmith

Published by Oxford University Press

This is a super book about one little bird

One little robin called Rosa

Who loses her home as a tree is cut down in a garden

Surely it doesn’t matter

She is just one little bird

But actually it matters a lot

And Rosa is not going to stand for it

She calls out to animals everywhere

“We must stop people from taking our homes!”

Because what if we all did that?

Destroyed the home of just one animal

Just one soon becomes a few

A few soon becomes many

Then it does not take long for many to become all

Action needs to be taken to stop humans destroying animal habitats

And in this wonderful story

The animals make a stand

They stand up to the tree fellers in the forest

They stand up to the people clearing sloth’s rainforest to farm crops

They stand up to the people digging up giraffes grassland to build a road

They stand up to the people replacing monkey’s jungle with new homes

In a glorious act of united defiance

Animals everywhere takeover human homes

There are sloths on sofas

Monkeys in bathtubs

Lions in the laundry and lemurs in the loos

This is a funny story with wonderful illustrations

And a strong message

An important message made accessible for little readers

And their grown ups

The message that we are never too young to make a change

We are never too little to make a difference

To know that if one person takes one action

No matter how small

Others will follow

Others will make a stand

In this story

Our one little bird, Rosa

Knows that something has to be done

She calls the animals and the people together

And asks them all

What do you want?

There answers are the same

“We want our homes back! We love our homes.”

The message of this story one we must all head

Big and small, young and old

The world is our home

Humans and animals must learn to share the planet

We must stop destroying habitats and homes

Our homes are where we all feel safe

Where we find food

Where we raise our young

In this story of Rosa

One Little Bird

The message is heard and understood

And the people promise to take more care

They begin to re-plant, recycle and re-house

It is not easy

It is not perfect

It is a start

It is what we all must do

Find a way for animals and humans to live in peace together

We must all

Reimagine Recreate and Restore