How to Make a Bird

Stunning imagery and moving language let imagination take flight in an ethereal primer on making a bird.

Breathe deeply and take your time.
The making of a bird is not a thing to be hurried.

To make a bird, you’ll need hundreds of tiny, hollow bones, so light you can barely feel them on your palm. So light they can float on air. Next you’ll need feathers for warmth and lift. There will be more besides—perhaps shells and stones for last touches. But what will finally make your bird tremble with dreams of open sky and soaring flight? From award-winning author Meg McKinlay and celebrated artist Matt Ottley comes a lyrical and lovely picture book that shows how small things, combined with wonder and a steady heart, can transform into works of magic.

Meg McKinlay is an award-winning author of children’s books and novels. Her picture books include DUCK!, illustrated by Nathaniel Eckstrom, and Duck for a Day and No Bears, both illustrated by Leila Rudge. Meg McKinlay lives in Australia.

Matt Ottley is an award-winning artist as well as a musician and a Yamaha-endorsed composer. His illustrations have appeared in more than three dozen books, but How to Make a Bird is his first book with Candlewick Press. He lives with his partner in New South Wales, Australia.