This was an interesting read that reminds us that when life gets tough to keep going. I loved the eautiful black and white illustrations and felt that they brought the story to life in a way that maybe colour would not have the same efffect.
The story was good and overall I would recommend this to me friends.

I am awed by the gorgeous illustration. It's distinct and stylistic. It suits the story really well. This book taught me how to look the beautiful things in life despite the harsh situation we're in.

"Don't forget to sing about life," said the duck

"Life can be seem difficult sometimes but it's the most simple thing there is. The only thing you have to do is exist. That's more than enough."

I feel like sometimes we forget to breathe and live in the moment, and just be. So the message this book aims for is really sweet from my adult perspective. Highly recommend!

Starlings love to imitate the tunes around them and the concept in the book expands into the starling taking idea from his friends, showing the beauty of nature and then some.

While this is a beautifully illustrated book for children, I feel like the “targeted” audience is for older children, not younger as it's being marketted or advertised on retail websites.

I love how kids can look at ordinary things in an extraordinary way though and the author really does portray that through the ilustrations.

A starling flying over meadows and cornfields is impressed by the beauty he sees below. He goes on to consult a variety of birds about the song he intends to sing about the loveliness he’s observed. He compiles details that a woodpecker, owl, kingfisher, robin, swallows, a duck, peacock, and other starlings provide from their unique vantage points. In the end, his musical creation acknowledges trees, the night, water and its currents, petals that rustle, and rocks, which “like a secret code . . . tell the story of the earth.” Life is simple, the duck has told him: “The only thing you have to do is exist.” And, while the peacock has reminded him to sing about himself, as only he can know who he is, the other starlings remind him to sing about all of them, for “only together are we whole.”

The strength of Wolters’s picture book is her stunning black-and-white linocut work. Only the starling’s beak, legs, and feet are coloured. Yes, the book is attractive and rather Zen-like. It reminds readers to look at the beauty around them, to be present and mindful—but for this reader that isn’t quite enough. I have a preference for picture books with a plot and some degree of conflict.

I don’t consider this an essential purchase for school or public libraries. However, I do think an art teacher might find it valuable as a wonderful example of linocut print making.

In a Nutshell: Decent but not great. Expected more because I love starlings.

Story Synopsis:
While flying, the starling recognises the beauty of nature and decides to sing a song about the loveliness around him. When he shares this idea with some other friends, they all pop in with advice about what to include in his song. Ultimately, the starling takes note of all their points and composes a song including his thoughts as well as those of his friends.

This book was originally written in Dutch in 2021. The English translation is to be released on 12th September 2023.

I like the thought behind the book. Starlings love to imitate tunes from around them, and this concept has been expanded into a starling’s taking ideas from his friends while composing an ode to the beauty of nature. However, in terms of implementation, the book left me with mixed feelings.

🐦 While I liked the suggestions given to the starling by various birds, the fact also is that he didn’t ask for their opinion. He merely told them his plan, they offered their suggestions without any prompting, and to top it, the starling incorporates every single suggestion into his song without deliberating over any. I am not sure what message this sends to children. All through our life, we will meet people who love to offer their unsolicited opinion. Somewhere, we must draw the line about listening to others’ opinions and following them blindly.

🐦 The content is a bit too abstract for the target age group of 2-5 years. The sentences and the vocabulary are also complicated for this age level. The story might work better for a slightly older reading group, but I don’t think it will make much sense to toddlers.

🐦 The birds’ opinions have much depth in them. Through their advice to the starling, kids will also learn how to look at the ordinary in a different way. Then again, this is assuming an older reading age. Definitely not for toddlers.

🐦 For a story about a song, the writing is quite stilted. There is not much fluidity in the sound of the sentences. (It’s possible that the text worked better in the original and lost something in translation.)

🐦 A central character such as a starling could have lent itself to some amazing scenes such as borrowed tunes from other birds or murmurations. But the story is too basic, restricted only to getting and implementing content ideas for the song.

🐦 The art is the best feature of the book, when seen with adult eyes (of some adults, not this adult.) Sketched in linocut style, every page makes an impact with its graphics. There is one scene where the starling is speaking with a kingfisher next to a river. The illustration on this page has a water reflection that includes the reflected text also: amazingly drawn! However, keeping in mind the target audience of the book, I find the graphics quite limited. Imagine having such gorgeous birds such as a starling, a peacock, an owl, and many more, but seeing all of them only in black & white. The only dash of colour is the tiny yellow on the starling’s beak and feet. Just a few days ago, a Goodreads user told me that in Europe, graphics in children’s books go by ‘less is more’. Assuming that to be true, these graphics are certainly apt for the European audience. But I am from India, the land of colourful vibrancy. I need an explosion of colour in the picture books I read. B&W sketches will rarely impress me.

All in all, the book was nice, but it stays at just that level: ‘nice’. No long-term impact, no ‘wow’ feeling after I completed it. It might still work for 5-8 year olds.

3 stars.

My thanks to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Starling’s Song”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Simply but beautiful prose and illustrations, celebrating all the wonder of nature from the perspective of the birds

This is a gorgeous book - filled with longing and the love of memories and how to keep them and the music we make to both keep and enhance those memories.

The starling loves where he is and he wants to sing a song about it all, but he doesn't want to forget anything or anyone, so he begins to ask all his friends what he needs to remember and sing about and in the end, his song includes everyone, including his own and is filled with the love he has and the memories of all the beauty he has seen.

This is just a fantastic book and the illustrations are a perfect accompaniment to a story that is full of all the good things. Very well done.

Thank you to NetGalley, Octavie Wolters, Michele Hutchinson - Translator, and Pushkin Press/Pushkin Children's Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a gorgeous book! The pictures are absolutely stunning and so effective in black and white with just a hint of colour for the starling. A read again and again story of valuing the opinions and ideas of others as well as our own. A lovely way to introduce children to the idea of taking a moment to pause and enjoy what is around them. I can't wait to share it.

The Starling's Song is the perfect book, with absolutely stunning writing & gorgeous illustrations.

It tells the beautiful story of the Starling's song and the images of nature that flood ones mind when listening to the melodic tunes.

It explores the little wonders of nature, instilling admiration and appreciation of the world around us from a young age.

A big thank you to NetGalley & Pushkin Press for the DRC

A starling decides to sing about all the amazing things he sees around him. To ensure he includes everything, he asks other birds for suggestions, and they all provide him with ideas, such as rocks, trees, the night and other things.

The illustrations are fantastic, and reminded me of woodcuts, while the birds and all the natural beauty they mention made me a soothing read.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Pushkin Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.

This has to be one of the most beautiful childrens books i have ever read! Those sketch style drawings are nothing short of adorable and very exquisite.

The story itself is so beautiful i would imagine any child could adore this. This has transported me back to when i was a young child. My favourite off all the birds was and are Starlings. I used to have a little book where i would note down all their yearly going ons. We had some nest in the roof once and i got the pleasure of seing those little green coloured eggs and in time hearing and seing the babys grow. Fabulous and fascinating birds.
The way they group together and fly is very hypnotising. I remember sitting with my friends saying what we thought their formations looked like. Like we do with passing clouds.

This is a very special little book that can be enjoyed by all ages.

Many thanks to the Author, Pushkin press,Pushkin childrens Books and Netgalley for the free ARC. Also the beautiful trip down memory lane. It was a pleasure to leave my review.

Publication date 12/9/23
Review written 16/8/23

A great example of children seeing art reflect beauty of the written word. As a picture book the writing is perhaps a bit advanced for younger children however it’s poetised writing offers examples of personification, anthropomorphism and symbolism making it a great learning tool for KS4 students to dig deep and analyse.

Just as The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse was my favorite read of 2021, The Starling’s Song is easily my choice for favorite read of 2023.

The illustrations are breathtaking, and unlike anything I've seen in a children's book before.

The messages are pure and insightful. We're only given maybe one sentence per page, but every word counts.

This is a real stop-and-smell-the-roses kind of book, and one that everyone, young, old or in-between should take the time to read.

This is a brief story about a Starling, and how it wants to create a song that reflects its enchantment with the beauty of the world around it.

The bird discusses its wish with many other birds, and each of them offers something for inclusion - though for some reason, the peacock's suggestion has been left unmentioned. I especially like what the Robin had to say about withered flowers and new beginnings.

The black and white woodcut images are very dramatic, and the one featuring the Kingfisher - with its mirror image - is very striking.

This is an interesting book, offering many lifelessons, but I wonder if the mostly monochrome images would be more interesting to adults rather than children. Overall, a nice effort.

This book is beautiful.each double spread features hand cut and printed images depicting the starling and the birds it visits. The starling wishes to write an ode to the wonderful things it sees in nature, it tells the other birds it's wish and they all respond with things that the starling should include in this song. I feel really underwhelmed by the writing, this could be due to the translation from Dutch however I'm not sure. In the synopsis on Goodreads it mentions that <i>'to make sure he won't forget anything, he asks all the birds he knows for what [he shouldn't] forget to include in [his] song'</i> however when reading that was never really shown? It seemed more like the other birds were pushing their opinions into the starling's song rather than the starling seeking their opinions. The mirrored page is beautiful like the other reviewers say, however it is too crowded and the reflected writing is a bit overwhelming.

Overall I just think that this book serves as a big list of beautiful things in nature and some beautiful bird art. I hate giving this book such a low rating, but I was really underwhelmed by it.

I think the flow of this story was beautifully captured and the words about embracing who you are and things that aren’t shiny and new. The writing was a little harsh at points probably due to it being translated from Dutch. But a great emotional read to teach children how to love everything.

A picture book with stunning illustrations about the beauty of the world. The starling travels the world and finds beauty in nature.

Wow wow wow this book is gorgeous! Not only are the illustrations stunning and unique (the page with the kingfisher where the words are reflected in the water was so fun!) but the story itself is lovely. A celebration of the earth and nature in all its beauty. I loved the reminder that even the things we overlook such as rocks or dying flowers offer so much value. It’s a great study in perspective and so wonderful to teach little ones the importance of appreciating all of nature.

The Starling's Song by Octavie Wolters— translation by Michele Hutchinson— is a beautifully written children's book about seeing the world's beauty and appreciating the views of others. The Starling receives many suggestions from the other animals, my favorite being:

"Don't forget to sing about the flowers when they wither. Their petals turn to paper, and you can hear their voices rustling in the wind. They say nothing lasts forever, but it doesn't matter because something new comes instead."

I would absolutely recommend this book to all the little kiddos in my family. Five stars!!

This book is absolutely gorgeous. The black and white woodcut-like illustrations are accented with tiny pops of yellow and give so much detail to the birds and scenery with simple lines. I would hang these illustrations on my wall as artwork! The story is a celebration of nature and delightful imagining of the wisdom birds could give . I particularly loved the scene with the kingfisher where the text is cleverly mirrored underneath to show the pond without drawing the water itself.