This book is a little controversial in our house as it’s the first Julia Donaldson book that Ivy and I don’t agree on! I personally don’t think it’s one of her best – but Ivy loves it so what do I know!?!
The story is about the ‘Go-Away Bird’ who (as you’d expect from her name…) isn’t a big fan of company. She sits in her nest with a disgruntled look on her face and sends away all of the nice birds who try and make her acquaintance with a loud ‘Go Away!’
She doesn’t want to talk to the Chit-Chat bird, she doesn’t want to share a meal with the Peck-Peck bird and she certainly doesn’t want to fly with the Flip-Flap bird. But then the hungry ‘Get You’bird appears and the Go-Away bird discovers that maybe she does need friends after all.
Will the other birds come to her rescue after her rude behaviour?
As always with a Donaldson book, the rhyme is fantastic and I love Catherine Rayner’s beautiful illustrations but I wasn’t blown away by the story. I also didn’t like the fact that (spoiler alert!) when the other birds come back and save her, the Go-Away bird doesn’t actually say thank you – so I always bring this up when we read it together!
Ivy loves this book though and she regularly pulls it off the shelf for a bedtime read. She is amused by the names of the different birds and we’ve had fun making up names for other kinds of birds, not featured in the book, based on what they do (Squawk-Squawk bird for a parrot, Waddle-Waddle bird for a penguin etc!).
She has also committed some parts of the rhyme to memory and always joins in when the Go-Away bird tells others to buzz off!
Buy it now: https://amzn.to/306vubQ