Hilda and the Bird Parade by Luke Pearson

Hilda and the Bird Parade by Luke Pearson
Buy Hilda and the Bird Parade by Luke Pearson at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: Steve Shayler
Summary: A magical little adventure story that captures the innocence, excitement and wonder of a child’s world.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 48	Date: October 2013
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1909263062
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Hilda is a young girl who has just moved from the mountainous countryside to the town of Trolberg; a major upheaval in the life of a girl who likes nothing better than to go exploring the woods and mountains and discovering magical creatures. Since moving into town Hilda’s mother is not so keen to allow Hilda out exploring believing a town to be a potentially dangerous place for a child. Soon though Hilda and her new friends manage to convince her mother to allow her out and the new friends give her a guided tour of the area and all the best places in town. Hilda seems to prefer animals to other children though and early on becomes separated from her friends and instead goes exploring with an injured bird she has befriended.

This is the third book in Luke Pearson’s Hildafolk’ series of Hilda stories and although having intended to read the others I have not yet done so, this does not impact the reading of this story as it is a completely stand-alone story and we are brilliantly introduced to Hilda within the narrative. She is a charming, imaginative, innocent and independent child and is thoroughly lovable. Her adventures have a magical quality to them and Luke Pearson somehow manages to convey a feeling of a vaguely remembered childhood and as a result the book is completely enchanting.

The storyline is simple but a little odd and almost fable-like and if I had to liken it to anything else it would have to be the Studio Ghibli films Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle but this is still a book that has great individuality and it is difficult to pigeonhole. It is a children’s story but it is fantastic for adults and I couldn’t help but reminisce about my own childhood adventures (which were much less magical than Hilda’s but still in hindsight had a little sparkle to them). This story makes an adult reader look fondly at the wonder they remember feeling as a child encountering new experiences.

The artwork is simple but very stylish and quite beautiful and uses a fairly limited (but striking) palate that seems to give Hilda’s world its own identity. The story is presented in a comic book format and the panels flow brilliantly whisking a reader along swiftly in the words and images. Birds don’t quite look like birds and the people are very simply drawn and all of this just adds to the almost dreamlike quality of the story. This book really combines style and substance and is as good to look at as it is to read

Reading Hilda and the Bird Parade has given me the kick up the backside I needed to buy the earlier books in the Hildafolk series and if they are even half as enjoyable as this one I will be extremely pleased. This is a fantastic example of graphic storytelling, what it is capable of and how to do it right.

Another great example of graphic storytelling is Grandville by Bryan Talbot.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Hilda and the Bird Parade by Luke Pearson at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Hilda and the Bird Parade by Luke Pearson at Amazon.com.

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