The jackdaw wants all his friends to come to his party, but when he calls out his invitation the animals just touch their heads. Why won’t they answer? And what do their actions mean? Luckily a brown owl can help him with the puzzle!

This book about friendship and sign language was created by Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo, with a group of deaf children in a workshop organized by the not-for-profit organisation Life & Deaf which helps deaf children to explore their identities through poetry, film, performance and art.

Featuring Nick Sharratt’s bright and accessible illustrations, What the Jackdaw Saw is another beautiful picture book from the team behind Goat Goes to Playgroup and Toddle Waddle.

Product Details

Format

Paperback

ISBN

9781447280842

Publisher

Macmillan Children's Books

Date published

May 7th, 2015

Lexile measure

AD550L Lexiles are the global standard in reading assessment. They are unique as they are able to measure a child and a book on the same scale – ensuring the right book gets to the right child at the right time.

For more details see What is a lexile?.

Other details

32 pages

Condition

New

Author/Illustrator

Julia Donaldson

Julia Donaldson is author of many of today’s best-loved picture books including The Gruffalo and Stick Man. Best known for her collaborations with Axel Scheffler, each of these vivid rhyming stories is a triumph of imagination. She was also the Children’s Laureate 2011-2013.

More about Julia: “I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).

Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us.

I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.

Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.

The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television.

One of my television songs, A Squash and a Squeeze, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published.

My real breakthrough was The Gruffalo, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately – he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow – but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.

My novel The Giants and the Joneses is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic Princess Mirror-Belle who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old.

When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs.”

Nick Sharratt

Nick Sharratt needs little introduction with books going down a storm time and time again. He has written and illustrated many books for children, and also enjoys great success illustrating books for Jacqueline Wilson and Jeremy Strong.

He was born in 1962 and trained at the St Martin’s School of Art. Inspired by 1960s pop and graphic art, his work is instantly recognisable for its bold images and punchy colours. With lots of moving tabs, flaps to lift and other interactive features, as well as exciting wordplay and cheeky humour, Nick’s books let children discover all the different ways in which books and words can work.

He lives and works in Brighton, in a studio overlooking the sea.