King of the Sky

Book bought for the illustrations by Laura carlin

Absolutely love this book, beautifully written and illustrated both my partner(a pigeon fancier) and my daughter love it.

Really beautiful and a lovely lovely read

Good, but I would recommend hardcover rather than paper back.

A beautiful story with gorgeous illustrations.

Fantastic book. Tackles displacement issues in a heartwarming fashion.

I really enjoyed this story, it has a classic feel to it unlike a lot of modern children's books that are a bit more specific to the modern day. King of the sky is a slow paced story about a young boy who moves from Italy to a coal mining town but I don't feel that this is a bad thing, the slower pace makes the story a lot calmer and meaningful and would be an ideal bedtime read. I think this book could be used to show children moving to a new place that they will settle in, also that maybe older people or neighbors that they wouldn't otherwise consider are people too. In a school setting I would most likely use this book to support teaching on resilience, as the pigeon doesn't win the short races, it could be a way to help younger children understand that we all have different talents and it isn't important to win every time. I do feel that the story was a little bit dark, but in a way that makes the story more meaningful and the illustrations (which actually remind me a bit of John Burningham's work) match beautifully with the text, overall a lovely book that has made it onto my fancy book case! I received this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

King of the Sky, is a beautiful, moving, story that fits this world perfectly, with immigration being high in this country. It teaches children what it feels like to be in a strange country, one you don’t know, or speak the language of. A little Italian boy moved to the UK with his family. Being far away from the only place he knew, he felt incredibly lonely, he felt that he didn’t belong in the UK. He longed for home. Behind his house lived elderly Mr Evans, who kept racing pigeons. These were the only things that reminded him of home. He loved seeing them fly, soaring high above the chimney tops. Mr Evans chose one of his pigeons, and told the little boy that it was going to be a champion racer. He asked him to give it a name. The little boy called him, ‘Re Del Cielo’ – King of the Sky. This hardcover book touches your heart. It fills you with warmth, a sense of understanding, and a want for the little boys pigeon to win the race. The artwork is what I would describe as freehand, crayon, childlike drawings. The colours are matt, and quite dark. They are also full page and full of little details. It is a wonderful book, with a very imaginative, poignant story, One that transports you into the life of a little boy, and his mixed emotions. Reviewed on Whispering Stories Book Blog *I received a free copy of this book, which I voluntarily reviewed

Beautiful story with incredible illustrations!!! They’re paintings in their own right!

beautiful immigrant story of what is lost when moving to a new country...and found.

The book is lovely, deep and inspiring. We bought it as a present. Much appreciated.

I had higher expectations of this book.