"Five lives, five compelling stories of personal journeys."
November 2025 Book of the Month
In a departure from this best-selling author’s usual narrative style, this is a moving collection of five short stories, each set in a different country, with a different child protagonist. Each story is linked by the migration journey of starlings, whose murmurations are a wonder to behold, and which are reflected in the lovely orange and black cover. The colour scheme continues throughout the lavishly illustrated volume with evocative images on every page, adding greatly to the appeal for newly confident or reluctant readers. Starlings make the journey from Egypt to Morocco, to Spain,to France and then England and the stories follow the same pattern.
In the author afterword we are told that she wanted to reflect not just the journeys her characters take but their inner journey too, and this she does beautifully. We get a remarkable sense of each character and their family and home life as well the beautifully described natural environment they have journeyed to, and we , like the protagonist, come to understand just how important each of these elements are to their happiness and growing understanding about the world. These subtle and well-crafted stories hold excitement and adventure, particularly in the Sahara and the remote forests of Spain, but also really relatable family issues and themes of resilience and hope.
All these elements are encapsulated in the final story about Yusuf, a newly arrived refugee from Syria, starting school in the UK and despite the language barriers and homesickness realises that he, just like the starlings, can find protection and comfort in a flock of friends and make a home for himself here.
Each satisfying story is a perfect length for bedtime or class reading and I have no doubt fascinating discussions will follow. It is lovely to have such a quality text to offer younger, curious readers.
A story collection about five children in different parts of the world, whose lives are connected by the captivating flight of starling murmurations.
| Suitable For: | |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
A story collection about five children in different parts of the world, whose lives are connected by the captivating flight of starling murmurations. A runaway, a rescue, a desert drama, from Egypt to Morocco, across Spain and France, the starlings swoop and dive, glide and soar - as the children watching them undertake their own journeys.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Wild Journey and determined it is suitable for children aged 7-10 years old
Wild Journey features in the following genres: Featured Books for 7+ readers, Featured Books for 9+ readers, Books of the Month, Recommendations, Stories about Family and Friends, Animal Stories, Short Stories, Personal Social Health Economic (PSHE), Children’s / Teenage fiction: General, modern and contemporary fiction, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational
Paperback. £10.80, down from the £12.00 cover price. In Stock.
Wild Journey was written by A. M. Dassu and published by Zephyr an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)
Wild Journey has 134 pages
£10.80, reduced from £12.00. In Stock.
