Jess McGeachin, High: Soar to New Heights, Hachette Children’s Books, January 2023, 64 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk) , ISBN 9781803380278
This brightly illustrated nonfiction picture book from the award-winning Jess McGeachin takes its reader to the world of climbers and fliers. The chapters take us from the high-living creatures of the forest, to city skyscrapers, ancient temples and high walls, to the pterosaurs of the prehistoric period, our present great birds of migration, insect flight, and human-made flying machines.
There are the high peaks of the Himalaya ranges, including information on the cultures of high-living people and the practices of summit climbers. Then of course clouds, and finally outer space are explored. Sky gods and constellations are illustrated dramatically. There is much to take in, many clear and colourfully sketched full page images to wonder over, and a general message urging us to take care of what we have on this planet.
Did you know that those vast, swirling formations of winter starlings sometimes seen in a dusk sky are called murmurations? At the end there is a useful glossary and index.
Recommended for fact-hungry readers from 5 to 12 years.
Reviewed by Kevin Brophy
