While some people think about picture books as the short, colorful books that are read with young preschoolers, many in the genre feature more complex story lines aimed at slightly older readers. Baba Didi and the Godwits Fly is such a book, written by educator Nicola Muir and illustrated by painter Annie Hayward.
Before reading this book, I had never even heard of a godwit, so the foreword by Helen Clark (the Former Prime Minister of New Zealand and current Administrator of the United Nations Development Program) was quite a helpful introduction to this unique creature. A godwit is a small, somewhat plain looking brown bird that undertakes incredible journeys each year, flying from the shores of New Zealand to China, where they rest for a few days before continuing on to their breeding grounds in Siberia or Alaska, and their trip back takes them as far as Tierra del Fuego in Argentina. What an amazing journey!
As the story begins, young Isabella and her grandmother, Baba Didi, are gathering mollusks in the shallow waters, while several godwits feed nearby, and Baba Didi speaks with Isabella about the traveling fate that awaits them. As she tells of the trips that the godwits take each year, she emphasizes the importance of tenacity and strength in an existence like the godwits’. These are somewhat abstract concepts for children, but Baba Didi patiently explains them, and also introduces the idea that though the godwits may not be beautiful, the idea of beauty is irrelevant when it comes to an individual’s ability to manage the challenges that life can bring.
Baba Didi relates the godwits’ migration to her own personal experiences in emigrating from Croatia. On a page featuring a moving illustration of a large family aboard a patched up sailboat, Baba Didi’s words speak to the ways that people can respond to hardship.
Baba Didi looked hard at Isabella. ‘When there are hard times, Isabella – everyone always asks, “Why me?” Sometimes you just have to go. Sometimes you just know.
‘The godwit knows. Your Poppa and I knew when we left Croatia. Sometimes, if you stay in the same place doing the same thing, it will be the end of you.’
With lengthier text and more complex concepts, this is a picture book best read with elementary school aged children, and the conversations it can inspire are valuable ones to take place between parents and children.