'My Mum is a Bird' by Angie Cui, illustrated by Evie Barrow

A review and book launch celebration

On Sunday, I had the absolute honour of launching an author’s debut picture-book at Readings Kids in Lygon St, Carlton - My Mum is a Bird by Angie Cui, illustrated by Evie Barrow.

Here’s the blurb;

Today is Parents’ and Carers’ Day at school. I don’t want to bring anyone, but my mum is coming anyway.

She is a bird.

With hand-drawn artwork from beloved illustrator Evie Barrow, Angie Cui’s debut picture book, My Mum is a Bird, is sure to swoop into your heart.

And a little preview of the book too;

It’s a beautiful and tender story, woven around this profound metaphor for difference, that’s on just-the-right-side of deliciously absurd and fantastical that kids will love.

As Angie explained at her launch, the mother being a ‘bird’ is a substitute for any perceived embarrassment children can feel when their family is “different” from the regimented, nuclear … be that a queer family of two mothers, two fathers, or gender non-binary parents, single-parent households, grandparents or other guardians raising children, adoptees, or parents for whom English is not a first language.

The ‘bird’ is a truly loving portrayal of any difference - striking and beautiful, especially with Evie Barrow’s gorgeous illustrations in which the green/orange/blue bird seems to glow on the page - but still undoubtedly abnormal, painstakingly ‘other’ amidst scenes of everyday life in the household, or school-drop off amidst human parents.

Of course, there are benefits to having a bird for a mum - as our little protagonist discovers, with wonderful fun. The story takes a beautiful turn, that is the perfect conduit for conversations between adults and young ones - as the entire concept is, with potential to gently guide a little reader to similarities in their own life and family structure, maybe in their attitudes to embarrassment and fear of judgement by others.

The book is really something else, and extraordinary for being Angie’s first published (Our Map - her second picture book with Novia Heroanto illustrating - is coming out with Wombat Books in June). It marks her as a sympathetic and clever creator, with an exciting career ahead in the children’s lit space.

I’ve also long been a fan of Evie Barrow - her books Horatio Squeak (Walker Books), Howl (Scribble), and Almost a Fish (Little Book Press) are among my favourites - she’s brilliant at anthropomorphism, and communicating big emotions through comical faces of young characters especially. In Bird, her illustrations really are a perfect mix of grounded and surreal - and I can imagine many children will delight in projecting themselves on the page in a “what would I do?” scenario.

Evie is currently living in Prague, so couldn’t be at the launch or see her beautiful Readings Kids window-display live and in-person;

But I was honoured to be there, celebrating this stunning book take flight and - I am sure! - soar to great heights.

Congratulations to Angie, Evie and their publishing team at UQP!