This lovely, easy to read and beautifully illustrated book, carries an important message with it. The rhyming is appropriate and adds a momentum to the book which children will adore. I intend to share this with my class (year 5) to explore the friendship themes within it. I feel it may help them gain a better perspective about true friends

This is a delightful story about the grey Go-Away bird whose life became empty when he shooed all the small, colourful birds away, then scary when he was attacked by the bigger brown bird of prey...and, subsequently, full of colour when the birds whose friendship he'd rejected came to his rescue. Life is more colourful - and much better - with friends in it!

The Go Away bird thinks she doesn't need the company of any of the other colourful birds. They just annoy her! But when she's in trouble she realises the value of friendship.
Lovely illustrations and a cute message.

What a gorgeous book. The rhymes are pretty, the story is a treat and most importantly; there's a message for little ones to learn.
The illustrations are a beautiful companion to the narrative and have ensured I've put this on my ’must buy’ list for every little one this Easter.

Wow! I actually let out a squeal when I saw that Netgalley were letting me review a Julia Donaldson book. I feel homoured.
I love Julia Donaldson, she is one of my favourite authors and my class love them too (I'm a teacher).
This book was fab. Can't wait to buy it and share it with them. A true story of friendship and I love the rhyming aspect too.

A new Julia Donaldson....yes please!
I am a huge fan of Julia Donaldson and always enjoy the illustrators she works with, I like how different illustrators are used for different books, they each bring a unique style.

Reading this on a kindle did not do justice to what I know will be stunning illustrations. I look forward to holding the book on publication day.

I read this for the first time with my daughter and she loved joining in with the Go-Away Bird. She commented on how brilliant at rhyming Julia Donaldson is and I couldn’t agree more. You can expect high quality text with rhyming and rhythm throughout this book.
It carries such a lovely message as well. The Go Away Bird does just as his name says...tells everyone to go away. He is a grumpy bird and doesn’t want to be bothered. Even though he sends some colourful, friendly birds away, they come back at just the right moment.
A true testament to friends sticking together even when one is having a bad day.

I will be buying this book and sharing it with many children!

Well, when it's a Julia Donaldson book so you know it's going to be a winner. If you're a parent you have probably read some of these books to your children and if you haven't, then your children's school teachers most likely have.

This book tells the story of the Go-Away bird who tells every bird who tries to interact with her to go away. As someone who frequently feels like the Go-Away bird I have to confess to feeling a bit of camaraderie with her. The overall message I suppose is one about the need for friends and support (but really, it's ok to want to be alone too).

The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and vibrant and if you love birds like I do you'll like this one too. My son was a little scared by the Get-You Bird but he's scared of Sellotape and crisp packets so don't read too much into his opinions.

The text is fun and jaunty and I found myself almost turning it into a song as I was reading it. I also liked the fact that it's based on a real bird which is a fun way to spark an interest in a real life animal.

The Go-Away Bird is the brand new release by Julia Donaldson, who is pretty much a writing legend in our house (and in the general world: She was the 2011–2013 Children’s Laureate and has over 180 published works.) If you have children in your life and have ever read to them, chances are you’re acquainted with one of Julia’s creations: Her most well-known is The Gruffalo but other favourites of my son are Room on the Broom, Monkey Puzzle and The Paper Dolls.

Children’s picture books are special in that they will likely be re-read far, far more times than any other books in your life. Obsession is not even a strong enough word for when a child decides they like a certain book. For example: I love The Secret History by Donna Tartt, I’ve re-read it maybe five times, which I consider a lot. In the last three years I’ve read The Gruffalo hundreds of times. And that’s not an exaggeration. I cannot tell you how important it is for the reader to enjoy the book as much as the child, it makes all those repetitions so much easier!

By this point I’ve read a fair few children’s books and learnt what makes a great picture book. In my opinion, anyway, if they have these five elements, you’re onto a winner:

/ There must be a story. Sounds obvious, but it does baffle me how so many books I read to my son are simply nonsense, with no suggestion of a story. The reader in me is very frustrated when he takes a liking to one of these.

/ Rhyme is not essential but holds the attention of a child for longer. Plus, they are more likely to remember the words.

/ Repetition is great as they love to chant along. Repetition is great as they love to chant along.

/ Humour and wit (however subtle) makes re-reading so much more bearable for adults.

/ Beautiful illustrations will catch the eye of your child and give you something wonderful to look at as you read. Gorgeous covers are also more likely to be put on the front of the shelf in my son’s room, meaning he will ask to read them more.

So, did The Go-Away Bird hit this criteria? Yes, indeed. I read it to the intended audience – my three-year old son – and he was soon joining in with chanting, ‘go-away, go-away, go-away’ and the vibrant colours of the birds drew his attention. As with all the Julia Donaldson stories I’ve read, there is a moral message (about the importance of friendship), perfect rhymes and a story that has an actual plot, however simple. Her back-catalogue of brilliance sets the bar high and she has not let me down with this new book. I’ll be investing once it’s released so I can read it to my son again and again.

What an absolutely delightful story, the fine grey, Go-Away bird, doesn’t want to be bothered by the other birds, they make her dizzy, seedy, and batty.....Go-Away Go-Away.....

But then along comes the Get-You bird, it’s big, brown and scary...what’s going to happen ? Phew, luckily, thanks to the Come-Back bird, the other birds fly back and together they send the Get-You bird on its way. A charming tale of teamwork and friendship, sometimes we just need others for a little help. A beautiful tale with stunning illustrations



I would like to thank the Author/the Publishers/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review

Many thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for providing me with an arc for my honest review.

As a mother I have loved Julia Donaldson's books, to read to my children. As an aunt, I have ensured my nephews have received many of her books so they can enjoy them in Finland. As a teacher, I have used her stories to enhance learning and entrance my students with her beautifully crafted stories.

I always love the underlying messages in the stories, and The Go-Away Bird is no different.

Using flowing rhyming verse to tell the story of a rather pompous bird who seems to think itself too good for all the other birds who wish to befriend it. Yet in its hour of need, those same birds come back to help him.

A story of friendship, and learning to look beyond the 'cover' of a person, to discover the real goodness inside.

I really enjoyed the premise of the book, and the illustrations by Catherine Rayner are simply stunning.

Definitely a book I would read to my class, to encourage friendship, no matter what.

Many thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for providing me with an arc for my honest review.