Ollie's brother wants to go and work with children who have been made orphans, through war, in Africa. He wants to be a clown and make them laugh. His mother and sister want him to stay in England and go to university. Hero, a swallow, has a journey to make too. He must fly to Africa for the winter to join all the other swallows. His journey is difficult and fraught with danger. Three separate stories are woven into one powerful and moving novel whose central theme exposes the horrors of war and of landmines, but also the endurance of the human spirit.

 

This book is aimed at children in primary school.

This book was published 2010 by HarperCollins Publishers .

Michael Morpurgo has brought together poems by writers as diverse as Spike Milligan and Stevie Smith, John Lennon and Jo Shapcott.