Sky Hawk

Product Information

From this point on I enjoyed the book less and less, it was a quaint story but it didn't feel as believable. The Africa side of the story felt like a sequel to the book instead of a second half. It felt much more aimed at younger children from chapter 28 or so onward. I really enjoyed the various intertwined stories that all wrapped around Callum’s life and the journey of the Ospreys. I think these side stories kept the text engaging and allowed the time scale of the birds journey to become relatable.

In the novel Gill Lewis has given the reader clues about what the story will be about; introducing one of the main characters: the girl Iona and it also introduces the dark rivers and forests. This landscape is introduced to give the reader an idea of where the novel will be set. This book took me two days to read as I just couldn’t put it down. It was just such an easy journey to follow and be a part of. There is so much you can do with characterisation: Callum is such an interesting character as he is incredibly subtle and reserved in his speech but as a narrator, you can really connect with him and understand his internal thoughts and feelings towards Iona and the ospreys. Callum and Iona dedicate themselves to such a heartwarming and resilient journey to ensure the safety of the ospreys and even without Iona, Callum remains strong and determined to fight for Iris until the very end. There is also the opportunity for the inclusion of drama, role-play and art as children could create their own tree house/den like Iona’s and Callum’s which could be filled with drawings the pupils have created of birds from their local area. It dealt with implying that there were problems with Iona's home life, this meant that more mature readers would understand the implications of what was said but not younger.Due to Skyhawk being an enjoyable story, the book would also be suitable to read as a class story with any KS2 class. The chapters aren’t too long so at least one could be read at a time. The teacher could also read certain phrases with a good use of adjectives, the teacher could read the adjectives to the children and then encourage them to come up with their own adjectives for the actions and looks of the hawk. The truth that the internet can forge long distance friendships that are real (some people argue/ worry that time spent on the internet deprives children of "real" friendships)

Then there was the sad moment in the book, I was heart broken when I read that Ioana had simply died, in one way it was predictable, but at the same time I did not expect it. I have mixed feelings on how the book dealt with it, from a child's point of view it felt like a good explanation of what happened. However for older readers it felt almost glossed over, it happened and then it was forgotten.Sky Hawk is set in a small farming village in Scotland. It starts with a meeting between three boys who seem, at first, to be quite irritating and childish, especially Rob who is a bit of a show-off, and Iona, a girl who has returned to the village to live with her grandfather who is almost an outcast in the village. I liked the emphasis on emotions and friendships in this story and how it also touches on bullying, especially when Iona joins the class and is called a weirdo by her new classmates. This is effective as it can relate the character to the readers life, especially if they have been bullied in the past and can also create sympathy for the character due to the way in which she is treated. I liked how Callum went against his friends who were mean to Iona and decided to be her friend. I also liked how Callum's soft side came out as the strong went on and the character developed. The beginning of this was shown when he became friends with Iona through the osprey and then how he decided to create a fundraiser to help a girl in the Gambia that he had been messaging over losing his osprey (Iris) so that she could have a life-changing operation. While I usually find book reading uncomfortable and difficult, due to dyslexia and visual stress, the short chapters and widely spaced text made for an easy flow of reading. The intertwining of fiction and nonfiction (COMMON CORE TEACHERS TAKE NOTE) in a way that fills MY own personal reading preferences. I know not all people are like me and enjoy making every vacation trip an educational experience or every stroll a nature walk, but this book made reading it doubly fun. Enough to excuse some of the author's uneven prose. (My longwinded writing has no such excuse ;-) ) My guess is that everyone who reads this book will be (or at least should be) inspired to use access to online resources to enrich both their educational and life experiences. Hopefully more will be encouraged to form international and intercultural "pen pal" relationships. This book was a good read. It's main focusses are on nature and birds, in particular osprey's, and friendships and how they can change and be adapted. The story also touches on emotions and death and therefore the story pulls on the reader's heart strings as they can become attached to characters once they have got to know a bit about them.

Throughout the book there are also opportunities to interweave PSHE, for instance, discussing the treatment of wild birds in the book and why it is important to protect such rare species. The book moreover, holds strong themes of relationships - family and friendship. Specifically, the challenges we face in relationships such as, bully, jealousy and loss, topics which are relatable to pupils. The novel is written as a fiction genre. The book is full of continuous themes linking to nature: the hawk, landscapes, bird nest, deserts and mountainsA good activity that could develop the children’s knowledge of the book may be to ask the children to illustrate the front cover and consider the main themes that they think are important in the book. I disliked the fact that Iona died in the book as I felt that it wasn’t necessary to the book and it made the book a little sad. This could affect children if the book was being read to key stage 1. However, the rest of the story is lovely to read with a happy ending. It didn’t feel like there was a clear link to the story for Iona to die therefore it didn’t feel as if it was needed. Callum and Iona form a deep bond of friendship. Callum has the strength of mind to stand up to his friend to defend Iona and she then shares an amazing secret with him about a wild creature that is living on his father's farm. Callum and Iona become very close friends and together they will do anything to protect the beautiful creature.