189 Canaries

A Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award winner
 

A singing canary takes a life-altering journey in this beautifully illustrated picture book about music, migration, and the search for home.

In a cozy room in northern Germany, a yellow canary sings rolling melodies to the miners and carpenters of the Harz mountains. 

When the air starts to run out, he stops singing.
Then the miners know they need to bring themselves and the 
canary to safety. They leave the underground tunnels 
and take their birds out with them into the fresh air.

But today a bird dealer has come, and he will take the canary far, far away from everything he knows. The journey leads onto trains and steamships, across Europe and even the Atlantic. At last, the canary arrives in a room in New York where he hears a strangely familiar song.

Dieter Böge’s beautiful, poignant book introduces readers to the little-known history of the beloved songbird. Lushly illustrated in rich colors by award-winning artist Elsa Klever, 189 Canaries is an unforgettable story about music, migration, and the search for home. An afterword offers a brief history of canaries.

Translated by Batchelder Award-winner Laura Watkinson.