Inspiring Read Aloud

Have you ever wanted an unusual pet? Something no one else has? We have a bunny which is a bit of an unusual pet but not really. In his new book Jonathan and the Giant Eagle, author Danny Christopher wonders what it would be like to have a pet eagle.

How spectacular would it be to spend the day soaring the skies on it’s back, hanging from it’s huge talons and chasing the sun together? Jonathan spends his days doing everything he could ever imagine with his giant eagle until he realizes that a wild bird should never be kept as a pet and releases him back to the wild. Maybe one day the giant eagle will visit again?

Danny Christopher has created a lyrical, rhyming story imagining what it would be like to have a giant eagle as a pet. The rhyming is spot on and never forced, however to get the tempo of the story, you may need a couple read throughs as I did. The book is large and the illustrations will blow you away! Jonathan and the Giant Eagle is definitely a book meant to be shared as a read aloud.

I love all of the imagination in the story. Readers will be inspired to think of their own unusual pets and what a day with them could look like. I also love how Danny Christopher has given readers information about the giant eagle within his beautiful, epic, picture book poem. His illustrations are something out of a dream. All of the pages are filled top to bottom with colour and interest and feature a life like eagle prominently on each page.

Jonathan and the Giant Eagle is a fantastic book for teachers to use to inspire poetry writing, instructional writing and creative writing in their students. Parents can perhaps use this story to persuade their children to think of more traditional pets if need be.