Cloud Boy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Bobby tries to pay attention but – ooh! A snail! A bird! A clock! He would love to be more organised like Mum, or stay focused on one thing like his teacher, or sit still like his friend Nelson. But he’s too busy thinking about all sorts of different things and floating off into the sky.
His friends try to pull him back down with a string, but then all the wonderings and thoughts and dreams escape, and he feels empty. The only answer is for his friends and family to use their own imaginations to see what it’s like to be him, and to help him when he needs it.
This beautiful picture book has been created by someone with a similar brain to Bobby, and it is a wonderful depiction of a child whose focus is on a lot of very interesting things. The joy of this story is that the people around him realise he can’t be boxed in and made to be like them – they need to allow for his tendency to float into the clouds. They adapt their way of helping him navigate everyday life, to everyone’s benefit.
The gorgeous illustrations are full of energy and colour, with Bobby’s ‘wonderings’ depicted in a bright pink. A joy of a book.
