Published by Walker Books, 2015.

Four friends are out walking in the woods. Three are equipped with nets. They spot a bird. The youngest of the four waves and calls out a friendly hello, but he is immediately silenced by the others who have a plan. A plan to catch the bird. However, despite their best efforts, each attempt ends in failure with the bird escaping and the friends in a heap on the floor.

There’s a lovely contrast between the elder three’s sneaky scheming and the gentle kindness of the youngest. He hangs back, while the others are creeping up on the bird, and watches their efforts with concern and incredulity. He too wants to get close to the bird but his motivation is different – friendship. He offers the bird some bread and soon – in a glorious, vibrant double page spread – he is surrounded by the bird and his bird friends.

I love Chris Haughton’s distinctive illustrative style. The pictures are bold and unfussy with clean lines. He has used a gorgeous blue and purple colour palette which gives the book the feel of early evening. The bright pink bird is a tantalising splash of colour on each page.

The text is sparse and very simple with lots of repetition; Shh We Have a Plan is the perfect story to read aloud.

Rating:💙💙💙💙💙

Suitable from birth.

We borrowed this book from Solihull Libraries.