Flight of the Whirligigs

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is also the
author of The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese Women’s Lives, Kurlek, and
Margaret Laurence: The Long Journey Hom

Storyteller and illustrator Grant Innes depicts the Eastern seaboard
through the eyes of a child and an artist. His tale of friendship and
lyrical happiness is as fresh as the sea wind that sets the whirligigs
free to fly.

Using a prototype of himself as the protagonist, “Grant” travels
with his dog Happy and his artist’s case full of paints and brushes to
a small village by the ocean. A goose seems to be guiding the old blue
bus as it follows a winding purple road past farm fields of red earth.

The friend whom they visit has created a yard full of whirligig
creatures. Maizie has hinged their legs, paws, fins, and tails so that
they whirl when the wind blows. Grant and Happy arrive just in time to
paint Maizie’s latest creation, a goose. Happy’s tail makes a fine
brush. Maizie expects magic to begin when the sea wind blows.

And so it does. The whirligigs take flight in a carnival of color. When
the wind dies down, they return to their posts—all but the goose, who
is flying over the sea as Grant plans new scenes to paint.

A mood of sheer joy suffuses this tale with its brilliantly colored
folk art, village setting, two happy people, and an aptly named dog.
Innes is deservedly celebrated for his bold color and whimsical scenes.
Highly recommended for small children.