Catherine Bruton
About Author
Catherine Bruton, author of No Ballet Shoes in Syria, introduces her new book, Bird Boy.
Catherine studied English at Oxford University and now juggles life as a teacher, children's author and mum. As an English teacher she sees first hand the impact stories can have on young readers - opening their eyes, expanding their horizons and making them ask questions and see the world differently.
Her books tackle some of the big issues faced by young people today - terrorism, immigration, the cult of celebrity, the refugee crisis - in ways that are heart-breaking, often hilarious, but invariably hopeful.
Interview
Bird Boy (Nosy Crow)
May 2024
Catherine Bruton's debut, No Ballet Shoes in Syria, won plaudits for its sensitive and truthful exploration of a child refugee from Syria building a new life in the UK. In her new book, Bird Boy, Catherine returns to the theme of adjusting to a new life as well as exploring how trauma and change can affect young people - and the power of nature and of stories to help them heal. We find out more about Bird Boy in this month's Q&A with the author.
Review: "An incredibly powerful, beautifully executed story" Read a Chapter from Bird Boy
Q&A with Catherine Bruton, introducing the themes in her new novel, Bird Boy
"I hope that Aya and Omar's story might help young people look beyond the labels of 'refugee' and 'asylum seeker' and see
the children behind - children with hopes and dreams... children who are funny, kind, brave, brilliant and strong."
1. How do you find life as an author, since your debut No Ballet Shoes in Syria was published in 2019? What have been your stand-out moments in the last few years?
My favourite author times are when I get to interact with young readers. No Ballet Shoes in Syria has been read and enjoyed in schools across the country and I have been privileged to visit many classes who are reading the book - both in person and online. Teachers have shared with me some incredible writing their students have done inspired by the book - from telling their own stories of migration, to writing sequels, diary entries, letters to the government about how the UK can support refugees and asylum seekers, book cover designs and much more - all of which has blown me away.
I've also loved doing classroom Q and A sessions and the thought-provoking questions young readers have asked about the book remind of the power of stories to promote empathy, open young people's eyes and make them ask big questions about the world. Most of all, I have loved the letters and messages I have received from young refugees and asylum seekers who have read No Ballet Shoes in Syria, which have reinforced my conviction that stories really do have the power to heal.
"So, it's more than just story about two boys and a bird. It's also story about conservation, migration,
mental health and healing through nature."
2. Can you tell us about your new book, Bird Boy, and the themes in the story?
Bird Boy is the tale of 11 year old Will who is sent to temporarily stay with his uncle in the mountains after the death of his mother. After years trapped in a high-rise flat, with only birds for company, Will doesn't know how he'll survive a place like this, but he soon finds solace in the hills, where he's surrounded by birdsong.
With his new friend Omar - a refugee from Afghanistan - Will discovers an osprey nest, with two small chicks inside. But when tragedy almost strikes again one stormy night, and the smallest chick is knocked out of the nest - breaking a wing, Will is determined to save her. As Will helps Whitetip to grow and to heal, he finds a strength inside himself that he never knew he had. Maybe, finally, Will can find a way to take flight too…
So, it's more than just story about two boys and a bird. It's also story about conservation, migration, mental health and healing through nature. It's about the importance of caring for the natural world, for protecting endangered species, and learning from the world around us. I think it's a bit like Goodnight, Mr Tom meets Skyhawk or A Kestrel for Knave or The Last Bear. About conservation, healing and hope!
3. What inspired you to write about Ospreys in the wild, and how did you go about researching the birds?
Well, in May 2020 I stumbled across livestream of a Welsh osprey nest 🦅 Dyfi Osprey Project (WALES): LIVE STREAMING 2023 in 4K 🦅. This was the early days of Lockdown. I was stuck in my house, delivering online lessons to students I desperately missed. But that day I sat transfixed and watched an osprey egg hatch. And my heart soared.
Over the coming months I watched the chicks grow, watched them fledge. When Autumn came, I watched the fledglings finally take the skies and migrate. Every year since I have watched, waited for the mating pair to return, watched the eggs hatch, watched the chicks grow, watched them fly the nest. I've even been up to Dyfi and watched live from the hide. My family think I am a little bit bird obsessed! But check out the live stream. I guarantee you'll fall in love with those bobble-headed baby birds too!
That was the magic I wanted to capture in Bird Boy. Researching this book, I learned a LOT about birds! I was privileged to talk to lots of incredible bird experts and spend time in a local Bird of Prey Rescue centre where they care for birds who are being mistreated in captivity, or who have been injured in the wild, nursing them back to life in the Bird Hospital, releasing them into the wild where possible or caring for them in the rehabilitation centre. I was lucky enough to go and visit and meet various hospital inmates, including a tiny shy burrowing owl called Florence, and a gorgeous British Barn Owl called Inca who looked like Hedwig and who stole my heart. The amazing avian vets and bird experts were endlessly patient in answering all my bird-brained questions - they even figured out how to save the life of the baby osprey called Skwok! You'll have to read the book to find out more!
"The special child-creature connection - and stories which explore that bond - are key to helping young readers develop empathy,
to make emotional connections . . . to cope with difficult experiences, to make sense of the world."
4. Why did you put the connection between Will and the osprey chick, Whitetip, at the heart of this story? What is special for you about the bond between children and animals?
Anyone who has a pet knows that human-animal relationships play a key role in our lives and in promoting happiness. I have always loved animal stories - from Watership Down to War Horse, Sky Hawk to The Last Bear, One Dog and his Boy, When the Sky Falls and so many more.
And I know I am not alone - we all love stories which explore unique bond between humans and animals. And a huge body of research suggests that the special child-creature connection - and stories which explore that bond - are key to helping young readers develop empathy, to make emotional connections, to understand their own emotions, to cope with difficult experiences, to make sense of the world.
As Will and Omar learn in Bird Boy, caring for Whitetip helps them learn about themselves, helps them on their own journey to healing and ultimately helps them take the skies and soar!
5. The story is also about children who are trying to find their place in the world. What draws you to writing about characters who are refugees or forging a new life in an unfamiliar place?
I started writing this story during the summer of 2021 when there were images on the news of desperate citizens fleeing the conflict in Afghanistan, images which find their echoes in more recent news stories from Ukraine, from the Middle East, from South Sudan and elsewhere. As a teacher for nearly thirty years, it has been my privilege to teach refugee children from all over the world - children fleeing genocide in Rwanda, civil war in Bosnia, conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine; children displaced from their homes; brave and brilliant children learning to start again, trying to make sense of the past and to build new futures.
Like No Ballet Shoes in Syria, Omar's story in Bird Boy was written for those children and the millions like them across the world. I love the idea that reading about Aya or Omar's story might help young people to tell their own stories of migration, displacement and starting anew - far better than I ever could. I also hope that Aya and Omar's story might help young people look beyond the labels of 'refugee' and 'asylum seeker' and see the children behind - children with hopes and dreams, like Aya and Omar; children who are funny, kind, brave, brilliant and strong - just like so many of the wonderful young people I have been privileged to teach.
"Through Whitetip they both learn the importance of being able to tell their stories. And I hope their stories might help
young readers open up and tell their own. Because through stories we begin to heal."
6. Both Will and refugee Omar are struggling with other difficulties in their lives - Will with bereavement and Omar with not knowing what has happened to his family. Why do you feel it's important that children's books explore these kinds of emotional challenges?
As a teacher for past thirty years, I have witnessed a huge rise in mental health problems amongst young people which has been heartbreaking to see. As a children's author I feel I have a responsibility to help. In 2021, I attended a Trauma Informed Schools UK training course which talked about the importance of stories in helping young people process difficult emotions. ‘Tell them stories,' we were told. ‘Let them tell their stories. Through stories they will begin to heal.'
Bird Boy was first inspired by a friend who works with Wiltshire Wildlife Trust on amazing projects which use nature therapy to support traumatised children (like Will - who struggles with OCD and anxiety) as well as young refugees and asylum seekers (like Omar, who is processing trauma and grief) using forest school and nature-based activities to help young people cope with mental health. Research shows that engagement with nature - which includes reading stories about nature - generates calmness, joy, creativity and is associated with lower levels of poor mental health; in particular lower depression and anxiety levels.
Will, Omar and Whitetip have all experienced trauma, each has been displaced for different reasons, each must learn to adjust to a new environment, each has scars that may never properly heal, each needs to learn ways to begin anew. And all three help each other. Omar teaches Will the power of hope, Will teaches Omar the power of friendship, and through Whitetip they both learn the importance of being able to tell their stories. And I hope their stories might help young readers open up and tell their own. Because through stories we begin to heal.
7. We also learn that Will was the sole carer for his mother, who had mental health problems. As an author, do you also want to give a voice to children who are often 'invisible' within our societies?
Yes, that's something I feel passionate about. A 2018 BBC survey found that there were as many as 820,000 young carers aged 11-15 in the UK - that's 1 in every 12 secondary aged pupils! The average age of a young carer is 13 but at least 10% of young carers are under the age of 10. Many of those children, like Will, are living with a parent suffering from mental illness.
As a teacher I have seen the impact this has on young people but many young carers ‘fly under the radar', carrying their burden alone because they don't know who to turn to for help. So this story is a tribute to all the young carers I've had the privilege to teach - and to the many more across the world - in recognition of the burden they carry with dignity, stoicism and love. And I hope it's also a story which might encourage young carers to reach out for help and support - to friends, family, teachers, or to one of the organisations out there like the Children's Society Facts About Young Carers; The Children's Society (childrenssociety.org.uk); or Carers' UK Support for young carers, and to know they don't have to carry that burden alone.
8. The setting in the Lake District is like a character itself within the story - is it somewhere you know well, and do you prefer to set your stories within settings you know?
I started writing the book whilst staying in the Lake District in the remote valley of Wastwater. I'd had all the elements for the story floating around in my mind for a while but when I got there - surrounded by the vast emptiness of the mountains - they all came together and the story started flowing on the page. Later, when the going got tough (as it does with most stories!) I retreated back there to finish the book, spending long days climbing the mountains then going back to tap away at my keyboard. Something about the solitude and the austere beauty of the place crept into the writing! I hope!
"It's not too late for us to protect endangered species, and we can all do our bit to help nature, as Will and Omar learn in the book.
Something as simple as picking up your litter could save an animal's life!"
9. Other than a great adventure, what would you like children and young people to take from Will's journey through Bird Boy?
Well, it's also a story about the importance of caring for the natural world. Osprey became extinct in the UK fifty years ago but through conservation efforts the British population has grown from only 2 known breeding pairs in 1967 to nearly 300 breeding pairs in 2023. It's not too late for us to protect endangered species, and we can all do our bit to help nature, as Will and Omar learn in the book. Something as simple as picking up your litter could save an animal's life!
10. Where do you go to seek inspiration, and what do you enjoy doing to relax, away from your writing desk?
I am constantly inspired by my incredible pupils (most of whom are far more talented writers than I am!) The questions they ask, their willingness to grapple with big questions, their wonderful energy all inspire my writing all the time! As an English teacher, I am also lucky enough to spend my days immersed in books - poetry, plays and novels by incredible authors from around the world and across the ages. The stories I read - both in school and out - are a constant source of inspiration. And when I get stuck, I run! Come rain or shine (or flood - recently, I've been up to my knees sometimes!) running is my space to think and daydream.
Bird Boy
Following Frankenstein
Another Twist in the Tale
No Ballet Shoes in Syria
