Flight of the Whirligigs (Hardcover, Turtleback School & Library ed.)

Grant Innes, a painter, and his dog Happy decide to visit their friend Mazie, who lives in a small village beside the sea. After a long journey, the old blue bus bumps to a stop. Mazie meets her friends and takes them back to her seaside home. Grant cannot believe Mazie's yard, full of brightly colored wooden birds and animals stuck on posts and nailed to the house. Mazie explains that these are whirligigs and she has made them herself. When the wind blows in from the sea, all the hinged paws and wings flap and spin.

Together, Mazie and Grant make a splendid, colorful goose whirligig to join the others in the yard. Later that day, when the breeze begins to blow in from the sea, Mazie warns Grant that this wind brings magic with it! Soon, all the whirligigs are fluttering and whirling. The wonderful wind makes music like a violin, and the friends begin to dance, whirling and twirling along with everything else in the yard. As the magic infuses everything around them, the whirligigs take off from their posts, leave the house behind, and swoop about the dancing friends. The beautiful new goose rises higher and higher into the sky.

When the wind dies down, the magic dissipates and the music ceases to echo. All the whirligigs return to their posts. As Grant looks around in wonder he realizes that one post is still empty. In amazement, Grant and Mazie scan the blue sky and see their goose soaring high above!

The vibrant and bold colors of Grant Innes' artwork form the heart of this picture book. Each painting conveys an infectious cheerfulness that is sure to appeal to children and parents alike.