The Paradise Flycatcher
by Deepak Dalal and illustrated by Krishna Bala Shenoi
“The Paradise Flycatcher” by Deepak Dalal and illustrated by Krishna Bala Shenoi. Published by Penguin. A hair raising adventure of a loyal band of birds from Rose Garden along with the little girl Mitalee and her friends uncovering cruel pet trade while trying to find the missing bird squirrel Shikar.
Shikar who is the beloved squirrel of Rose Garden is missing. He seems to have disappeared. Mitalee the little girl living in Rose Garden likes him a lot and calls him Snowdrop. She is worried about his whereabouts and is determined to find him. So are his bird friends from the garden. They start checking with each other as to when they saw Shikar for the last time. Shikar was last seen by Mysun, the sunbird, with a gorgeous paradise flycatcher. There is no other trail to follow. They have to find this unknown flycatcher to find out what he knows about Shikar’s disappearance.
Meanwhile Mitalee suspects the notorious Chintu from the next door Leaf Garden and his friends to be the reason for her Snowdrop going missing. She is desperate and determined to have Snowdrop back. With the help of her friends, she figures out that the squirrel has been captured to be sold as an exotic pet. They have to uncover the people behind this cruel pet trade and rescue her Snowdrop before it’s too late. It is going to be an adventure of a lifetime for the loyal birds who fly to the distant forests trying to find the mysterious paradise flycatcher. Will Shikar be found? Can he ever return to his beloved Rose Garden? Read the gripping story to find out how the birds and the human children fare in this race against time.
My 8.5 year old and I loved the book. The plot was so thick that we had to read it quickly to know what would happen next. He felt that the book was the best in the “Feather Tales” series that we have read so far. The illustrations of the birds are drop dead gorgeous. He couldn’t take his eyes off them. He kept going back to a couple of spreads like the one with a tree full of hornbills. He was thrilled to see them as we had seen another species of hornbills earlier this year in Dandeli.
He was happy to see a Scarlet Minivet couple helping the birds in tracing the Paradise Flycatcher first and then Shikar as he had seen these gorgeous birds as well in the same trip. Now he wants to watch a real paradise flycatcher soon. And I look forward to seeing this beauty again as it’s been a long while since I saw it last. I remember my first encounter with this bird. We were looking for it in Nandi Hills near Bengaluru and this regal bird was right above our heads without us realising it. It must have felt that we were so silly to look for it everywhere while it was right above us with its long tail flowing like a ribbon. So happy to see children getting to know about these lovely birds from our forests through such an interesting adventure filled story. This series is proving like candy for the birdwatcher in me. The other books that we have read from the series are “Talon the Falcon” and “A Flamingo in My Garden”.
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 8 and above.
Reasons to Read
The book is a good means of introducing children to some of the wonderful birds that we find in our forests through an adventure filled story.
Where to buy from?
An independent bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.