Ride the Wind

Javier helps his father and uncle who make their living fishing from a small boat, the Magdalena. The boy and his father have had a tense relationship since the death of his mother. On one of their fishing-trips, an albatross gets caught on the fish hooks and Javier smuggles the bird to safety and begins nursing it back to health. Every day, the albatross accepts a little more food, but she shows no sign of wanting to use her wings. Just as Javier works out how to encourage the albatross to fly, an action of his father’s leads to a dramatic dénouement. Salvatore Rubbino’s brooding watercolours perfectly match the atmosphere in this picturebook.