The Hunt for the Nightingale

Sarah Ann Juckes, Sharon King-Chai

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's UK
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781398510890
• eBook ISBN: 9781398510906

Discover the healing power of nature in one boy's heartbreaking and hopeful journey back from the wilderness.

Bird fact no. 30: a nightingale song is one of the most beautiful sounds on the planet. 

Ten-year-old Jasper has been waiting all spring for his beloved nightingale to return to his garden and sing.  But it's not there, and neither is his sister, Rosie.  His parents seem sad and preoccupied,  so gathering his courage, his backpack and his treasured Book of Birds, Jasper sets out alone on a walk to find them both.  The expedition takes Jasper through town and country, meeting a host of characters who are also searching for lost things. Helping his new friends, Jasper begins to see that he may not find what he is looking for when he reaches the journey's end, but even in the darkest of moments, a nightingale's song can be heard somewhere.

A love letter to the natural world, Sarah Ann Juckes' stunning middle grade novel, illustrated by the award-winning Sharon King-Chai will have you turning the last page with tears in your eyes and a heart full of hope.  For fans of Pax, Wonder and Wild Child.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Area Map
• Dedication
• Bird Fact #1: Nightingales are Very Difficult to Spot
• Bird Fact #2: A Group of Nightingales is Called a ‘Watch’
• Bird Fact #3: Nightingale Songs are Made up of Around Two Hundred Different Phrases
• Bird Fact #4: Nightingales Build Cup-Shaped Nests Close to the Ground
• Bird Fact #5: The Body of a Swallow is Not Much Bigger Than a Matchbox
• Bird Fact #6: Baby Pheasant Chicks can Fly When They’re Just Twelve Days Old
• Bird Fact #7: Some Owls Can Turn Their Heads More Than 270 Degrees
• Bird Fact #8: Pigeons are Thought to Be One of the Most Intelligent Birds on Earth
• Bird Fact #9: Songbirds Take Lots of Mini-Breaths Every Second So They Can Keep Singing
• Bird Fact #10: It’s Thought that Jackdaws are One of the Few Birds that Can Recognize Human Faces
• Bird Fact #11: The Collective Noun for Jackdaws is a ‘Clattering’ or a ‘Train’
• Bird Fact #12: Birds Have Hollow Bones that Help Them Fly
• Bird Fact #13: Most Birds are Waterproof, Thanks to Naturally Occurring Oils They Coat Their Feathers With
• Bird Fact #14: Water Helps Keep a Bird’s Body Cool on the Inside and the Outside
• Bird Fact #15: Many Artists Have Been Inspired by the Song of the Nightingale
• Bird Fact #16: It’s Thought that Most Birds See Humans as Potential Predators
• Bird Fact #17: Song Thrushes are One of the Few Birds in Britain That Eat Snails
• Bird Fact #18: The American Bittern Can Camouflage Itself Into Reeds by Looking Skywards With Its Long Neck and Bill
• Bird Fact #19: Ptarmigans Moult Their Brown Feathers for White in Winter to Stay Camouflaged in the Changing Weather
• Bird Fact #20: Cuban Trogons Often Fly in Pairs
• Bird Fact #21: Flightless Birds Like Emus Will Often Travel Great Distances On Foot Or By Water to Find Food
• Bird Fact #22: Some Birds Travel over Sixteen Thousand Miles on Their Migration
• Bird Fact #23: There are More Chickens on Earth Than There are People
• Bird Fact #24: Winter Roosts of Starlings Can Hold Millions of Birds
• Bird Fact #25: The Nightingale is Part of a Family of Birds Called ‘Chats’
• Bird Fact #26: All Mute Swans in England and Wales are Technically Owned by the Queen
• Bird Fact #27: Only the Hummingbird Can Fly Backwards
• Bird Fact #28: Herons Can Have Wings Two Times the Size of Their Body
• Bird Fact #29: Birds Like Kestrels Can Often Be Seen Hovering Over Motorway Verges
• Bird Fact #30: A Nightingale Song is One of the Most Beautiful Sounds on the Planet
• Bird Fact #31: Nightingale Chicks Spend Only Ten to Twelve Days in the Nest
• Bird Fact #32: Caged Nightingales Often Die in Their Desperation to Migrate
• Bird Fact #33: The Average Lifespan of a Nightingale is Two Years
• Bird Fact #34: Nightingales are Thought to be Symbols of Love
• Bird Fact #35: No Bird on Earth is Completely Silent
• Bird Fact #36: Long-Tailed Tits Couldn’t Build Their Nests Without the Help of Spiders
• Bird Fact #37: Many Birds Don’t Return to the Same Nest Again, Once They’ve Left It
• Bird Fact #38: It’s Not Too Late to Help Save the Nightingale
• Author’s Note
• Acknowledgements
• About the Author
• About the Illustrator
• Copyright