by Smriti Prasadam-Halls
illustrated by Robert Starling
 
Shortlisted Little Rebels Award 2020

There was once a farm where all the animals lived and worked in a mutually supportive democracy. But, one day, the geese (and ducks) decide that they simply do not have enough room for the other animals. Surely, they muse, life was pleasanter and greener and rosier before their patch got quite so... busy? And so the ducks, under the instructions of the geese, bring down the footbridge which links their island to the mainland. But, as time passes and labour is meager and 'community' even thinner, their lives become all the poorer and their patch of land becomes vulnerable and exposed. Can the bridge be built back up? A modern parable fusing Animal Far with Brexit! Both author and illustrator have described this book as one they hoped would counter the messages of hatred so prevalent post-Referendum. Age 4-7, Paperback 29pp