Falling Angels

Read the most by: boys and girls

Dreams, imagination, growing up and a very special relationship between a young girl and her grandmother are at the heart of this beautifully illustrated book from a master storyteller. '"The first time Sally flew was before she could even crawl. As her parents slept, she floated above them, too young to speak, too young to think in words.' Sally is just a baby when she first begins to soar above her house and over the garden. Soon she sees her brother and other children floating over the rooftops. But her mother is skeptical. "You and your ridiculous stories. It's time you came down to earth." Only her grandmother believes her and every night, Sally returns with a special present for the old lady - a butterfly, an opal, an orchid. She recalls her own travels as a little girl and explains that everyone has the power to fly, "only they've forgotten how. It's called growing up." One day, Sally and her grandmother fly together to a land of warm sunshine and lagoons, where grandmother dreams of her favourite place, then draws her last breath and stays forever. But Sally never forgets her dreams and when she, at last, has children of her own, she flies with them - to the Aztec ruins, to fields of snow and finally to the golden beach by the clear lagoon.