Birdsong, by Julie Flett. Greystone Kids, 2019. $$22.95 ages 4 and up

"It's getting cold and windy and creaky. Agnes says she's getting creaky too. "Would you like to see what I'm working on, Katherena?" she asks. "I'd like that," I say. Agnes is working on a pot that is round and bright. She tells me about waxing and waning moons. I tell her about Cree seasons."

When a young girl and her mother leave the city to live in quiet rural comfort, she finds a friend. Agnes is a neighbor, aging and accomodating to a young girl needing company.

Agnes is an artist, as is Katherena. As seasons move from one to the next, the two spend a lot of time together. Katherena draws all that she sees in visits with her new friend. Those visits are frequent, and rewarding. As summer turns to fall, Katherena is a willing helper in the garden. It is growing colder, and Agnes invites her inside to see the clay work that she does.

In no time at all, winter arrives. Throughout the long season, Katherena and her mother do what they can to help Agnes deal with the cold days that don't allow her to be outside. Salmon stew is a favorite meal for her. Agnes provides a gift of snowdrop bulbs for planting the following fall.

Soon, it is spring again. Agnes's health is failing and she is unable to be outside anymore. As they sit together in Agnes's bedroom, the two can hear the birds and other spring sounds. Agnes can no longer see spring's beauty. It gives the young girl an idea, inspired by all the pictures she has created since coming to her new home. Agnes's daughter helps put each of the drawings on the walls that surround her mother's bed. 

"Agnes says it's like a poem for her heart."

Together the two share memories, and a discussion about making art. When it is time to say goodbye, Katherena leaves with an aching heart. She knows that Agnes will live on there, and in the snowdrops sure to bloom next spring.

Moving is never easy. The joy that comes with new friendship can erase some of the sorrow. Julie Flett accompanies her warm and lovely story with her signature work. Images done in pastels and pencil are then composed digitally to show the landscape and seasonal changes of their new home. Spare language, stunning illustrations that take the reader from one spring to the next, and the soothing warmth that friendship brings make this a story to be read again and again.