Sitting on the couch next to his Nan, Tom gives a giant yawn.

“Well, you were up at sparrow fart

At the cool crack of dawn,” says Nan.

Suddenly Tom is wide awake and full of questions as he gets ready for bed.

Nan’s answer just makes him want to know more, and sleep is now far from Tom’s mind. First he must learn about a bird called a sparrow. He asks the birds he sees from his bedroom window. They don’t give him the answer he’s looking for but he’s determined to find it.

It’s very early in the morning when he sets off around the farm on his quest.

Again and again he fails to find a bird that is called a sparrow, but he learns even more than the night before.

Finally! Tom believes he’s found a sparrow, and he asks his question.

“Are you a sparrow?

What bird are you?

When you wake up,

What noise do you do?”

Tom is very surprised at the answer!

With the title of this book being a saying in our family, I knew I had to read it. What a hoot! It begins with two generations sitting on a couch, and an old fashioned saying shared. The immediate interest in Nan’s words strikes the toilet humour radar that many small children have.

Fart, from the mouth of Nan? And coming from a sparrow’s bottom! This has to be explored. As young Tom searches for this amazing phenomenon, he learns about all the birds around Nan’s house and the noises they make.

The text has repetitive rhythm and rhyme, drawing in young listeners to repeat Tom’s question throughout the pages. Look closely and you will see what each bird sounds like when they blow off.

My favourite page is Tom absconding from the house early in the morning – just a little too early for any self-respecting and previously sleeping sparrow!

Bright, fun and farty humour.

Author – Samantha Laugesen

Illustrator – Scott Tulloch

Picture Book

Find your copy here

(2022, Luke the Pook Books, Birds, NZ, New Zealand, Owl, Pigeon, Sparrow, Turkey, Chicken, Rooster, Bedtime, Questions, Rhyme, Funny, Toilet Humour, Farts)