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Follow the Swallow
Apollo the Swallow and Chack the Blackbird meet in the garden as fledglings when they are both learning to fly. Apollo explains that he is practicing flying to Africa—but Chack doesn’t believe him. Chack tells Apollo that the blossom on his favorite tree will eventually turn into orange berries—but Apollo doesn’t believe him. With the inevitable turning of the seasons, however, both birds learn to believe the other—and cement their friendship forever.
48 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2001
17 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
About the author
Julia Donaldson
1,205 books1,840 followersGrowing up
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.
One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.
My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.
One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.
My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 18, 2019
Perhaps if not likely a bit long for a read-aloud for younger children, but perfect for recently independent readers needing to practice and develop their lexile skills, Julia Donaldson's Follow the Swallow is both educational and also appreciatively sillily humorous at the same time. And yes, the garbled message being taken by diverse animals from Chat the Blackbird to his friend Apollo the Swallow (who is of course and naturally spending the winter in Africa), from "Come to the tree" to finally "One, two, three, whee" hilariously does remind me of the game we used to play as children called Chinese Telephone (where the originally and whispered message in the end always turned out as something completely different and often hilariously funny, not to mention usually totally nonsensical and strange).
A fun story of friendship and mixed messages (with a final and important admonishment that sometimes, we just have to believe what our friends tell us, that the expression "seeing is believing" is actually often not as important and as necessary as in fact simply believing without feeling and having the need to see with our eyes), I have indeed truly appreciated and even rather much enjoyed the combination of Julia Donaldson's engaging and verbally stimulating narrative and Martin Ursell's delightfully expressive and colourfully detailed accompanying illustrations (with especially the depicted facial features and expressions of the animals as they are being given an increasingly confusing and not all that sensical anymore message to pass along from Chat to Apollo totally making me smile). And yes, I do highly and warmly recommend Follow the Swallow as an engaging and fun reading experience (but indeed, also as good and solid reading practice, and with the latter always imbued with fun and humour, an important but never too overtly stated lesson regarding believing our friends and simply delightfully expressive and equally entertaining and enchanting accompanying pictures).
A fun story of friendship and mixed messages (with a final and important admonishment that sometimes, we just have to believe what our friends tell us, that the expression "seeing is believing" is actually often not as important and as necessary as in fact simply believing without feeling and having the need to see with our eyes), I have indeed truly appreciated and even rather much enjoyed the combination of Julia Donaldson's engaging and verbally stimulating narrative and Martin Ursell's delightfully expressive and colourfully detailed accompanying illustrations (with especially the depicted facial features and expressions of the animals as they are being given an increasingly confusing and not all that sensical anymore message to pass along from Chat to Apollo totally making me smile). And yes, I do highly and warmly recommend Follow the Swallow as an engaging and fun reading experience (but indeed, also as good and solid reading practice, and with the latter always imbued with fun and humour, an important but never too overtly stated lesson regarding believing our friends and simply delightfully expressive and equally entertaining and enchanting accompanying pictures).
January 22, 2015
‘Follow the Swallow’ by Julia Donaldson, is a book about two friends called Chack the Blackbird and Apollo the Swallow, who meet in a garden. Apollo is trying to learn how to fly so that he can travel to Africa with the rest of his bird friends for winter. Chack on the other hand, wants to show Apollo something special, but Chack simply does not believe him. The adventure begins when finally Apollo sees the orange berries that he waited to show Chack the whole year…BUT Apollo soon finds out that Chack has already left. Being determined, Apollo sends his message with the help of some friendly animals who try and deliver the message that Apollo has sent.
This was an excellent read just as other Julia Donaldson books, with its colourful illustrations, comic approach and simple structure that really engages the reader. I particularly, enjoyed the message presented by the author which is very useful within the classroom environment as it teaches children to be respectful to one another and show how we can interact with each other positively. The book is aimed for ages three to five and can be enjoyed as a whole class or even a paired read.
It is a great book which can be used in conjunction with the Science curriculum, as it teaches children about different types of bird species and their features. It teaches children about the changes of seasons and what to expect from certain plants during these changing times. In addition, I feel this book is very useful for circle time sessions because it teaches children about friendship and encourages good interpersonal skills. An excellent story!
This was an excellent read just as other Julia Donaldson books, with its colourful illustrations, comic approach and simple structure that really engages the reader. I particularly, enjoyed the message presented by the author which is very useful within the classroom environment as it teaches children to be respectful to one another and show how we can interact with each other positively. The book is aimed for ages three to five and can be enjoyed as a whole class or even a paired read.
It is a great book which can be used in conjunction with the Science curriculum, as it teaches children about different types of bird species and their features. It teaches children about the changes of seasons and what to expect from certain plants during these changing times. In addition, I feel this book is very useful for circle time sessions because it teaches children about friendship and encourages good interpersonal skills. An excellent story!
October 23, 2020
This is a lovely story about two birds who dont believe one another and their friendship they have! Very lovely for KS1, highly recommend!
January 2, 2015
I bought this for my college course (a level 3 Childcare BTEC) to read to the children whilst in placement and used it for a cognitive activity (playing spot the animal etc) and like all Julia Donaldson books it is well written and unlike some children's books does not talk down to the children
December 14, 2014
My kids liked this a lot more than I expected. 3 stars from me, 4 stars from the kids I reckon.
June 23, 2018
Cute and funny
Loved it, like I love all of her books. I hope one day I will have them all lol. I already have at least half of them :D
Loved it, like I love all of her books. I hope one day I will have them all lol. I already have at least half of them :D
May 3, 2019
Such a warm and endearing story, as well as informative..one of my favorite by Donaldson
June 19, 2021
A Julia Donaldson book which doesn't rhyme? Why?
A blackbird befriends a swallow. The swallow flies south for the winter, but the blackbird does not. The blackbird sends the swallow a message through a number of animals who garble the message. The swallow returns in the spring for clarification.
A surprisingly compelling story filled with animal facts.
A blackbird befriends a swallow. The swallow flies south for the winter, but the blackbird does not. The blackbird sends the swallow a message through a number of animals who garble the message. The swallow returns in the spring for clarification.
A surprisingly compelling story filled with animal facts.
May 21, 2020
A lovely book ☺
This book really put a smile on my face,my favourite part was when the animals got the message wrong. I would give this a 5/5. The cute part was when the blackbird had eggs.
This book really put a smile on my face,my favourite part was when the animals got the message wrong. I would give this a 5/5. The cute part was when the blackbird had eggs.
May 29, 2025
Fabulous book to share with babies, toddler’s & preschoolers. You can read my review here: http://vsviewfromthebookshelves.home....
September 23, 2019
This is a great story about friendship, trust, and the "telephone" game.
A very cute story for read aloud.
A very cute story for read aloud.
June 18, 2020
Not a favourite in our house... love the author's other books!
February 14, 2021
Entertaining ride for kids of all ages
Entertaining ride for kids of all ages.
Exciting and funnynandnreally well illustrated. Both my children, aged 9 and 4 love it
Entertaining ride for kids of all ages.
Exciting and funnynandnreally well illustrated. Both my children, aged 9 and 4 love it
January 9, 2024
love it
The book was awesome I definitely recommend it and the ending is especially good love it so so so much
The book was awesome I definitely recommend it and the ending is especially good love it so so so much
December 6, 2024
lo tuve que traducir para la uni no me juzguen (libro es libro)
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews