A rhyming fairy-tale adventure about the magic of nature from the Number One bestselling Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo, and Catherine Rayner, winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal for Illustration.
Imagine if you could speak to birds . . . that’s just what happens to one little girl when she is given a magic feather that transforms their trills and twitters into words – and she discovers that they need her help. Join her as she embarks on an amazing journey across the sea to save their nests from the queen’s woodcutters.

One day, two brothers discover a magical animal kingdom behind their bookcase. They are greeted by the royal lion with his shaggy mane; ask for directions from an old lonely turtle; take a ride on some lumbering elephants; topple a skeleton of dinosaur bones; and swim among a school of shimmering fish. If only they could take them all home

The book includes extracts from The Swan, Aquarium, Fossils, and Finale (from Disney’s Fantasia) along with a totally new story to link the pieces together. As you and your little one journey through the magical scenes, you will press the buttons to hear 10 excerpts from the suite’s music. At the back of the book, find a short biography of the composer, Camille Saint-Saens, with details about his composition of Carnival of the Animals. Next to this, you can replay the musical excerpts and, for each of them, read a discussion of the instruments, rhythms and musical techniques that make them so powerful. A glossary defines musical terms.