🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Lovely story and illustrations for young children

Oskar, a little bluebird, finds himself on the island of Roda where the flowers are weeping. Why? Because Drang, the darkest storm cloud in the sky, has captured Maya the songbird, and her music has stopped. Normally a timid bird, Oskar decides to talk to the dark and windy Drang. What follows is his quest to set the songbird free. He discovers that Drang merely wanted a friend, and Oskar comes up with a wonderful solution that saves the day for everyone.

Oskar’s Quest is a picture book geared toward toddlers and preschoolers with colorful illustrations by Gabrielle Vickery. The vocabulary is accessible to young children as is the theme of kindness and friendship. The story touches lightly on teasing and bullying. It also encourages children to be brave, for what seems scary at first might turn into an opportunity to make friends. This is a delightful story for young children and highly recommended.

by D. W. Peach

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🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I can’t wait to share this with my granddaughter!

I purchased “Oskar’s Quest” as a gift for my youngest granddaughter’s upcoming birthday and wanted to read and review it before wrapping it up. It is a charming story about a young bird, Oskar, who fearfully veers off from his group of birds hunting for dragons. He finds a sad little island where a cloud has taken the songbird. I love how the little bird finds his courage in a search for the songbird. This story teaches not only to push past fears but to understand each other. The illustrations are colorful and bring the story to life. I enjoyed this tale and can’t wait to share it with my granddaughter soon!

by D.L.Finn

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🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 A Charming Story with Beautiful Illustration

Annika Perry’s Oskar’s Quest is a delightful story that originated from the author’s bedtime story to her son Sammy. The illustrations are artistic, colorful, and lively. Oskar is a little bird who fell and got lost in the jungle on the island of Roda. Bella, the red-bell flower, told him that Drang, the darkest cloud, had taken the songbird Maya. Oskar wanted to help find Maya, even though he was not a brave bird. He took off on his adventure looking for Maya, blown off by the gusty wind, and then landed on a soft surface. He heard a soft screech coming from a cage with Maya in it.

Drang had captured Maya to keep him from being lonely. The sad cloud cried and shed raindrop tears. Oskar comforted him and invited him to come to Roda to listen to the songs. Drang agreed and set Maya free from the cage. Oskar and Maya united and flew back to the island in happiness. Drang’s cloud became light with brightness.

He was not sad anymore. After taking Maya home, Oskar bid farewell to the flowers and birds to head home. His friends asked where the scary bird went. Drang said Oskar became a brave bird conquering an adventurous journey.

Perry did a wonderful job describing how Oskar became brave by helping others. A charming story for small children.

by Miriam Hurdle

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🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Text and imagery work together to create an incomparable story

Oskar doesn’t consider himself to be brave or adventurous but as sometimes happens, events around him conspire to place him where he must be both. If he isn’t, his new songbird friend Maya may not survive. In the forty pages of this gorgeous book, we join Oscar as he tries to do things in ways he never thought he could, all to help a friend.

What makes this message all the more compelling is the imagery. Pictures accompany each page and quietly tell us more than the words can. Each brushstroke is filled with such rich color and texture that we are part of Oskar’s quest. It is not just a red flower (because that’s what the text described) but an active red-hued flower that is moving or weeping or bending to what the words say. You could read the story without the text but not the text without pictures. You would miss too much. 

While Oskar’s story is simple, the visual and mental image of this seemingly fragile bird doing what he must though it frightens him is powerful. Perry includes just the right amount of onomatopoeia to excite young readers, not overdone and each chosen well for the particular action. Children will remember it the next time they are asked to be fearsome, especially if they aren’t that type of child.

If you’re looking for a book your 3-6 year old child will want to read over and over–by themselves–you’ve found it in Oskar’s Quest. Highly recommended.

by Jacqui Murray : Amazon Vine Voice

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🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Adventure and Courage

“Annika Perry has produced a children’s book that totally captured my heart. I have fallen in love with Oskar, who on his brave pursuit finds courage of heart and acts With bravery that bewilders himself. He is the Star but there are other wonderful and strong characters there.

And we mustn’t forget about the frightening Drang who in the end totally surprises us all. Any child – or grown-up child will fall for him too in the end.

Let us fly with Oskar on his magnificent quest. Annika doesn’t disappoint, there is gold dust on every page as the story develops.”

by Miriam

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🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Delightful Picture Book!

“I received an ARC of this delightful book from the author. In this beautifully illustrated children’s book, author Annika Perry captures the importance of caring for others, overcoming fears and making new friends. Young children are sure to relate as a fearful Oskar steps out of his comfort zone and embarks on a perilous journey in an effort to save a beautiful songbird and return happiness to an island where he’s been stranded during a fierce storm. I loved the author’s generous use of onomatopoeia to paint memorable word pictures for little readers and listeners. PLIP-PLOP, FLASH, BANG—the story’s excitement builds. Delightful!”

by Bette A. Stevens

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🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 A beautiful story for both children and adults!

“As a longtime follower of writer Annika Perry’s blog, I was excited when I heard she was working on a children’s book. From the first page, Oskar captured my heart, taking me on a journey to save a beautiful songbird, while meeting new friends along the way. This enchanting story is perfect for both children and adults, teaching lessons on the importance of caring for others and overcoming ones fears. The illustrations along with the lovely writing made this story come to life.

by Jill Weatherholt

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🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 A lovely story about a small bird’s courage

“The other bird’s called him scardey-bird but Oskar goes on to prove that he is the bravest bird in the world. A delightful story with beautiful illustrations. The perfect book to read as a bed-time story for a special child.”

by Carol Balawyder

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🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 A beautifully illustrated children’s book sharing a message of courage, kindness and friendship

“Oskar’s Quest” is a beautifully illustrated book sharing a message of courage, kindness and friendship. Annika Perry has a gift for writing up, not down to children. Even very young children are attentive, curious and observant. My four-year-old Granddaughter and I love reading “Oskar’s Quest!” My Granddaughter has already memorized parts of this book, especially the sound effects. She loves following “Oskar,” the blue bird, and “Maya,” the golden bird, throughout the story. Often a key to an engaging children’s book is how the adult also enjoys reading the book over and over and over again. I highly recommend “Oskar’s Quest!”

by Erica Henault

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🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Beautifully illustrated and well written

Oskar is a ‘scaredy-bird’ and his preference to avoid adventure and stay safely in his nest has caused him to get lost on a strange island after separating from his friends in order to return home. On the island of Roda, Oskar befriends Bella, the red bell-flower. Bella is a sad little flower and Oskar soon learns that Maya, the happy songbird of Roda island has been taken by Drang, a dark cloud in the sky.

Oskar knows this won’t do and he undertakes to confront Drang and secure the release of Maya so that the island of Roda can be filled with music and happy again. Oskar soon learns that bravery is not a case of never feeling scared, it is doing something that must be done despite being scared.

Oskar’s Quest is beautifully illustrated with delightful colourful drawings which will appeal to any child. The well written story with its adventure and subtle message about bravery will ensure this story is a winner with both caregivers and children.

by Robbie Cheadle

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🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Gorgeous illustrations and captivating story!

What a lovely picture book! This marvelous children’s book is filled with beautiful and colorful illustrations and is a riveting story.

Oskar is an adorable little bird that was frequently afraid. The other birds often teased him calling him “Scaredy-bird.” One day, he got lost on his way home and landed on a beautiful flower on an enchanted island. The flower cried in sorrow because the island’s most exquisite songbird, Maya, had been kidnapped by an enormous, ominous cloud. Although Oskar felt fear, he decided he would rescue Maya, anyway.

In the end, Oskar conquered his fears, rescued Maya, and befriended the scary cloud. I loved this sweet, compelling story, and the amazing illustrations added to my joy.

I recommend this book to parents who want their kids to learn to triumph over their fears, feel for others, and make new friends.

by Vashti Quiroz-Vega

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This children’s book hits all the right notes. It’s about courage, kindness and friendship.

What’s it all about?

This children’s book hits all the right notes. It’s about courage, kindness and friendship – all the ingredients for a meaningful and happy life and all the lessons we teach children and young people today. There is a simple premise behind the book but it stands for so much more which is why it personally appeals to me as an adult. Oskar is a blue bird who finds himself on Roda, a little lost. This mysterious island is filled with beautiful flowers and interesting creatures but Oskar is afraid. He sees the red bell-flowers and notices they look lonely.

‘The flower nodded sadly as one more leaf drifted to the ground. A drop of water followed.’

The reason for all the sadness is because their songbird, Maya has been taken by Drang, the darkest cloud in the sky. What can Oskar possibly do? He’s just a little blue bird. He decides he wants to be brave and help. He makes the decision to go to Drang and ask for her back. After all, the island needs her beautiful music to bring them happiness once again. But he can hear the fear and the names inside his head. This doesn’t deter him, he will get the songbird back. As he gets closer to the cloud, the worse the weather is. He has to really hold his nerve and be the bravest bird he’s ever possibly been.

‘Maya opened her golden beak but stopped, swallowed her screech and hiccuped loudly. Her body trembled with fear and hope.’

Drang booms and bangs and scares both the birds. However, he is misunderstood. He saw the happiness of the other birds and felt left out. He has no friends so he thought that by taking Maya, she could make him happy too. But she stopped singing and cried instead making Drang cry too. It was this that caused the terrible weather! Oskar’s bravery and kindness meant that they could all head back to the island together and be friends there.

‘At her words, all the birds, flowers and trees of Roda sang a song of celebration. The music made Drang so happy he could not help but shed a few tears of joy.’

Oskar has to return home where he hears the calls again, mocking him for being scared. Yet this time was different because he was not scared and because he had new friends. He was a much braver bird than he was before. Rather than act in nastiness towards the birds, he invites them to join them on their new adventures.

Final Thoughts

There’s a real art to writing children’s books and I think Annika has produced an excellent one. It teaches us that we can be brave and we can use kindness to defeat anything. It’s also made me reflect back to my own childhood and how I could have done things differently if only I were a bit braver. The illustrations are also stunning and support the story wonderfully. I naturally loved Oskar and Maya’s illustrated beauty was matched perfectly to the writing about her. I am really in awe of Gabrielle Vickery’s drawings.

This book fulfils my criteria for this month perfectly because it is a treasured gift and it always will be. I have read this book three times now and it’s magical with each read. Annika really knows how to keep her audience entertained whilst also teaching them that kindness, bravery and friendship mean the world. Adult or child – read this book. Feeling sad or lost – read this book. Gift it to anyone that has ever been afraid of anything. Thank you so much, Annika. ♥️

by Charlotte Jackson

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