A clever counting book and fable unlike any other. Ten birds are trying to figure out how to get to the other side of the river. The bird they call “Brilliant” devises a pair of stilts. The bird they call “Highly Satisfactory” engineers a raft. One by one, nine resourceful birds make the crossing until a single bird is left behind ? the one they call “Needs Improvement.” This bird’s solution proves surprising ? and absurdly simple. More than a counting book, Ten Birds is a witty story that highlights ingenuity, common sense and the inadequacies of labels. Cybele Young’s intricate chiaroscuro pen-and-ink drawings depict a rich alternative world that both children and adults will marvel over.
Cybèle Young is an internationally renowned artist and author, who is best known for her intricate sculptures, and her unique contributions to children’s literature. She spends her days creating scenarios with paper using weapons of miniature destruction. She studied sculpture and printmaking at OCAD, and has since received over twenty-three grants and awards including the Canada Council Paris residency, and the Governor General’s award for illustration. Young has mounted over 20 solo exhibitions, 30 group shows, is showcased at many annual art fairs, and has published 9 children’s books to date. “I love to share perceptions of daily life and the objects that inhabit it, the quirky and the unexpected - offering a perspective on the banal which makes it exceptional; putting a focus on the insignificant to give it centre stage. The simplest of our daily routines - a walk down the street - can be a goldmine of encounters, each object we meet speaking its own language, each begging to be heard. My work gives voice to these objects, lets us in on their secret lives, offering the viewer a unique space to experience the marvellous complexity of our relationship with the material world.”
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