Inspiring & funny, harrowing & hopeful The Year of the Bird (TRUE STORIES IN PICTURES & WORDS) is about the surprises life can dish up. Illness, death and grief. Midnight trips to the ER. Airplanes crashing into towers on a bright blue morning that's also your grandson's seventh birthday. Those kinds of surprises. It's also about the things that keep you sane. Violets in the kitchen window. The first day of spring. Your own love story. The kinds of things that help you put one foot in front of the other- even when you're not sure where they're taking you. This powerful graphic journal recalls "a year that actually began three years ago." The words & pictures are snapshots of life- bright flashes of moments remembered. The Year of the Bird is about family, about finding words, finding meaning, finding strength to go on. It's about holding on and letting go. It's a book to share with your friends and to keep in your heart. Beautifully written and illustrated by Susan Spangler, this book is a masterpiece of feeling, color and word that will transport the reader into a better place.