The Night of the Go-away Birds

Honesty lives with her mother and brothers in the middle of Johannesburg. She misses her dad who works with the anti-poaching unit on a game reserve far away. She is devastated when her father is shot by poachers and rushed to hospital in critical condition. As he lies fighting for his life, Honesty desperately wishes over and over again for him to pull through. One night, a few days after the shooting, Honesty wakes to find that the beaded rhino her dad got her has turned into a life-sized spirit rhino. Together they travel to her dad’s game reserve to ask the animals to help save his life. A wise old elephant suggests getting the noisy grey Loerie birds to wake him up. With a white moth showing them the way, Honesty, Zim and the Loeries travel to the hospital to try and save her dad. Bridget Pitt is a talented Zimbabwe-born South African writer who lives in Cape Town. Her writing experience includes newspapers, eductional material, school textbooks, poetry and fiction. She has published poetry in The Thinker magazine, children’s stories, short stories and three novels: Unbroken Wing.; The Unseen Leopard; and Notes from the Lost Property Department. Her second novel was shortlisted for several book prizes and she received a Commonwealth nomination for a short story in 2012. She is involved in various initiatives to engage and include communities in nature conservation. The Night of the Go-Away Birds was inspired by work with rangers in the Imfolozi Game Reserve.