Azizi and the Little Blue Bird by Laila Koubaa and Mattias De Leeuw

Book Island, 2015. ISBN 9780994109866
(Age: 5-12) Recommended. Picture book. Azizi lives in a country dominated by two greedy rulers. They feast and feast and expand with both food and power. They have captured all the blue birds in the land and have locked them up in their palace.
Azizi feels he and his people are shrinking while the rulers expand.
One night an escaped blue bird visits Azizi and together with a trail of threaded flowers they embark on a plan to free both the birds and people.
This story can be enjoyed both as a modern fairy tale, or as a symbol of people power overthrowing a cruel regime. According to the website  the events in this book are based on a true incident:  'in 2010/2011 when, during the Arab Spring the internet was censored and/or shut down during the uprisings, in an attempt to prevent protests from spreading over the region. The little blue birds - have you already guessed it?- refer to Twitter. '
The author is Dutch and the original text has been translated by David Colmer.
This is a large format picture book and the illustrations by Mattias De Leeuw fill each page with strong lines and bold colour.
I recommend this book for primary school libraries and children from 5 to 12 will enjoy this story at its many levels.
Jane Moore