1. Art techniques
2. Birds
3. Book design
4. Collage
5. Creativity
6. Home
7. Imagery
8. Perspectives
9. Visual literacy

‘Home in the Sky’ is the story of ‘Light,’ a domestic pigeon living on top of a derelict building in New York City. Light and other pigeons in this story are cared for by Mike. What inspired this story? Travelling by train one day in New York, Jeannie Baker spied a man on top of a building surrounded by a ‘cloud of pigeons whirling around his head.’ She bravely climbed the height of this derelict building to hear about these pigeons. This experience inspired her to create ‘Home in the Sky.’

Every day at sunrise and sunset, these pigeons fly into the sky then return ‘home’ when Mike whistles. One day, Light does not return as usual, instead landing in the open doorway of a train. Swish! The doors close. A young boy, Carlos, picks up Light, stroking his feathers so that he feels safe, then takes him home. His mother points to a band around Light’s leg, which means he belongs to someone. Carlos frees Light from his window so that he can return home. The next day when Carlos sees a flock of pigeons soaring across the sky, he is sure that he spies Light who is ‘at home in the sky.’

A master of collage craft, Jeannie Baker uses a range of ‘found’ material. Here she uses grasses, leaves and pigeon feathers. She treats them, when necessary, to ensure that they retain their natural colour. Her endpapers are an immediate attention-getter featuring connecting wooden cubicles with homing pigeons busily eating, sleeping and socialising.

The artwork is captivating and awe-inspiring. Some double pages, such as New York’s Park scene, reveal a multitude of people in various activities set against a backdrop of New York’s high-rise buildings – all in intricate collage. Another stunner is the double page of people and the captive pigeon in the train with collage everywhere: clothing, discarded newspapers and signage. Collage is a mesmerising art form bound to inspire young creatives. Jeannie Baker’s book, ‘Playing with Collage’ (2019) shares her secrets and guides young people to experiment with this artform.

1. Jeannie Baker website ‘Technique’ https://www.jeanniebaker.com/technique/
2. Kirkus Review 7 Jul 2016 ‘Reaching New Heights with Jeannie Baker: Interview’ https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/reaching-new-heights-jeannie-baker/
3. YouTube Walker Books Australia. ‘Jeannie Baker on Playing with Collage’ features Jeannie Baker talking about her art. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGzlJbcrOgI
4. Booktopia. Teacher Resource Kit ‘Playing with Collage’ features lesson plans to facilitate the exploration of visual arts and collage using Jeannie Baker’s book, ‘Playing with Collage. http://static.booktopia.com.au/pdf/9781406378665-1.pdf
5. International Board on Books for Young People, Nomination IBBY Hans Christian Andersen Awards, 2018. This dossier was compiled by Dr Robyn Sheahan-Bright and includes extensive material about this artist and her work. https://www.ibby.org/fileadmin/user_upload/JEANNIE_BAKER_.pdf