Duncan Annand Books

Caged is a wordless picture book in which simple, effective illustrations build up in small steps to the final ‘finished’ pictures. The story begins with a bluebird making a nest in her forest and she appears to be watching the actions of two men interfering there. As her nest is growing, she watches these men destroying this forest, which houses colourful parrots. As the men destroy the parrots’ habitat, they cage each parrot they find and build a palatial structure with the caged parrots.

There are some interesting discussions that can be brought up throughout the text. The value of individual liberty is an obvious link: should these men use their own freedom to cage other animals for their own (and other humans’) entertainment? Should animals have the same rights to freedom as people do? This links to the moral question of caging any animal and the illustrations lead to thinking of this from different perspectives: the onlooker, the imprisoner and the caged.

Overall, this is a fascinating picture book that can be read on different levels depending on the age and stage of the reader.