Little Bird | New Release Bright Raven Press
Bright Raven | Fiction
A poignant story of a boy who learns to see his sister — and a family learning to listen — told with music, horses, and a talking cat.
Little Bird is available to buy in all bookshops. Support your local bookshop by ordering from them direct. Or you can buy from Amazon and Goodreads.
“This isn't just a book for families affected by neurodivergence. It's a story about love, family, being truly seen, and the impact that understanding and compassion can have on someone's life.” Clare, reader.
Paperback and ebook available now!
Little Bird
Reader Feedback
Readers Are Loving Little Bird…
“I really admired the way you describe each of the rooms or atmosphere before delving into what’s happening...
Your book has boosted my vindication of giving people grace...all might seem find on the outside but there might be a torture on the inside you don’t know about.
Very good and needed book in our society, Claire!”
“As a neurodivergent author myself and someone who has emerged from the depths of anorexia and is now stronger because of it, I have inside experience that Claire captures so poignantly in Little Bird. What I loved most about this book is that it centers on Jake, who symbolizes the “invisible sibling”...
I highly recommend Little Bird to anyone seeking to understand what it’s really like for families dealing with autism and eating disorders.
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“Claire- I have just devoured your book in one sitting. So powerful and emotional and raw. It is very very good- and will shine a light on a much misunderstood situation that, unhappily, is far too common in our current world.
I know this book will help many so many people...
You’ve captured the utter pain, fear, despair, frustration, love and hope that existed in Little Bird’s family in a language that I found compelling to read.”
About The Book
For Jake, everything is about Olivia
Little Bird is told through the eyes of twelve-year-old Jake — the invisible sibling — as his fourteen-year-old sister Olivia spirals into crisis and a medical system that can't quite hear her.
Doctors call it anorexia. But to Olivia, the problem isn't food. It's a world that's too loud, too bright, and filled with static that no one else can hear.
Set in Cambridgeshire, and driven by the rhythm of a remarkable playlist, Little Bird asks what it means to truly listen — and what it costs when we don't.
Music As Mood
Every chapter comes with its own music track — a playlist that deepens the story as you read. Jake's world, scored.
You can download the playlist at this link from Spotify.
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The emotional toll on a child living in the shadow of a sibling's chronic illness — rarely seen, rarely spoken about.
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A look at how the world feels to someone whose frequency is tuned differently — and how little the world accommodates that.
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A family caught between a rigid school system and a medical world that prioritises diagnoses over the person inside.
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The quiet, powerful connection that remains when everything else falls apart.
“Our emotions are connected to our senses – very much so. If you are happy or sad, you can display it by a stim.”
Emma Dalmayne
Meet Your Author
Claire Buttrum
Author, Coach, and Therapist
“For much of my life, I’ve existed in fragments. As a neurodivergent, hypermobile woman, my journey has been peppered with the specific, heavy shame that comes when your way of being doesn't align with the world's expectations.”
Claire is a therapeutic coach based in St Ives, Cambridgeshire. Her therapeutic work with families and her own lived experience navigating neurodivergence, disordered eating, and mental health is the living foundation of Little Bird.
Little Bird is published under her own imprint, Bright Raven.
She is available for readings, Q&As, and events at bookshops and schools across Cambridgeshire and East Anglia.