William Devereaux, a seer’s son, describes his daily toil each day, where in 1870 he and his sister work in the Arlesey Claypits. Before William can read and write he expresses his chalk drawings in a Rag Book and draws pictures of the creatures and birds which are dear to him around the hamlet where he lives. Lord Shaftesbury passes a bill in Parliament to abolish child labour and when the Education Act is set in place, William and his sister Sadie start the Slip End school near the Caddington woods. Life takes on a different meaning for these children, and the Red-Kite bird swiftly flies over the Chiltern hills bringing hope and freedom from drugery and toil at long last and the opportunity for all children to learn how to read and write.