How to Heal a Broken Wing

Title: How to Heal a Broken Wing

Author: Bob Graham

Picture Book #2

How to Heal a Broken Wing is an inspiring story about a young boy named Will who takes notice to what everyone else seems blind to – a fallen bird. Upon finding this fallen bird, Will takes him home and, with the help of his parents, he nurses him back to health. As the author states, “a loose feather can’t be put back but a broken wing can sometimes heal”.  Once the bird has finally healed and can fly again, Will releases him letting him soar into the open sky.  Coupled with comic strip-like illustrations, this story is one I found to be particularly moving. The action Will takes is simple but is something that many people don’t think to do.  

I think this book is good for any child to read because it teaches about (what I see as) a social responsibility to help those in need around us. Human or animal, I think it is important to reach out all the same and respect others that inhabit this earth. On a side note, I would use this as a learning experience to teach children about the importance of being safe when handling animals. Birds can carry a whole host of dangerous diseases and it would be important for them to learn about how to properly handle them. It may be a stretch, but I can see this book tying in nicely with a social studies unit about community and a science unit about animals. I would do a mini lesson about how to properly handle animals and warn against picking up things such as feathers with their bare hands. 

Bird

Title: Bird

Author: Zetta Elliott

Illustrator: Shadra Strickland 

Genre Study - Mixed Genre

Have you ever wished that you could erase something from your life? A person? A memory? Or maybe, a part of yourself? That is what young Mehkai (A.K.A. “Bird”) loves to draw; he can erase anything that doesn’t seem right. Unfortunately, we all know that life doesn’t work that way. We can’t simply erase the parts of it that we don’t like and neither can Bird; however, we can find solace in our hobbies and that is just what Bird does when his life begins to fall apart. Between his brother’s drug addiction and the death of his grandpa, the poor little boy has a lot on his plate. This is something that I am sure everyone can relate to at one point in their life or another which is what makes the story so powerful, and why I myself found it to be so incredibly moving. 

The age level for this book is a tough call. Though the text and sentence structure are fairly simple – the topics are complex and may be too much for younger readers to understand particularly if they live in more sheltered environments. I would worry about the subject-matter of this book with younger children and the way their parents may react if it was something used in the classroom. Nevertheless, as I stated before, the story is very moving and is written so very well. It will certainly find its way into my own collection someday. In the end, though it may not be a story to share with all, the relatability of this story is undeniable and something that I feel many students would find comfort in. I would recommend it to any student who was dealing with similar struggles or any older student who was looking for an inspiring read.