Genre- Children's Picture BooksThe text begins with a reference to Hamlet: "There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow." More mature readers would associate any quotation from Hamlet as an ominous sign- something drastic is going to happen in this text. This is a GREAT way to open into a book, although I am not sure children (whom the text is written for) will fully grasp the reference. The author's note at the end, however, gives historical background to the Sparrow War in China.The story describes a girl who wishes to save sparrows from being frightened off by the village. Each picture shows simple yet elegant drawings of a young Chinese girl, her sparrows and her meager surroundings. Though the colors in the pictures are not bright, they encompass the entire page, and have variety. For instance, when author Sara Pennypacker describes the birds falling like rain drops, illustrator Yoko Tanaka paints the sparrows like airplanes with wings spread and beak driving downward. In this way, the pictures reflect not only the actions described, but also the emotions: on the page with the falling sparrows the pictures are soft blue and gray to show the girl's sorrow.The text is also a great lesson for children in not giving up. Halfway through the book the girl says, "Seven sparrows when there used to be thousands" but her brother responds with "seven sparrows where there could have been none." The text beautifully reveals to children the impact of altering a member of the food chain within an ecosystem, standing up for what is right, and having faith in yourself. So different from what I have grown to expect from the extremely funny Sara Pennypacker. Sparrow Girl is based on a true tragic event that happened in China in 1958. Tiring of the sparrows greed with their wheat crop Chairman Mao Tse-Tung declared war on the sparrows. For three days and nights the towns people were instructed to make load noises and literally scare the sparrows to death. The Chairman didn't not think long term though on how the sparrows death would impact the crops and the environment. Resulting in the death of millions of Chines citizens. We are all connected on this planet and need to respect the roles of the other. In this story Ming-Li, a young girl, see's what the adults could not and tries to save as many Sparrows as possible.
What do You think about Sparrow Girl (2009)?
A little girl who saves the day regarding Chinese history in which millions died.
—ayenayy
Excellent historical fiction! Heart-warming with a lesson to be learned.
—Kasey
It amazes me that this is from a true story.
—shinikel
