Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting
This book is about a young boy and his dad who are homeless so they live in an airport. They have to be careful not to be noticed because several other homeless people have been thrown out. The book takes the reader through the journey that the boy and dad follow everyday in the airport.
This is considered a controversial book because of the tough issue that is being discussed: homelessness. Some parents want to shelter their children from anything "bad" and they feel that this book doesn't do that. Some people may think that living in an airport goes against the law and they feel that this shouldn't be encouraged. I wouldn't have a problem reading this book in my class. There are probably some students of lower-class who could relate to this story. I also think that students need to be aware of what is really going on in the world and that this is a real issue.
The illustrations in this book are just ok. I wish the illustrator would have added more detail to bring out more emotion in the book. I would recommend this book for kids ages 5-8.
On a related note, did you know that American Girl Doll just came out with a new doll named Gwen? She is an issue of debate at the moment because she is homeless. Her father abandons her and her mother so they become homeless. People are saying that the company is exploiting the issue of homelessness. Anyway, I think that you are absolutely right about students needing to be aware of what is going on in the world. Obviously you don't want to show them every ugly detail, but I think they need to know there is some tragic stuff out there.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that children should be aware of the issue of homeless and so I think this would be a good book to read to children. Some people DO live in airports, so it would be a good thing for them to be aware of reality. Too many people are afraid of children being exposed to reality, like it's a big secret. But I think kids know allot more than we want to think they do and it would be much better if they were talking about controversial things at home instead of having to wait to find out a bunch of half truths and exaggerated versions of reality from other kids at school.
ReplyDeleteI think this book sounds great. It reminds me of the movie the Terminal with Tom Hanks and I LOVE that movie. Now that I'm thinking about it, what could be a better book to read to young kids? I imagine too that this kind of book would be really interesting to young minds. A family living in the airport? What kid doesn't want to read a story about that? I'm fascinated to know more myself. LIke what exactly do they do? And is it based on a true story? I suppose I'll just have to check it out myself. Nice choice!
I don't think that this book should be controversial at all. People are homeless that is the cold hard truth. I can understand that parents want to shelter their children from anything bad but why shelter them from reality? In the real world there are people who do not have a place to live. Some of the child's classmates maybe even be homeless. By not informing children about homelessness is not doing the child any favors. Reading this book aloud to a class can encourage a meaningful conversation about homelessness, this book might motivate a class service project. Students can hold a can food drive or collect items for a local homeless shelter. They can learn that even though there is such thing as homelessness we can help try to help make them in any way possible.
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