Fly Homer Fly (Sandpiper)

Bill Peet hits the sweet spot somewhere around age 5 or 6 — at least, he did for my boys and now does for my grandson, who is 5. The kid has to be old enough to handle a measure of darkness in Peet’s landscapes. His cityscapes remind me of R. Crumb with all the wires overhead and all the

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garbage underfoot. There’s a darkness in some of his human characters as well, who usually have a Depression-era air of desperation, such as Mr. Frenzy who is the driving character of Jennifer and Josephine and who — my grandson spotted him — makes a guest appearance in this book, Fly Homer Fly. But beyond the pollution in the background and the hardness of some actors, there’s a sweetness to his stories, a triumph of good animals over bad. With his long experience at Disney Studio, Bill Peet is a master at drawing animals with personality and emotions.

Homer is a sweet pigeon living a simple country life until a wayward sparrow convinces him to try living in the big city. In Mammoth City, he soon discovers dirty air and, worse, he must fight for his food and beware of cats and rats and even a falling building. The baddest bad guy in this story is not human but an oversize bully of a pigeon. Homer can’t fly back home to the country because he has injured his wing. It’s pretty scary. Fortunately, he has a friend in the sparrow, and a clever solution will follow.

Bill Peet is a wonderful artist. There’s energy and depth in his drawings. His stories range from sweet to scary. For sensitive children, Fly Homer Fly is one of the more worry-making stories — with a happy resolution, to be sure — so I’d introduce a kid to Bill Peet through some of his lighter books first, such as The Caboose Who Got Loose or Smokey. But I love this book, and so does my grandson, who has practically memorized it and will anticipate what comes next, saying “It saddened him to think that all his friends would be leaving,” (surprising words from the mouth of a five-year-old), or “What’s fair for one is fair for all!” Great book. Great author. Great artist

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