How to Heal a Broken Wing

by Bob Graham

Hardcover, 2008

Call number

823.92

Publication

Candlewick (2008), Edition: 1st, 40 pages

Description

When Will finds a bird with a broken wing, he takes it home and cares for it, hoping in time it will be able to return to the sky.

User reviews

LibraryThing member morgantk
I loved the neutral color background vs the bright colors used to characterize Will. I also enjoyed the variety of picture sizes. I believe this decision helped show the movement of the story.
LibraryThing member e.a.leonard
A great story about compassion for animals, or anything needing a helping hand
LibraryThing member shazam79
This was a short book with lots of pictures. It was a peaceful nice story with a happy ending, and it kept the kids interested. However, I didn't think of this until a parent commented...kids should not pick up hurt birds because of disease and germs.
LibraryThing member thecatslibrary
In a city where all is hustle, hustle, hustle, the fall of one bird, especially a common pigeon, goes unnoticed – except by Will. He takes the pigeon home and, with the support of his parents, looks after it while it heals, then releases it.

Very much a book about a world where we have become
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disconnected from the natural environment as well as from each other, How to Heal A Broken Wing is a cry from the heart for humans to open their eyes and see the world around them. The text is sparse but the delicate pen and watercolour pencil illustrations carry the story.

The muted greys, browns and greens of the city are broken by the red of Will’s coat – the bright, hopeful symbol of an individual who sees the sparrow (well, pigeon) fall and cares.
Share this book with a class, or your child. Talk about how easy it is to become numb to small needs in a world where there is so much noise – visual and aural. Remind your child to live a connected life and, above all, to care.
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LibraryThing member mixona
This book is about a little boy named Will who is the only person who saw this little bird lying on the ground. He feels bad for it because it has a broken wing and he takes it home. His parents tell him that his new friend's wing might heal, if they take care of the bird. They put the bird in a
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cardboard box, feed it, bandage it, and will hopes for the best. Then a few days later, Will takes the bird to the street and releases it. The bird flies away, healed.

This is a cute book. I know when I was a little kid, I was really empathatic when I saw little bird's eggs on the ground. I always wished there was something I could do. This story shows children that sometimes birds can be helped Af.ter reading this book, every child will probably want to save a bird of their own. Also the story is very simple and short, so it would be a great read for beginners.

In the classroom, a teacher could use this book to discuss first aid prehaps. After the book is read, you could tell students that another way to help birds would be to set up bird feeders. You could make your own bird feeder with pine cones, peanut butter, and bird seed.
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LibraryThing member emtimmins
This book is told just as much through the pictures as through the words. The lovely message is that doing the right thing can have a happy ending. We need to remember to take time to nurture the little ones around us.
LibraryThing member eevers
This sweet story is about a little boy in the city who finds a pigeon with a broken wing. The illustrations highlight the little boy on each page.
LibraryThing member misscopaneca
This is an endearing story about a little boy who feels compassion for a wounded bird and, with the help of his parents, cares for the bird until it heals. The illustrations of the busy city feature muted colors until Will notices the bird and is illuminated. His mum is featured in muted colors as
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well, until she decides to help her son care for the bird, and then is featured in brighter colors. This story would make for a great read-aloud in the classroom setting, with a discussion on compassion towards others in need of a helping hand.
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LibraryThing member derbygirl
(easy) Will finds a bird with a broken wing on the sidewalk in an urban setting. He takes the bird home and nurses it back to health, finally releasing it back to the wild. The illustrations and use of color in this book are expertly employed. When Will finds the bird a golden circle of light
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envelops him while the rest of the pages are muted pastels and grays. When Will releases the bird, he has a golden circle as does the healed bird. The two are connected. This book is a sweet story that will help teach children kindness and empathy, along with taking responsibility.
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LibraryThing member mhinderlie
Summary: One day a bird ran into a building and fell to the ground. Many people walk by without helping until Will walks by and takes him home to help fix the broken wing. The bird stays at the house until the wing is completely healed and rested, then the family takes the bird back to the city to
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let him go free again.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
This story is a great example of Realistic fiction because this could happen to anyone walking through the city. There are birds or other things that are in need of help everyday the question is if you will stop to help them or not.
Setting: This story is set in a modern city, with tall buildings and many people. This setting is appropriate for this story because it shows that will is different from other people being willing to help.
Media: pen, watercolor, chalk
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LibraryThing member shelf-employed
A book in the same vein as the 2006 title, The True Story of Stellina, this is a beautiful story of compassion toward an injured bird, in this instance, a big city pigeon.

"High above the city, no one heard the soft thud of feathers against glass.
No one saw the bird fall.
No one looked down...
except
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Will. "

The words and the story are simple, yet touching, perfect accompaniments for the pen, watercolor and chalk illustrations. The story begins in the muted grays and blues of the big city. Only Will and his family bring color to an otherwise dreary urban landscape. Many of the illustrations are done in comic book style - wordless panels depicting the birds' recovery.

In speaking about the book, the author says, "In troubled times, when many of us are losing contact with the natural world, I wanted to show there there is still hope in a coming generation of children who have curiosity and empathy with the world around them ..."
He has succeeded, beautifully.
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LibraryThing member Cygnus555
Sweet, simple, visual story about a caring boy who took the time to help an overlooked friend. I love birds and this story speaks to the still inocent unjaded love that children sometimes have. I look forward to reading it to my grandchildren some day...
LibraryThing member Wakana
I like the message that this story sends. The child, who is young and innocent sees the value in caring for a fallen bird that everyone else ignores. He shows great empathy for the bird that has a broken wing, and with the help of his mother and father, nurses the bird back to health. This is a
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great example for young students to remember to care for those that need it.
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LibraryThing member Meerkat4
first, the art was terrific. PERIOD. Brilliant use of light v dark, and displaced centers. Often changed layout to keep the reader interested in both the art and story. Unlike many books, the story brought you back from the great art because you want to know the ending! that is so very important in
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making kids want to continue reading. Plus, the story kind of tugs on your hear, and teaches you the importance of making sacrifices to do the right and human thing. This can lend perspective to an adult just as much as it would give a good example of ethics to a child. Great book. I highly recommend it.
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LibraryThing member amaraduende
This book has simple but wonderful illustrations, and very few words. It tells the story of a family willing to help a hurt animal when everyone else ignored it.
LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
"High above the city, no one heard the soft thud of feathers against glass. No one saw the bird fall. No one looked down..." No one, that is, except Will, a compassionate young boy with eyes in his head, and no hesitation in getting involved to help a fellow creature in distress. As pedestrians
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stream by, oblivious to the suffering bird at their feet, it falls to Will to do what the adults either can't or won't. Dragging his clearly reluctant mother along, he cradles the bird in his arms, eventually enlisting her help, and that of his father back home, in nursing the stricken pigeon back to health.

Australian picture-book author and artist Bob Graham delivers another preschool winner with How to Heal a Broken Wing, which features the same goodhearted love for animals seen in his "Let's Get a Pup!" Said Kate, as well as the same kind of contemporary-feeling family found in so many of his books. I was struck, when reading this, by the fact that Will's parents are led by him to do better - that it is his childlike insistence that something be done that involves them in the first place. One gets the sense that, had she been out shopping on her own, his mother would have been another member of that oblivious crowd. One also gets the sense that we adults have been members of that crowd more often than does us credit, and not just when animals need our help and compassion. This is a hopeful, compassionate tale, one I recommend to all young animal lovers.
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LibraryThing member AdrienneWood
This book is one of those books that makes you remember the good in humanity and also that even happy endings aren't necessarily the endings you want. Personally, I was very happy that the bird was able to fly away, BUT I was really hoping it would go back to the little boy. I also think that the
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way the people in the city were portrayed was sadly accurate :-( All of those people passing by didn't care to notice the wounded creature right there in front of them. The time, effort, and dedication this young child and his parents put into helping, what most people call a winged rat, was beautiful.
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LibraryThing member kfrost32
I think this book is good to use to teach children how to take care of a hurt animal. It shows how to care for and what needs to happen to nurse a bird back to help. I think it was a good book and would be good for the early childhood education grades.
LibraryThing member BethWal94
In this realistic fiction, a little boy sees a hurt bird that is on the sidewalk of the busy streets in the city. Everyone else has walked by it, but the boy was the only one who stopped to see if it was okay. He took the bird home, and nursed it's wings before finally letting it be free and fly
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away. While the bird is healing in the pictures, the author is telling us how everything can heal if you give it time, rest, and hope.
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LibraryThing member karleesampson
In this realistic fiction book, a little boy finds an injured bird on the sidewalk. Everyone else has passed the bird without even stopping, the boy was the first to stop. The boy decided to take the bird home and nurse it back to health. Eventually the bird was well enough to fly away. The author
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states that everything can heal if you give it "time, rest and hope".
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LibraryThing member ebecker13
This realistic fiction book is about a boy who finds a bird with a broken wing in the middle of the city. No one notices the hurt bird on the ground until a young boy sees it and takes it home until the bird can fly again.
LibraryThing member Nicholepeterse
This is g good fantasy book because it takes place in a realistic setting that can be related to a big town. The event of a bird hurting itself and a child wanting to nurse it back to health is commen. The pictures help to tell the story and match with the text. In this story there is a child who
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finds a bird who is in need of help because its wing is broken. the child decides to take the bird home and nerse it back to health. In the end the bird is able to fly again and is released back into the world.

Media: Colored Pencil

Genre: Fantasy

I would use this book to teach young children how pictures are used to tell a story because there arnt many words. I would also use to show a different culture because it is taking place in a city.
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LibraryThing member Whisper1
Oh so delightful and charming, this book found it's way into my heart and made me smile.

In a busy city where people hurry from place to place, failing to notice the event of a bird flying into a glass window, and then plummeting down to the side walk, a small boy named Will notices. While all
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around him people ignore the feathers that are scattered, and the bird that lies still, Will notices.

And, Will sees a broken wing and worries. Soliciting the help of his parents, he brings the bird home and his father helps design a box, a place of healing. Soon, his parents are also captivated by the hope of regeneration and the ability to heal.

And, after a period of rest and careful monitoring, Will and his parents remove the bird from his make-shift home, and Will gently opens his arms, releasing the bird to fly once again.

A simple tale truly, yet heart rendering in the way in which the mother and father encourage little Will to care.
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LibraryThing member fuzzi
When a city bird hits a high-rise window and falls to the pavement only Will notices, and wants to help.

A sweet little story, told with few words and simple illustrations, but it touched my heart in a big way.

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2008

Physical description

12.13 inches

ISBN

0763639036 / 9780763639037
Page: 0.8384 seconds