Subway Sparrow

I read a wonderful picture book with the children today. “Subway Sparrow” is a first book written and illustrated by Leyla Torres. A sparrow accidentally finds its way onto the D train of the New York City Subway Metro in Brooklyn. Together, a young girl, a teenage boy, a Spanish-speaking gentleman, and a Polish-speaking woman gently catch the bird. Wrapped in a silk scarf, they carry it through a crowded platform, bring it aboveground, and set it free. This is a modern-day Good Samaritan story, painting a beautiful picture of the melting pot of New York as a group of individuals with big hearts, who join for a common cause to help a small stranger.

Winner of the 1993 Parent's Choice Illustration Award. Published by Garrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1993; also published in Canada by HarperCollins CandaLtd. Available in Spanish as "El gorrión del metro". A free teaching guide (in both English and Spanish) is available at the author’s website: http://www.leylatorres.com/subway.html

For the young bird lover in your life, I highly recommend the singing Aububon birds. They are vividly colored, plush stuffed birds with real recorded sounds of bird calls. You love to see all of the series found here… http://www.audubon.org/local/sanctuary/beidler/singbirds.html

“Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. . .So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Matthew 10:29,31