Fly, Eagle, Fly! by Christopher Gregorowski

[Lissy_1992]

If you're looking for a children's story to encourage potential, aspiration and staying true to oneself, this is it.

With beautiful illustrations and repetition of the key line "You belong not to the earth but to the sky! Fly, eagle! Fly!", this book is very powerful for children with learning difficulties or with English as an additional language.

Found and raised lovingly by a farmer, the eagle chick grows up believing itself to be a chicken. It eats like a chicken, walks like a chicken, and overall acts like a chicken. However, a farmer's friend comes along one day and points out that it is not a chicken but a magnificent eagle, and must be let out to live the life it should lead. After several failed attempts to help it fly, it finally succeeds and flies into a beautiful sunset.

I find it extremely interesting and poignant that this story begins with a kind farmer finding the baby eagle chick. I find this important as the farmer was well-meaning and had good intentions, yet still brought the eagle down to a level below its true self and potential. "The eagle is the king of the birds, but we shall train it to be a chicken." This is so often the case, and a great lesson for children to learn: friends, family, or anyone around you can stifle your potential without having bad intentions, but this still doesn't make it right, or any less tragic.

Another interesting point is that the farmer's friend is not successful with helping the eagle fly first time. Yet he knows what he is doing is right in helping the eagle chick, so he perseveres. This is also a valuable lesson for children.

As a former teacher, this story was key for me in helping children when they were at a turning point in their friendships and sense of identity. It proved an invaluable resource, and I would greatly recommend it for all teachers and parents.

[RosesReviews]

Thank you for sharing your review of " Fly,Eagle,Fly!" . I have not had the pleasure of reading this book, but based on your review, I appreciate the lessons of kindness shown in this story. This is a lesson that is needed more than ever in this day and age.