Rating: 
Summary: No hope for this homeless family
Review: Picture book supposedly for 4-8 year-olds. Personally I feel this content is a bit much for 4 year-olds. To glance at the cover it appears to be something about a father and son in an airport. My son picked this up at the library and I didn't read it through before we borrowed it. When I sat down to read it to him I was appalled and made up my own story to match the pictures so he didn't have to hear the true content. It is about a father and sons' homeless lifestyle, living inside the airport. This is a dim and hopeless story. I don't like it at all.The author takes us through the weekdays first, where the boy and his father have learned to dress like travelers and carry luggage, and other things they do to appear like regular traveler's not homeless people who live in the airport. It shows drunken, dirty, shabbily dressed elderly homeless men being arrested and explains that they have learned not to act or look like that. It shows an elderly "bag lady" that is also being addressed by security men or police officers and removed from the premises. It shows them eating in the airport restaurants/cafeteria. The story then shifts to a bird that entered the airport terminal and was trapped, the boy wishes for its' escape and one day it figures out how to get out. The boy and his father never do figure out the same for themselves and by the end of the book are still in their homeless state. Lastly, it shifts to the weekend days when father goes off to work as a janitor and the boy is left in the care of two other homeless people who also live at the airport terminal. I don't like that the airport security guards and the airport rules are portrayed as evil. I don't like that this family of two never gets out. I don't like the way the author explains that these two have learned to disguise and trick and bend the rules for their benefit. I don't think this is a good way to teach 4-8 year-olds about homelessness because it doesn't speak to how they got that way or give any hope for how to get back into living like normal people. I shudder to think about children being exposed to this topic in school with a teacher reading this to them. This is sensitive subject matter and I disagree that it should be introduced to 4 year-olds. Parents should introduce this topic when the child is ready to comprehend such matters. I don't know at what age is appropriate'.you decide for yourself!
Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful, Happy-Sad Tale
Review: The basic humanity of the little boy and his father shines through this tale, as does the warmth of others who help them survive. What would it take to live like this, in a busy 24-hour facility which has security guards? This book would be a real revelation for children who think that all homeless people live on the street, and that none of them have jobs
Rating: 
Summary: Fly Away Home
Review: The book Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting is about a boy, Andrew, and his father living in an airport. Andrew's mother has passed away and they must live in the airport. Andrew and his dad try not to get noticed so they won't be kicked out. Andrew finds a bird who is trapped in the airport but finally flies away. Andrew and the bird are similar because they both want to be free. We enjoyed this book because we want Andrew to be free. The book is sad, but Andrew is saving his money to help is father find a job and an apartment. The is a great book to read!
Rating:
Summary: Fly Away Home
Review: The book Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting is about a boy, Andrew, and his father living in an airport. Andrew's mother has passed away and they must live in the airport. Andrew and his dad try not to get noticed so they won't be kicked out. Andrew finds a bird who is trapped in the airport but finally flies away. Andrew and the bird are similar because they both want to be free. We enjoyed this book because we want Andrew to be free. The book is sad, but Andrew is saving his money to help is father find a job and an apartment. The is a great book to read!
Rating:
Summary: Fly Away Home
Review: The book, Fly Away home is a good book. In the book, Fly Away Home, a little boy and his father live in a airport and sleep sitting up so they won't have to to sleep on the streets. I think it's a great book because the boy and his father do not have to live on the streets. I don't like the book because the boy and his father live in an airport. If you know anybody that is homeless or was homeless, they would understand the book. To find out if the little boy and his father find a home, read the book Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful Message
Review: This book carries a very powerful message about homelessness. The bird found in the airport, wanting to be free, is a wonderful use of symbolism. Homelessness is a reality in America and this book is a good introduction to that reality for children. Most children do not even realize that this type of counterculture even exists. There is an overwhelming theme of hope, and strength. The illustrations are done in mute watercolor and occur on every page.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautifully Written Story
Review: This is one of my all-time favorite children's books. Eve Bunting does an excellent job of narrating a difficult subject through the voice of a child. The illustrations add to the beauty of the writing. Although it is written for a younger audience, it can be read to a group of older students with the same effects. While I don't think that this book will make activists out of children, it will raise awareness of peers who may be in similar situations (especially among urban/rural populations). This is a great addtion to Bunting's wonderful repretoire of stories.
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