Rate this book

La Nina De Los Gorriones = The Girl Of The Sparrows (2010)

by Sara Pennypacker(Favorite Author)

4.04 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

8426137717 (ISBN13: 9788426137715)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Juventud

review 1: I sat in a conference where Sara Pennypacker was talking about this book. For a second, I thought this was a fictional tale, or parable, but after I looked online...I found out it is TRUE! In 1958 The Chinese Government decided that if the sparrows were killed, they wouldn't eat the crops and all would be well. So the Chinese Government or "The Leader" as it is referred to in the book, armed the citizens with firecrackers so the birds couldn't rest, die of exhaustion or heart attack. What they found out, in the spring was that, locust ate the crops, weevils ate the rice, and plums full of worms. They discovered that the sparrows took care of these pest and their small nuisance of eating some of the crops was small in comparison to the good they did. So, thanks to Sparro... morew Girl, Ming-Li, who preserved 7 sparrows, some of the crops were saved. However, this contributed to the worse famine in Modern Human History 30-40 Million Chinese people died over a period of 3 years. Of course this story is fictionalize and I don't know if a Ming-Li actually existed, but this is an important story which MUST be told.In our modern history in the last 20 years, we have done something similar. Taking wolves out of Yellowstone was supposed to save the ranchers cattle, what it really did was mess up a whole ecosystem. Deer, Elk and Moose herds were over populated because there was no predator to weed the herd. Food supplies were scarce because there were too many animals. Other small animals that the wolf ate were overpopulating. depleting water sources and grazing lands..so returning the wolves to Yellowstone, was a good thing to do. The nuisance of killing local cattle was small in compared to destroying an entire ecosystem. So, I liked this story, the pictures were good, but I couldn't give it a 5 star because it isn't something I could read over and over again!
review 2: This story is based on true events in 1958 from Chairman Mao's plan. Ming-Li's family lives in rural China and, facing a shortage of grain, they declare war on the sparrows. People all across the country set off firecrackers and bang drums to literally scare the sparrows to death. The following year, the crops are destroyed by insects because there are no sparrows to eat them. Fortunately, Ming-Li, a wise and gentle girl, has saved several sparrows in the village barn. She is recognized for bringing a miracle to the village and wins honor from her family.Recommended for grades 2 - 4. This powerful story ties together environmental and family messages. While you can read and appreciate the story without much background information, Sara Pennypacker's author note is an excellent way to help students give the story a rich context. less

Download links for: La Nina de los Gorriones = The Girl of the Sparrows

Advertising