Hawk, I'm Your Brother by Byrd Baylor

Title: Hawk, I'm Your Brother

Author:   Byrd Baylor    

Illustrator:   Peter Parnell    

Publisher:  Charles Scribner   

Year: 1976

Awards/Accolades: Caldecott Honor

Summary:

Young Rudy Soto wants to be able to fly like a hawk, so he steals a baby hawk from its nest and keeps it in a cage. He lets it out to fly with a string attached to its leg. The hawk is miserable and finally Rudy realizes that he will never fly, but the hawk needs to, so he releases it.

Use in Classroom/Library:

I read a review of this in Beverly Slapin and Doris Seale's Through Indian Eyes: The Native Experience in Books for Children. The authors point out that if Rudy is old enough to capture and keep a hawk, he should be old enough to know he can't fly. They also question the fact that Rudy is even allowed by his community to hold the bird captive. Since we don't already own this in our collection, I would not include it for future use.

Curriculum Connections:

Care and concern for animals;

This title is in the UTK Library.