A darkly illustrated book telling the true tale of the decimation of the sparrow population in China in 1958. Dictator Mao Tse Tung believed the sparrows were eating too much wheat. So he ordered the Chinese people to make as much noise as possible over three days to kill the birds with heart attacks or exhaustion. It worked. But the wheat was far from saved. The lack of birds to eat insects led to a plague of locusts which killed the wheat. A 3-year famine ensued which resulted in the deaths of 30-40 million Chinese.The illustrated people in this book are supposed to be Chinese but don't look like it. They look more like Jim Henson Muppets. I'm working on creating a booklist for my local public library. This book was one in consideration for this list.This is not going on my list. Very little to do with manners. It reminds me of Wangaris' Trees. But I liked this book a lot. I'm trying not to add the books that deal with overwhelming social change. Not because people don't exhibit good behaviors while they "administer" social change, but because I believe the greater topic shouldn't be glossed over by being put on a list of a different subject.
Sad, and I didn't really like the illustrations, but what a fascinating story.
—limegreen000
Touching story of a girl who makes a difference.
—orville
Silver Knight, 2011
—aleeyamj
