Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting (1991) is a story about a homeless family. Andrew and his dad live in an airport. Dad designs each day to avoid notice by airport security. It's 1991, so airport security is a couple of men in blue uniforms, not a plethora of security cameras, metal detectors, and x-ray equipment. Andrew introduces us to other people who live in the airport. Those who get noticed get caught. He shares his life of blending in with the crowds and hustling for some change. Ronald Himler's paintings capture the sadness and frustration of being trapped in this desperate life.
This resource is a complete rewrite of the one I published in 2021. This revision is exclusively about the people. I do not reference the little brown bird or ponder the larger issue of housing. The purpose of this lesson is to meet the homeless.
This book is read aloud online by Tara LaPorte.
My Picture Book Talk lesson for this story is here.
