Sparrow Jack

By Mordicai Gerstein

A lively twist on the immigrant story When John Bardsley leaves England to seek his fortune in America, he finds that his new city, Philadelphia, is crawling with inchworms! No one seems to know how to get rid of them, and the American birds turn up their beaks at the thought of eating any. Recalling his rescue of a very hungry baby sparrow when he was a boy, John comes up with a novel way to solve the problem, and he once again sets sail across the ocean in order to save his new city with some help from his feathered friends. Using detailed illustrations, Mordicai Gerstein tells the little-known story of how sparrows came to America and how John Bardsley came to be known as Sparrow Jack . ? Sparrow Jack is a 2004 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374371393
• ISBN13: 9780374371395
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 8.4" x 10.8"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

AN IMAGINATIVE, AMUSING TALE

With vibrantly enchanting illustrations the vaunted Mordicai Gerstein relates the surprising story of John Bardsley and the introduction of sparrows to America. It was the middle of the 19th century when Bardsley, like so many others, left his native land to find fortune in America. Philadelphia was his city of choice; house painting his work. To his amazement he found that his adopted city was literally crawling with inchworms. One of the little rascals even dove into his shirt, a tickling annoyance. Soon, the inchworms were devouring the leaves on bushes and trees. Birds that were native to Philadelphia, jays, wrens, robins, and thrushes didn't find the little wigglers appetizing. Even though people were hired to pick the inchworms off the trees it was a losing battle. No one had any idea what to do - except for Bardsley. He remembered the sparrows he had befriended when he was a boy in England, and believed that they could rid the city of inchworms. Off he went, across the ocean again, and seasick all the way. Yet, he was determined to bring his feathered friends to Philadelphia. Did the birds accompany him back to America? Did they save the city's greenery? You'll have to read this imaginative, amusing tale by the one and only Mordicai Gerstein to find out! - Gail Cooke