This book follows a chain of good deeds done by the people in a Buddhist community. It starts with Mai, who hopes to be able to free captured sparrows because it is a good deed. However, she does not have enough money to do so. Mai starts the chain of good deeds by buying food for the sparrows that she allows a friend to give to them, because feeding the sparrows is also a good deed. That friend goes on to give her shoes to a girl who has injured her foot. The chain of good deeds continues, and eventually results in the sparrows being released. I think it could have a few different uses in the classroom. It would be a great way to start a discussion about why it is important to do good deeds. It also depicts a different culture than students in an American classroom might be, so it could be useful to talk to students about Buddhism as a religion or have them compare and contrast the culture featured in this book to their own.

I really enjoyed, “Fly Free” for two reasons. I enjoyed the storyline very much and I also liked the meaning the story conveyed to readers. The story starts off with a girl named Mai who wants to free a cage of sparrows for sale at the gates of her temple. After feeding the sparrows and realizing she does not have enough money to set them free, she visits her friend Thu at the temple and asks her to help feed the sparrows. Thu agrees and Mai whispers to her a poem, “Fly free, fly free, in the sky so blue. When you do a good deed, it will come back to you.” After this, Thu goes to feed the sparrows and on her way finds a girl in the road whose foot had been cut on glass. Thu offers the girl her expensive, velvet shoes so she can walk home. Thu then sings the same poem to the girl that Mai shared with her. The girl with the cut foot then walks home and helps someone herself, setting off a chain reaction of good deeds throughout the book, always followed by the poem Mai told Thu in the beginning of the story. The book ends with a monk, who had been helped by an old woman who shared Mai’s poem with him, finding Mai singing the poem by the sparrow’s cage. The monk then sets the sparrows free for Mai, making a full circle of kindness. I thought that this was a beautiful story, and the creative way in which it was written made it even better. I loved how the story was written in a circle like formation, starting with the kindness of Mai and then ending with someone being kind to her. I also loved the meaning of the story which can be summed up in the realization the monk comes to. “At once, he understood how good deeds are passed from one person to the next. A wheel of kindness existed in people’s hearts. It turned day and night, through cities, villages, and countryside, until it came back to its origin making a full circle.” While this realization is simple, I think it is extremely profound and very true. I also liked the author’s note at the end of the book, which really clarified the meaning of the story for me. It basically says that the author was traveling through Vietnam once and saw a family pay for the release of small birds. A girl named Mai explained to the author why the family did this which is because Buddhists believe in reincarnation and their goal is to be reborn as a higher being each time, until they reach nirvana, or perfect wisdom. Mai explained to the author that good or bad actions affect the way Buddhists are reborn, which is called karma. Basically, bad deeds create bad karma and good deeds create good karma. Mai also said that Karma could be thought as a boomerang, meaning ones thoughts and actions eventually find their way back to them either now, later in life, or in another life. The other Buddhist concept Mai described to the author was samsara, or the wheel of life. It is an ancient Buddhist and Hindu symbol that represents the circle of life: birth, death, and rebirth. It also shows how past deeds can circle around and affect one’s present and future. This author’s note really helped me understand the big idea of, “Fly Free.” I believe the big idea is that people are more affected by kind deeds than we think they are, and will reciprocate kindness if they are shown it. I also believe this book encourages people to be nice to one another and to show benevolence, because it makes the world a much better place full of happier people. I really enjoyed, “Fly Free” and it taught me a lot about Buddhism and Buddhist beliefs, which I do not know much about. ( )

This is a gentle book with the simple message of being kind. I would read this to any age group for a reminder of doing good deeds, and being kind to others for no reason, is the key to the heart. The little girl does a very kind deed, and eventually through a song it is passed around the town, and back to the little girl. Being kind is contagious, and a wonderful feeling indeed. ( )

A lovely, beautifully illustrated story about the changes that come from simple, thoughtful acts of kindness. ( )