I chose to read “Little Bird! Little Bird!” from the Flowers for Children Series by Lydia Maria Child. The story begins with someone preparing a nice home for a bird and inviting it to come live there. This person promises to bring flowers, feed, and take care of the bird if it comes to live in the cage. The bird however, politely declines the offer. It says this because it prefers to live in nature, where it can roam freely in the air, and live in a comfortable nest. Then the person asks the bird what will it do during the winter time. The bird responds by saying that it will migrate to a land that has green fields and warm skies until the winter passes, and then it will return.
This story was created to teach children the living environment of another animal. A contemporary cartoon that teaches this lesson to kids is the TV show Spongebob Squarepants through the character of Sandy the squirrel. Just like the bird, Sandy lives in an area where other species of animals live in. However, she has her own home that’s different from the other animals. Sandy lives in a dome in the middle of the ocean that preserves the air, the land and the temperature of the environment, making it a perfect environment for a squirrel. Another common idea that both stories share is teaching kids what happens to certain animals during the winter time. For “Little Bird! Little Bird”, the bird migrates to a different location until the winter time has passed. For the Spongebob TV show, it teaches kids that squirrels hibernate by eating extra food to store body fat and sleeping during the winter.

Word Cited: Child, Lydia Maria. “Little Bird! Little bird!” Flowers for Children. Boston: C.S. Francis &, 1854. Print.