Review Detail

“Teaching Eddie to Fly” by Katarina Macurova shares the story of Arthur the bear and Eddie the bird. The interesting thing about Eddie is that, despite the fact that he’s a bird and birds can fly, he gets around on foot. When Arthur tries to learn more about how Eddie doesn’t fly, it comes up that nobody ever taught Eddie how, and so begins Arthur’s journey to teach Eddie the art of flying, even though he’s a bear and has never done so himself.

Various issues get in the way of Eddie’s flying journey, including his fear of heights and the fact that flapping his wings doesn’t bring any changes. They even ask other birds to help, but the penguin and kiwi can’t provide much help since they themselves don’t fly. As time goes on, Arthur and Eddie come to learn that Eddie is super quick on his feet, and because of this, flying doesn’t even seem necessary due to the speed with which he carries himself.

The story is one of perseverance, desire, and kindness as the two friends work together to try to accomplish a task. Young readers will enjoy the give and take between Arthur and Eddie.