Book Review: Spark Learns To Fly By Judith Foxon

Introduction As a young child, I was very shy with a giant heart. I thought the best in everyone and was anxious about others and whether or not they liked me. I lived in a small town up until I turned ten years old, living with my biological and abusive, absent parents. I was a good student, afraid to fail and upset my mother. Although shy, I loved my friends and siblings and thought the best in every situation. It wasn’t until I grew older and received the guidance and outside perspective of my adopted mom that I realized how awful my home life was. I’ve since begun analyzing my behaviors and emotions that ran through my mind as a child to realize how to overcome the abuse I’d endured. The six books I’ve chosen as mirrors identify the emotions and behaviors I see myself having at a young age of nine or ten years old. Though I might not have realized why I was the way I was back then, I know now that I have developed into the woman I am today because of my home life and experiences as a child. According to

Looking at this book was difficult for me. The illustrations were very bright and eye-catching, though less realistic than those in Why Are You So Sad because the main character is a dragon named Spark. Spark is a young dragon who loves to play tail-ball with his mum and dad and baby sister, Flame. Both dragons become very sad when mum and dad start fighting all of the time, and when they are injured, they go to live with Serena, a foster dragon. I was never officially put into the system or foster care, however I relate to Spark and Flame because when my parents hurt me, I found solace in the arms of another caring mother-figure. Like Serena, my new mom helped me understand the situation and my emotions, and she helped me learn how to cope with them. I relate to Spark because he encounters confusion when it comes to loving his abusive mum and my emotional unease is similar to