The Courage of the Little Hummingbird: A Tale Told Around the World

This inspirational story, per an author’s note likely to have originated with the Quechua people of modern-day Ecuador, celebrates those who create a better world in the face of enormous odds. When a mighty blaze causes animals to flee the Great Forest to safety beyond the river, a little hummingbird mourns “each branch and each tree.” Wondering how she can leave the Great Forest in its moment of need, she attempts to rally the animals, who say that extinguishing the blaze is impossible. So, filling her tiny beak with water, she places a single drop on the flames, again and again, even as her delicate wings are singed. When the others question her, her reply—“I’m doing all I can”—motivates the others to do their part. Lyrical text from Henderson offers quiet power to this tale of one connective voice creating a better place for all, while Morales’s digital illustrations use deep hues that capture the fire’s glow, the hummingbird’s determination, and creatures belonging to “every corner of the globe,” per back matter. Creators’ notes and hummingbird facts conclude. Ages 4–8. (May)