THE FLIGHT OF A DOVE is about a little girl named Betsy.  For the first year of her life she is happy and seems to be healthy and normal, then her parents notice a change.  She begins cutting herself off from the rest of the world.  It turns out that Betsy has autism.  Her parents try so hard to help her, but decide that she should go to a special school.

 At the school all the teachers try really hard to bring her out of her shell.  She cries for a while, but eventually gets used to going.  The only way she communicates is with crying and little clicks of her tongue.  Animals seem to work really well on the other children, but when the dogs come near Betsy she starts clicking her tongue.

Many other animals try to visit with Betsy, but all have the same result.  It isn't until one day when a dove is scared into flight that Betsy shows any emotion.  Is the dove what Betsy needs?

THE FLIGHT OF A DOVE is  based on a little French girl who was supposedly set free from her autistic world by the flight of a dove.  Alexandra Day tells a beautifully, touching story.  It certainly pulls at the heart-strings.  My five-year-old daughter loved it.  At the end she told me, "I know how she feels, mommy, animals make me happy, too."  It is definitely something I would recommend.  Not only is it a wonderful story for the children, but it will touch the parents as well.