Based on an actual event that occurred in China in the late 1950s, this is the story of a rural Chinese village where the farmers chased away all the sparrows because they were eating too much grain. The campaign to get rid of the birds was too successful, and the result was the insect population went wild, consuming more of the crops than the birds ever did.

Ming-Li, the child in this story, watches in dismay as the attack upon the birds is launched.  Realizing she has to do something, she begins to collect some of the stunned sparrows, nurses them back to health and then hides them away in an old barn.

As locusts begin to ravage their crops, the villagers realize what a terrible mistake they have made, but there seems to be nothing that they can do to alleviate the situation. At that point Ming-Li tells her father about the birds she has saved, and they are set free to hopefully save the village's food supply.

Although this is an excellent story, there is one small downside to Sparrow Girl. Yoko Tanaka's illustrations are a little too murky. Her use of somber hues through a good portion of the picture book may be in keeping with what is unfolding in the tale, but it creates perhaps more of a gloomy atmosphere than is really necessary.