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THE SKY OF AFGHANISTAN

Name: THE SKY OF AFGHANISTAN
Author: Ana A. de Eulate
ISBN: 978-84-15503-04-0

by Ana A. de Eulate & illustrated by Sonja Wimmer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2012

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A young girl dreams of the day peace will come to contemporary Afghanistan, the war-torn country she loves.

Letting her imagination soar, a little girl looks to the sky and visualizes flying the “bright kite of peace” across Afghanistan into “people’s houses, their homes, their families, their hearts.” She sees her dream in children’s smiles and eyes, “a wonderful dream in which we all hold hands” and the “sound of war has truly gone forever.” She envisions a future filled with hope, opportunity and harmony. Speaking idealistically in the present tense, the little girl’s voice rings with compelling optimism, and her verbal images of the sky, kites, soaring and flying are visually reinforced in elegant, wistful illustrations that compositionally sweep the eye diagonally upward across the page from left to right. Somber, gray pencil drawings and tan backgrounds reflect the current bleak Afghan reality, while blue headscarves and red kites provide hopeful accents. Powerful images of dancing kites, ascending doves, women in burqas, a child playing with toys made from trash and flowers sprouting from tanks juxtapose the real and the aspirational. While topically relevant, the absence of historical, political or cultural context for the current Afghan crisis may leave young readers somewhat clueless. Ardent advocacy for Afghan peace. (Picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2012

ISBN: 978-84-15503-04-0

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Cuento de Luz

Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE CLOUD LAMB
by Ana A. de Eulate & illustrated by Monica Carretero & translated by Jon Brokenbrow

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THE MOON'S FIRST FRIENDS

HOW THE MOON MET THE ASTRONAUTS FROM APOLLO 11

by Susanna Leonard Hill ; illustrated by Elisa Paganelli ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 4, 2019

One of a flurry of semicentennial tributes, set at least a bit apart by its unusual point of view.

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The Moon, lonely for so long, welcomes at last a pair of visitors from the planet below.

It’s a long wait—dinosaurs come and go, and likewise woolly mammoths; the pyramids rise; the first balloons and gliders appear; a chimp in a Mercury capsule waves from orbit—but at long last two spacecraft stacked atop a huge multistage rocket make the journey: “They’re actually coming!” The Moon, a light blue orb in Paganelli’s pastel-toned scenes with big, lashed eyes and pink cheeks, watches in delight, warmly welcomes the two astronauts who land, and gives them gifts of rocks and dust (they in turn leave a plaque and a brightly colored flag) when it’s time to go. “Come back anytime!” Hill neglects mention of the earlier and later Apollo visits but enhances her lunarcentric commemoration of Apollo 11 with a detailed if idiosyncratic account of that one and QR codes leading to actual sound clips of the countdown and Neil Armstrong’s first remark. Appended notes on the moon, NASA, spacesuits, and the Saturn V rocket also help to give the historic mission some background.

One of a flurry of semicentennial tributes, set at least a bit apart by its unusual point of view. (Informational picture book. 5-7)