Working for a Kinder World
28 Dec 2011 2 Comments
in After 9/11, Peace stories, Picture Books Tags: Ann Dunham, Maya Soetoro-Ng
Soetoro-Ng, Maya. Ladder to the Moon. Illus.by Yuyi Morales. Candlewick, 2011. 
Don’t let appearances deceive you; Ladder to the Moon, the debut picture book by Maya Soetoro-Ng, is not some simple book to lull a little one to sleep. This author sets out to weave a hopeful and fantastical story that embraces the whole world’s humanity.
Inspired by memories of her mother, Ann Dunham — also President Barack Obama’s mom — telling her stories at night, Ms. Soetoro-Ng takes us on a journey from here to the moon and back.
We meet Suhaila, a small, curious girl who asks her mama, “What was Grandma Annie like?” Her mom replies, “Your grandma would wrap her arms around the whole world if she could.” Later that night, as the child lies in bed pondering her mother’s words, a golden ladder appears outside her window. At the bottom stands her grandmother, “her silver-bangled arms outstretched and tinkling. ‘Do you want an adventure, my dimpled child?’ ” she asks.
Together, Suhaila and her grandmother climb the ladder to the moon, where they can gaze down and observe the full range of wonder and woe taking place across the universe. Grandma Annie shares her wisdom with the girl, and urges her to listen to the moon’s songs, to observe how people need help, to join others in the work that needs to be done. She does not shield Suhaila from the world’s troubles, whether they be tsunamis, earthquakes, or “two tall towers that trembled and swayed on quaking soil.” Annie goes on to encourage her little one to see how people around the world survive tragedy by relying on faith, love, hope, community.
This imaginative plot soars off with the swirly, radiant acrylic paintings by Yuyi Morales, three-time winner of the Pura Belpré prize. With her bold, thick brush strokes; energetic curves; and gorgeous azure and golden hues, she infuses the story with much mystery and movement.
Younger children will not understand all the implications of Ladder to the Moon, but older ones and caring adults might be inspired by Annie’s goal: “We’ll throw in our hearts and minds, and work with our hands to make the land a little more kind.” As we approach the new year, that seems like a wonderful goal, doesn’t it?
You can hear more about Soetoro-Ng’s childhood and her inspiration for this picture book in this interview.
For two simpler books that celebrate our global community, see these nonfiction books:
One World, One Day by Barbara Kerley
Books in the Key of Community
09 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in After 9/11, Peace stories, Picture Books Tags: DyAnne DiSalvo, Jude Daly, Kelly Cunnane, Maya Soetoro-Ng, Mem Fox, Peter Sis
I expected to encounter a heavy dose of post- 9/11 stories in the media this week, but such horrifying images are simply not appropriate for small children. Instead, it seems to me they need to hear about the importance of community. Across the world, communities, happily, come in all colors. Here are a few you might enjoy sharing with young ones:
Cunnane, Kelly. Chirchir Is Singing. illus. by Jude Daly. Schwartz & Wade, 2011. Ages 4-8.
Even a small child needs to find her place in her community. Chirchir, which means “born quickly,” lives in a village in western Kenya. This girl loves loves loves to make up songs. One bright day she wakes up determined to help the elders as they go about their work.
She sees Mama drawing water from the well and feels up to that task. Soon, though, she loses hold of the rope and falls. “Little one, this work is not for you,” says Mama. Each time Chirchir approaches a relative — to start a fire, spread mud on the floor, or to hoe potatoes — she hears that message.
Just when she’s feeling disheartened, she hears a cry and follows it to the hut where her infant brother has awakened. Her older brother, who had been responsible for tending him, lies fast asleep. How fortunate that Chirchir is ready and able to handle the job, for what better way to soothe a baby than to sing?
Chirchir’s small journey of self-discovery is pleasingly rendered by the South African artist Jude Daly, with folk-art paintings employing flat perspectives and a generous helping of leafy greens for the rural landscape. Echoing the hills’ curves are lively images of swirling flocks of swallows, a golden yolk of a sun, and an elongated swirl containing notes and images of her family at work that emerges from Chirchir’s mouth when she realizes she, too, has an important job to do.
Cunnane, author of For You Are a Kenyan Child (2006), has created another gentle, likable story that celebrates family life in Kenya. Her rhythmic, poetic language sparkles with specific images, such as the “winking silver circle of the well,” and with Chirchir’s lilting songs: “Jambo! Hello! Day is growing tall./ Wake up to green sunlight and rooster’s call!”
Educators will find this lyrical little story tailor-made for read-alouds and for incorporating simple instrumentation. Others will simply enjoy a fresh, sweet story that ends on a high note.
The author includes information about the setting and a glossary of the Kalenjin and Swahili words lightly sprinkled throughout the story.
For other great read-aloud titles see my post on 14 Cows for America and these hopeful ones:
Brother, Can you Share the Truth?
13 Apr 2011 2 Comments
in After 9/11, middle grade, Nonfiction, Peace stories, Poetry Tags: American Civil War, Hugh Lupton, Iliad, J. Patrick Lewis, Ken Burns, Rosemary Sutcliff, Theory of Communicative Action
The German philosopher Jurgen Habermas, author of The Theory of Communicative Action, saw a clear link between violence and distorted communication. Upon recently revisiting Ken Burns’ Civil War series, 150 years after those first shots fired at Fort Sumter, I found the stench of distortions everywhere, then and now. They will never leave us. How, after all this time, can anyone deny that the defense of slavery is what ripped this country apart? When I saw those images of wild, headstrong boys so eager to support the Confederate cause, I thought of the deception they’d been fed as a kind of maggot souffle. Pierce the puffed-up top, and out come the worms. 
Hell is what Goethe called the relentless war depicted in the Iliad. I recall once reading excerpts from Rosemary Sutcliff’s stunning version of this epic poem to fifth graders. Why, a child asked me, are we hearing about all this war, in a Quaker school? I replied, you folks have already answered that question, as, over and over, you comment on the futility of it all. At last, the tragic war reached its bleak denouement — as do all wars. In our land, the Civil War ended, the dumb teeth of tombstones protruding in the fields of slaughter. We live in the aftermath of that carnage. Can we count the ways distorted communication has led us to subsequent wars? How often do we miss opportunities to nourish relationships that strengthen our culture and our own spirits?
We do not serve our older children well by shielding them from the bloody results of war, or by glorifying it. Like us, they will witness and experience a multitude of conflicts fed by communication gone astray. Why not use literature to engage them in discussions that will motivate them to think critically, to share their views in constructive ways, and to inspire them to work for a more just and peaceful world?
Recommended Read-alouds for Middle School
Lewis, J. Patrick. The Brothers’ War: Civil War Voices in Verse. Featuring the Work of Civil War Photographers. National Geographic, 2007. Acclaimed children’s poet Lewis has written 11 poems exposing the horrors of war, from myriad perspectives. Each remarkable poem is accompanied by a full-page archival photograph of the time. Readers will find much to ponder in both the well-chosen images and the words. Fittingly, Lewis opens the book with the sharp, lingering image of slaves picking cotton near Savannah, GA: “I stooped to stoop/ And stooped to chop,/ Then clipped to scoop/ The cotton crop.” Other poems imagine accounts by John Brown and Frederick Douglass, letters from soldiers to their families, and a narrative by a runaway slave. One of the most haunting poems is “Boys in a Brothers’ War,” in which a wounded young soldier from Virginia falls on a vole’s home. “Ignorant of war, the vole had his pea-sized heart/ set on the bark of a chinaberry tree, but there/ was Private Flowers’ boot…” Detailed captions explain elements of the war that relate to the poems. Also included: a selected-event timeline, map of states, a note on the photography, and author’s notes on the poems.
Lupton, Hugh. Adventures of Odysseus. Barefoot, 2010. Hear master storyteller Lupton read his wondrous version of Homer’s Odyssey on the accompanying CD.
Sutcliff, Rosemary. Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad. Frances Lincoln, 2000. This fluid, supremely readable version offers young people an accessible version of the Iliad.
Related Articles
- A Conflict’s Acoustic Shadows (opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com)
- Old times not forgotten: Civil War at 150 (msnbc.msn.com)
Dust Turns to Hope for an Afghan Girl
27 Mar 2011 4 Comments
in After 9/11, middle grade, Novels Tags: Afghanistan, Greg Mortenson, literacy, Patriarchy, Sexism, Taliban, Three Cups of Tea, Trent Reedy, War - Afghanistan, Words in the Dust
Reedy, Trent. Words in the Dust. Scholastic, 2011.
Dusty scenes of strife-filled Afghanistan have blanketed computer and TV screens in the last decade. But what do we know of the actual people whose lives have been warped by the Taliban?
Meet Zulaikha, a 13 year-old Afghan girl whose opportunities are constrained not only by fear, customs, and oppression, but also by her cleft lip. For Zulaikha, a mundane trip to the market can mean fresh torture, as at any moment she might hear a local bully’s dreaded cry of “Donkeyface!” Even at home she meets with harsh treatment, especially from her younger brother. How can she hope for a better life? Her sister, the only one with whom she can share her feelings, will soon marry and move out. That will leave Zulaikha with all the chores and, as her stepmother reminds her, little chance of her own husband and home. If only she could learn to read and write as her mother did … but that, too, seems impossible.
Words in the Dust, the debut novel by Trent Reedy, provides an eye-opening view of life in contemporary Afghanistan, particularly as experienced by women. Reedy’s perspective was hard won. When he was nearing the end of his six-year term in the National Guard, he was called to active duty in Afghanistan in 2004. He and his unit encountered a girl named Zulaikha who had a severe cleft lip, and arranged to have an army doctor perform the much-needed surgery.
Yet Reedy has not created some trite, reassuring made-for-TV story. As the plot unfolds, cultures clash, as when the American doctor unknowingly insults Zulaikha’s father, and the girl almost misses her chance at the surgery she so desperately wants. Most moving, though, is the gender-related conflict in Afghan society, as females encounter a web of sexist restrictions. Zulaihka finds she will need more than a pretty face to thrive in her harsh environment. She needs a mentor, a wise woman who will help her develop her intellect. When she stumbles upon that person, events unfold that bring her closer to her stepmother and to the mother who was killed by the Taliban for daring to read books of poetry.
Reedy is donating a portion of his royalties to Women for Afghan Women, an organization working for education and humans rights for women.
Complemented by a glossary, author’s notes, and recommended titles for further reading, this novel will provide a rich and rewarding reading experience for ages 11 and older. Note: Scholastic sent me a free advance copy of this novel, for which I am grateful. I have offered my genuine opinions of the book, as always.
For younger children, turn to Greg Mortenson’s Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea.
Related Articles
- Afghan women are still at risk | Ivan Simonovic (guardian.co.uk)
Thinking About Children, Hope, and 9/11
10 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
in After 9/11 Tags: 9/11
Acacia trees are sprawled across my lap, as I hold a book I wish all children could hear on September 11. 
This compelling picture book, 14 Cows for America, was written by Carmen Agra Deedy in collaboration with Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah and illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez. A native of Kenya, Kimeli was in New York the day of the terrorist attacks. He returned to his Maasai village in Kenya and told the story of what happened that day. One of the most moving illustrations is a double-page that shows Kimeli, arms flung wide to evoke flames, and the spellbound children pondering:
“Buildings so tall they can touch the sky?
Fires so hot they can melt iron?
Smoke and dust so thick they can block out the sun?”
Kimeli is moved to act, following the tenet: “To heal a sorrowing heart, give something that is dear to your own.” A cow is the symbol of life to the Maasai, so he asked the elders to bless his one precious cow, as an offering to Americans in mourning. Others followed his example, and today the cows, which will never be slaughtered, continue to be a symbol of hope and brotherhood.
How comforting to know that people from so far away care this much for us. And how sad that we have lost so much good will from people across the world, after the war in Iraq. Nine years after the tragedy of that day, we are engulfed with news and wild rumors that discourage us from finding any way out of our anger or grief. The news of a stunt-crazy Gainesville, Fl pastor with a congregation of 50 spreads around the world. Yet, how many people have heard this powerful story? Or any of the hundreds of other stories about peacemakers around the world? We can’t wait for journalists to wake up and remember how to be responsible. We can’t just hope our children figure out how to make our world more harmonious.
Put this book in your lap, put an arm around a child, and read it now.
For more about dealing with 9/11 in the classroom, see this wonderful essay in Rethinking Schools.
