Blue Sky White Stars
Our book this month is Blue Sky White Stars written by Sarvinder Naberhaus, illustrated by Kadir Nelson. This book couldn't come at a more perfect time, as it is best for the Fourth of July. The colorful pictures are beautiful, and the short yet powerful words describe our country's flag and people.
In the author's notes, Naberhaus says, "I began this book thinking of the deep blue sky dotted with white stars that early immigrants to this country saw as they boarded ships headed toward religious freedom in the New World."
The illustrator also had some beautiful words about this book, "With each painting, I was inspired to remind readers of the resilience of American principles, and that as we continue to push forward, our strength lies in our willingness to embrace our differences."
This book is wonderful for showing beautiful diversity. It's so important for all children to see themselves in the stories they're reading, so they can relate to them and build confidence in their reading adventures.
It's also a great idea to start finding books that tell all different kinds of stories, even if they are above your child's reading level. We check out non-fiction books from our local library just to look at the pictures and have conversations about the different things in the books. Eleanor and I had a long conversation the other day about octopi, simply because there was a picture of one in a book, and thankfully for me, it was a non-fiction book that had plenty of information about the animal, so I didn't have to go searching for the little tidbits of information I was providing her. Don't feel like you have to read every word of each page-we pick and choose what we read. That creates a more easy, fun environment to bring books into that doesn't feel like a bunch of work for me. So, for this next month, maybe try a history book! Or how about reading more about flags around the world? Find your section (or more than one section!) and start reading with your child. Remember, the more words they hear, the better their vocabulary will be, no matter how old they are!
Happy Reading, my friends!
