What Parents Should Know
A heartwarming situation captivates readers. The realistic
watercolor illustrations convey the children's emotions and
draw kids into the story.
Common Sense Media Review
Descriptive words evoke a sense of Ethiopia many readers are
unfamiliar with, yet give the homeland a character and realism.
Author Jane Kurtz calls forth a loving picture of shepherds
piping haunting songs of longing in the hills and a young boy
who sleeps on the floor of his mother's home and thinks of the
moon and stars as night-lights to comfort him. She brings the
relationship of a father and daughter into the reader's
life.
The author cleverly guides the reader with haunting words and descriptive passages. Readers will feel the emotional tug along with Desta, who is being temporarily separated from her father. But by the story's end, Desta comes to realize that her ailing grandmother must miss her father the way she will miss him.
Stunningly realistic illustrations evoke a rugged wild beauty of the homeland. They depict character expressions and landscapes that capture personality with the smallest of details--like an upturned face, the placement of a hand on a blanket, or the love reflected in the characters' eyes. This poignant, gentle story will prompt many discussions to challenge and excite a child's imagination and will help them understand about a world beyond their own.
Other books to explore are The Storyteller's Beads, also by Jane Kurtz, and The Bat Boy and His Violin by Earl B. Lewis.
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
