The Sky of Afghanistan - Hardcover

Eulate, Ana

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 8415503040 ISBN 13: 9788415503040

Publisher: Cuento de Luz, 2012

Synopsis

Winner at the 2012 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards

This Afghan girl doesn’t stop dreaming and her dreams flies towards all the regions, entering homes, families and hearts.

Guided Reading Level: O, Lexile Level: 1160L

About this title

About the Author:

The award-winning author Ana Eulate has enjoyed writing and telling stories since she was a child. After earning her university degree, Ana collaborated with an art magazine, worked at the Ministry of Economy and Finance in Madrid, was appointed Commercial Attaché to the Spanish Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, and also worked at the General Directorate for External Relations of the European Commission in Brussels.

After several years studying and working as a designer in her hometown Munich and Brussels, Sonja Wimmer decided to devote herself to illustration and traveled to Barcelona to continue her artistic training at the Llotja School of Design Art. Since then, she lives between brushes and stories, working as an illustrator and freelance for publishers and other customers worldwide. She has received many awards for her work in the United states, most notably Gold Medal for Best Illustrator for The Word Collector.

Review:

In this glowing picture book translated from Spanish, a small Afghan girl dreams of peace. (...)True to a child’s experience, the story’s power is in the contrasts, and young children will recognize that the basic things they take for granted are missing in others’ daily lives. ~ Booklist (January 2013)
"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. Ardent advocacy for Afghan peace." ―Kirkus Reviews (September 2012)
"Ana A. de Eulate's prose is poignantly lyrical. Her sophisticated style is warm and welcoming, as are Sonja Winter's illustrations. Her eye-catching lines and stylized depictions are masterfully rendered. Her use of light―stunning." ―www.CrackingTheCover.com
“To move from dreams to making a new reality, never underestimate the power of a determined little girl. She dreams of a time when “the sound of war has truly gone forever.” Surely that must be a birthright for all children? Her unwavering convictions are testimony that she “can make this dream come true, / a wonderful dream in which we all hold hands, / and we are all given a new opportunity / to leave our footprints for all eternity.” How impossible not to be touched by the book’s final thought, the longing for “A place – please forgive me if my eyes fill with / tears – that leads us towards PEACE.
(...)Beyond de Eulate’s inspiring words, Wimmer’s illustrations – from the smallest details to swirling, sweeping scenes ― surely add volumes: a caged dove flying to freedom; the children’s various smiles, from the uncertain to the bursting; the women’s heavy blue burqas drawn over grid paper as if to show them to be the cages they are, and the daring few who momentary lift their veils to witness the little girl being lifted up (and away) by her high-flying kite before she, too, is caged; the (vibrantly colorful) intricate toys as the little girl plays on top of (dingy monotone) garbage and rubble, the bright lily bursting forth larger than life from a shrinking tank’s gun, the young girls at their desks with books and pencils in hand, various pieces of Afghan maps as if waiting to be reassembled back together, the cancelled Afghan stamps as reminders of the need for communication near and far. ~ www.Smithsonianapa.org

About this edition

• Publisher: Cuento de Luz
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 8415503040
• ISBN 13: 9788415503040
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 24
• Illustrator: Wimmer Sonja