Usha and the Stolen Sun

What a beautiful lesson to be learned. Care about one another..we can all get along as long as we reach out to each other and communicate! There is no barrier too large if we work together!

Usha and the Stolen Sun is a beautiful picture book with a powerful message.

Usha lives in a small village. For years, she has heard the stories from her grandfather. He tells of the sun. His stories reign of the sun's beauty and warmth. Usha yearns to experience what she has only ever heard her grandfather describe.

She sets off to find the sun.

From the many years of hearing her grandfather's stories about the sun, Usha knows that it became hidden after a wall was built a long time before she was even born. She sets off walking in search of the truth of the sun and its disappearance from her world.

After many days and nights, Usha comes across a wall. To her, she knows that this wall has to be what her grandfather has always talked about. Slowly, she approaches the wall only to be met by several people just on the other side.

Together, Usha and the others break down the wall. Once finished, they quickly discover that those opposite the wall are just like them. They join together to become fast friends, and Usha rejoices in the return of her grandfather's beloved sun.

Usha and the Stolen Sun tells about the beauty of caring for others. It celebrates the breaking down of the literal, and figurative, walls in the world that divide us from the joy of one and another. It is one of those children's books that our world needs in the world today.

A richly illustrated story about overcoming obstacles, believing in one’s self, and enjoying the gifts of family and friendship.

Timeless and current all at the same time. A little girl in search of the sun which was once blocked out by a wall, built by unknown people. Once reaching the wall Usha has to figure out how to take it down. Our children are the next generation, they have to find there own path which means trying things their own way just like Usha. In a time where fear is becoming the public's motivation we need to be reminded we are all human beings.
No matter who you are your voice matters and sometimes it matters a whole lot more if it's a whisper instead of a scream. This book would be perfect as an elementary school-wide focus. Reading this book as a foundation for powerful dialogue about equality. I could already see the kindergarten drawings and hear the 5th graders reading poetry. Compassion is for everyone and Usha can help share that message. There are even discussion guides created by Owlkids Publishing floating around.

This was a beautiful book, discussing important themes such as family, separation, and the importance of a sunny day.  When Usha's grandfather tells her about what life was like with the sun, she wants nothing more than for him to experience it once more.  So she sets off to find it--and instead, finds a wall.  But what's on the other side?  And how can she even tear it down?  The strength of her words, it turns out, helps her quite a lot.

With wonderful illustrations and an optimistic outlook, Usha and the Stolen Sun makes for a great anti-segregationist, pro-inclusion piece of literature.  It's great to help explain modern day politics to your little ones, or to simply just explain why it's important to share and listen to everybody.  Perfect for grades 1-3.

<em>Usha and the Stolen Sun</em> by Bree Galbraith and illustrated by Josée Bisaillon is one of those strong commentary children's books that takes an incredibly important issue and addresses it with compassion. It's hard to read a story about a border wall and it taking away something vital to a group of people without thinking of the state of America today. And the injustice, the inhumanity of it all is right there in this book's title: the <em>stolen</em> sun.

This book begins with Usha and her grandfather. He tells her stories of the sun, what life had been like once upon a time before the big wall that blocks it went up. Usha listens attentively, leaning many things in these moments. She begins to yearn for the sun for her grandfather, but also for herself. And she develops an understanding that the wall took it from him and their people. So, strong and determined Usha sets off to return the sun to their world.

When she arrives at the wall she begins by attacking it, kicking and screaming. Anger at what has been taken and her inability to get it back is clear in how she addresses the problem initially. But then she remembers her grandfather and tries a different approach. She tells the wall stories, she sings to it. She relays to the wall everything her grandfather told her.

And on the other side, someone is listening.

<em>Usha and the Stolen Sun</em> is a wonderfully written and illustrated children's book about compassion and humanity. It's something that this upcoming generation of children desperately need in their lives as they grow surrounded by the harmful vitriol that has come out in recent years past. There is no question that this is an excellent children's book and one I would be proud to have on my shelf.

<em>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</em