In this lyrical picture book about the importance of caring for our Earth, a child and her father wish for a brighter, greener future for the parched land around their home.
When a girl finds a horned toad among the rain-starved squash, tomatoes, and poblanos on her family's Texas farm, her Pa tells her that, if she kisses it on the head -- blech! -- she gets to make one wish. What will she wish for?
Generations ago, when the girl's ancestors lived on this land, it was lush and green -- full of life. Now, because of a decades-long drought, their soil is parched and their crops are dying.
The girl sees the worry lines on Pa's face getting deeper. She knows she has to do something to help. And so, thinking about the people who lived on this land before her, and all those who will live on it after her, she wishes for rain.
This poignant father-daughter story reminds us that, when it comes to healing our Earth, change often starts with a simple wish. With a dream for a world that could be.---from the publisher
40 pages 978-0593710302 Ages 10 and up
Keywords: drought, natural resources, environmental stewardship, farming, rain, family life, multigenerational, wishes, nature, Earth Day, 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old, 13 year old, Social Studies Curriculum, Science Curriculum
Editor's note: This beautiful story is a call to action for all of us. Our older listeners and readers are best able to hear this story and think of choices they will make in the future. I do not believe this story is for our youngest listeners who are not yet ready to carry this responsibility and burden. For this reason I have chosen to recommend that this book be read aloud to older listeners and handed to older readers for them to consider.
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The Southwestern U.S. is experiencing a megadrought. Rain is just not coming to this area as it once did. This story invites us to stand in the farm fields of this land and live for a few moments in the lives of families who are trying to survive on the farms that generations before them have cultivated. But this story is so much more.
Wake up and listen. The sounds of the coffee bubbling and then a rustle and a squeak. Not far from the front door bunnies are nibbling on the family garden and horned toads are waiting for the next delicious insect to get within range. This family lives both in the house and outside on the land. It all comes together into one important place for them and they know the toad and they know the clouds that just might come over the mountains to give them the rain their farm desperately needs as well as they know where their boots will be waiting for them in the morning.
There's a magic to this story. The illustrations are filled with light and hope just as the story is filled with the love of a family for each other and for the land. This is a powerful call to adults to wake up and become great stewards of our land and our natural resources.
A very special invitation to all of us to step back and look at the consequences of our choices and to care more about Mother Earth than about the almighty dollar.
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
