"Since the beginning I have thought of the words of John Paul II. "It is necessary that the heroic becomes daily and that the daily becomes heroic," (An Italian physician was quoted by New York Magazine in April.)
COVID 19 made us close our windows, close our doors, shrink our lives to staying inside, cut us off from family, friends and neighbors no matter where we lived - city, suburbs, countryside. Brian Floca has gathered all of that change and disconnection and loneliness and has sketched out for us the courage, the heroism, the unsung people who everyday have risked and given so we still had and have connections and we still had and have all the bits and pieces of lives that make us feel part of a great big whole... a place where we belong.
This is an outstanding picture to share with our children and our students. This is our Social Studies class come to life. Here are the workers, the taxi drivers, the docs, the nurses, the bus drivers, the delivery folks, well...the list goes on and one. It is a long list and that's what makes this book so special. It's a challenge to get our heads around how many people are out there making a difference.
Here is a huge thank you and a bountiful mapping of so many helpers - and it is so so important that we show our children all of these helper heroes right now because this is goodness - goodness in so many hearts and so many minds. These are people who had jobs that put them in harms way. These are people who chose to show up every day even though just one taxi ride, one truck road trip or just one grocery check out could have given them the COVID 19.
Talk about tough. Talk about grit. Talk about giving. Talk about what we want our world to look like. Kindness. Courage. Compassion. Perseverance. a thing or two. This is what matters - these are the values that keep us moving forward. You want to talk about image? These are the people who kept us going and that is the image we can celebrate through this remarkable seeing, knowing, grateful story.
40 pages 978-1534493773 Ages 4-9
Keywords: city living, country living, urban fiction, pandemic, Social Studies Curriculum, community helpers, compassion, perseverance, gratitude, thankfulness, loneliness, connection, hope, grit, courage, 4 year old, 5 year old, 6 year old, 7 year old, 8 year old, 9 year old
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
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Caldecott Award winner Brian Floca gives a heartfelt thank you to the essential workers who keep their cities going during COVID-19 quarantine in this tenderly illustrated picture book.
We are here at home now, watching the world through our windows. Outside we see the city we know, but not as we’ve seen it before. The once hustling and bustling streets are empty. Well, almost empty. Around the city there are still people, some, out and about. These are the people keeping us safe. Keeping us healthy. Keeping our mail and our food delivered. Keeping our grocery stores stocked. Keeping the whole city going. Brian Floca speaks for us all in this stirring homage to all the essential workers who keep the essentials operating so the rest of us can do our part by sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.---from the publisher
