Karen Lynn WilliamsRecensioni

Many people change their names when they move to the United States so Americans will have an easier time with pronunciation. This is a story about not changing your name. It's about holding on to your identity and reaching out to your new community at the same time. What a wonderful lesson for all kids in the age of globalization.

Note: If you're going to share this, make sure to read through it once first so you're pronouncing Sangoel correctly throughout.

This book is good to teach children about the fear that people in our world have to deal with with being undocumented in America. Its an everyday stress on families.

13 copies

I really enjoyed reading this story. The author does a good job of showing how difficult it can be for refugees to adapt to a new place, and how homesick they can be.½

Family read-aloud party for the holiday weekend: Juneteenth, Father's Day, a birthday, and the solstice. (2 of 5)

Two little girls from Afghanistan living in a refugee camp in Pakistan bond over a pair of shared shoes in this sad but moving little tale. It's sort of happy ending from 2007 is undercut when one remembers how many desperate Afghan people were left behind when the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.

Immigrant and refugee experience for younger kids, in a well done picture book format. Also, soccer.

Liked this story about friendship in a difficult place very much -- long for a read-aloud, but a gret connector to the immigrant experience.

Spirit of the Cheetah is the story of Roblay, a Somali boy who strives to “prove I am a man” by placing in a big race. Roblay is always running everywhere to the bemusement of his family and friends, but despite this he is unsuccessful in his first attempt. His grandfather, Awoowo, tells him he must put his thumbprint on the coat of a cheetah in order to succeed. Roblay spends many days observing a cheetah by the river Shebelle. By observing, Roblay learns traits that will help him in his quest.
The basics of the plot - a young athlete who must learn about himself in order to achieve his goals - is a familiar one, especially for children’s literature, and the story plays out in a familiar way. Nevertheless there are a few distinct beats in the story that are a little unexpected and make the story interesting. The overall goal of the plot - Roblay must finish in the top three of the race - is also interesting in that winning outright isn’t the goal. In fact, no one seems too concerned about whether he will win or not. This is somewhat refreshing, since it isn’t focused on strict competition, and instead Roblay works on self-improvement.
On the other hand, the lessons Roblay learns from the cheetah are pretty general and it is not obvious how they specifically pertain to running or the race. Roblay observes the cheetah, trying to figure out how to put his thumbprint on the animal’s coat as his grandfather instructed him. As he watches, he learns about the traits of the cheetah and how they will help him, but this part would have been helped by more illustrative action. Roblay watches the cheetah, and we are told what he learns, but actually seeing some more of the action might have been more effective in imparting the story. The big race itself is barely described, so it’s not obvious how Roblay’s lessons help him improve over the previous year. Even in the slower sections, however, the illustrations are compelling and the background details allow the reader to be absorbed. Sometimes the background is more interesting than the main action.
Spirit of the Cheetah is not an essential book, but it provides an interesting and slightly different spin on familiar children’s book dynamics. While the main focus of the book is the race, that story falls a little flat, and instead it is the cultural touches that give Spirit of the Cheetah its most interesting aspects.½

A refugee from Sudan, eight-year-old Sangoel is frustrated that no one in America can pronounce his name, but he nds a clever way to solve the problem.

Primary-Int. This book follows the story of a young Sudanese boy named Sangoel as he immigrates to America because of the war in Sudan. He worries that he has lost his name in America so he comes up with a fun idea to share the pronunciation of Sangoel. This could be a fun lesson on names or conversation opener about the immigrant experience in America.

This book is recommended for intermediate grades. The book encompasses a young boy who is a refugee from Sudan. He moves to America and experiences feelings of homesickness and loneliness. When no one is able to pronounce his name correctly, he finds an inventive way to help others to remember how to pronounce his name. Through this, he starts to gain confidence and gains a sense of belonging. I think this is a great resource to have in class because it represents and empowers students who do not feel a sense of belonging due to their cultural differences.

Age: primary, intermediate
Genre: realistic fiction

This book was about a boy and his family that moved to America from Sudan as refugees. When arriving in America everyone pronounced his name wrong and it was very discouraging. He came up with the idea of drawing a sun and a soccer goal on his shirt in order to show people how to pronounce his name. In the author's note it gives more information on refugees. Great informational book embedded in the story.

Primary, Intermediate; Realistic Fiction; This is a sweet story about a young boy who moves to America with his mother and little sister. He shares a name with his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather and it is an important part of his identity he is scared of losing with the move. Once in America his teacher and classmates all mispronounce his name, making his consider choosing an American name. He is reminded that his name is part of what links him to his family and culture, and finds a creative way of teaching others his name by drawing a sun and soccer goal on his shirt (sun-goal). His classmates begin doing the same thing on paper, making Sangoel feel confident in his identity in his new home.

A galimoto is a handmade push toy from Malawi. a young boy is determined to gather enough wire and design his own galimoto. This could be combined with a craft activity, using pipe cleaners.

The small white child in this picture book feels alien when his family returns to America. He can't wait to go back to the warm African village where he ran free with his friends under a wide sky. . . . The joyful text and Cooper's boldly drawn, glowing oil-wash pictures evoke the intensely physical experience of a small child .

This book was beautiful. The meaning behind it touched the heart. I loved how the friendship came out of nowhere and was one of the the most genuine and selfless friendships I've ever read about in a book. I enjoyed the build up of the friendship throughout the book, the author did very well in expressing the connection between the two characters through the sandal. Most people looking at the front of the book would never expect the true meaning behind the book. I would read this again and recommend to others especially when people are becoming a bit ungrateful. Lastly, the author does amazing job at helping the audience understand the type of place that the two girls were in and the hardships they face. But at the end having a complete selflessness.

This book, Four Feet, Two Sandals, is a good book. First, the plot explores an idea you haven't usually seen in picture books, a refugee camp in Pakistan. It is a very lighthearted book showing two girls sharing a pair of sandals that will make you want the story to go on. Another thing that makes the book good is that it pushes the reader to think about those issues in the middle east of children having to share a pair of sandals while they seek help from fleeing Afghanistan. The big idea in this book is that there is always hope in bad situations and that sharing can make a bad situation better.

A moving picture book beautifully illustrated with much detail to facial expression, landscape and cultural norms. Two girls in a refugee camp share a pair of sandals and bond over their shared trauma of losing family to war and becoming refugees. As in a few of our other class reads, we get a glimpse of the denial of education to girls and the luck of getting chosen for a new life in a free country. A culturally important selection to illustrate current events and the universality of friendship and compassion. A wonderful selection for comprehension work.

I really enjoyed this book because of its perspective and overall message. The book reads from the young boy Sangoel’s perspective of coming to the United States and how people cannot pronounce his name. The perspective of a young refugee boy whose father died in the war is not a common one to read about. For example, in the book, as Sangoel, his mother and sister are fleeing to the United States he refers to the plane as “the sky boat”.
The main message of this book is how important names are to culture. I have recently learned how important it is, as a culturally responsive future educator, to know and pronounce students names; both first and last correctly. Names are so rich in culture and history; much like Sangoel, who bared the same name as his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, that it is extremely important to put the effort in to say names correctly. This book also shows how young students are able to come together as a community and get to know each other. Sangoel was very creative and wrote his name in pictures so his classmates were able to pronounce his name correctly. The final page in the book Sangoel says “My name is Sangoel, even in America”. He displayed pride in his culture and name.

Great story about an 8yo Haitian girl who is embarking on new responsibilities with her mama: carrying oranges to market, being in charge of selling the oranges, and getting money for a treat and having to decide how to spend it. Lovely sweet story, with lots of possibilities for discussion -- money, class, public transit, different ways of making money. They didn't have enough money for a ride at first so they had to walk; then they earned enough money to pay for a ride on the way home. Sasifi got her first new hat, so an opportunity to discuss with first world or middle-class kids who have had lots of hats why the difference between them and Sasifi? Beautiful illustrations with lots of people, so a lot for kids to observe. And, a little puzzle: What is a tap-tap? Then, why is a truck called a tap-tap? I really liked this one. [return][return]The one thing to pay attention to is that all the characters are gendered and described by their gender -- women selling A, men selling B. Women doing C, men doing D. So, it can be useful if used to discuss how in some cultures things can be divided by gender. But if left unmentioned, it could serve to reify gender difference.½

I really liked this book because it encouraged readers to think about the tough issues in todays world and how it broadens their perspectives on real life situations. This book is about a friendship among refugees who are waiting to feel free and find their place of home. Lina and Feroza do not let a pair shoes come in the way of friendship that created. I think overall they needed each other to lean on in order to feel supported during a time of hardship. Again, this book has readers thinking about the lives of people as this still occurs today.

In my opinion, this is a simple book with a lot of meaning behind it. First, I like how the author picks on an issue-- wrong pronunciation of names-- that many people neglects upon. Since some names are hard to pronounciate, a nickname or “an American name” is often assigned to immigrants. For some people this act is fine but for others, it is not. In this case, it is not for Sangoel because his name has significant meanings behind it. Second, I like the language used in the book. The language set the mood of the story to be innocent and demonstrate the respect the characters have prior to coming to America. Instead of saying the elders or older people, Sangoel called them, “the wise ones”. This show the respect Sangoel learned and practice from his culture. Finally, I like the believable characters the author have developed. Since the Sangoel’s family have never associated with the technologies they see in America, Mrs.Johnson have to teach them how to simply use the stove. This act really summarizes the innocent immigrants have when they come to America.

This was not one of my favorite books by Karen Williams for one main reason. Most of her books talk about challenges that children in developing countries face, with underlying plots about just being a kid. While A Beach Tail was a nice story, it didn't have nearly as much of an impact as her other stories had on me. However, I think getting lost and being scared is something that is relatable to most young children. Still a good read for read-aloud or a bedtime story. The main idea of this story is that being playful and clever can sometimes help you in the long run. Another message that I got from this book is to make choices that keep you safe, an example being how Gregory gets lost on the beach and loses sight of his dad. This was a very nice and wholesome book.

I really enjoyed this book. The wording of the descriptions is so vivid. It creates mental imagery, while also being supported by the unique style of illustrations. I love the details about the sky and the moon at the beginning of Ramadan. The author really used language to set the scene. I would definitely recommend this book. It shares a wonderful message of sharing and kindness. The message of the book: even with what little some people have, they can bring joy to others through sharing.

Circles of Hope Everyone brought a gift for baby Lucfa. Facile sat high up in his mango tree and watched. It was the only tree on the whole dusty mountaintop. Papa had planted it for him when he was born. "A strong tree protects its timoun," Papa said.Young Facile wants to plant a tree in honor of his new baby sister, but he faces many obstacles. The first seed he plants is eaten by a goat, the second seed is washed away in a storm, and another seed is burnt by a scrub fire. (amazon)