Under the Same Sky

Some of the concepts in this book may be difficult for the pre-school child: we live under the same sky, we feel the same love, and we dream the same dreams.  Others are much more concrete:  we play the same games, we sing the same songs, and we face the same storms.  The illustrations, of course, help and as usual in books for this readership, the pictures tell more of the story.     

The pictures are a little abstract yet we can easily recognise cats, lions, penguins and many other creatures looking up at the same sky.  The pictures have a charm that will appeal to the caring adult who reads the book to the child. They are concrete enough to hold the child’s attention.  

There are cut-outs on every other page which frame previous pictures and sometimes the words in another way.  

There are in fact very few words. There is every possibility that the child will “read” the text over and over and eventually know it by heart. The “message” may become clearer as the child grows –up.

In many ways this book is conventional: wide portrait, twelve double spreads, serif font, difficult ‘a’s and ‘g’s.  

This was short-listed for the 2018 Kate Greenway medal.