Written by Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic
Illustrated by Christ Park
Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books, 2024. Picture Book.
Vern loves to play on the swings at the playground and more than anything he wants to soar like the other kids around him, but Vern can only sit and spin around in circles on the swing. Then one day a girl named Gretchen offers to teach him how to pump, so he can swing as high as the birds. Vern carefully follows her instructions and keeps trying until he experiences success and he is able to touch the sky!
As a child I loved to swing and I remember the feeling of swinging so high I felt like I could reach out and touch the sky. The illustrations and the text work really went well together and make the story come alive for the reader. The chalk and crayon feel of the artwork brought a childlike quality to the book and I loved the expressions on the faces of the characters. This book has an important message to never give up on something you want to do because there is nothing like the feeling of success when you learn something new.
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