The Sun is a Shine

by Leslie A Davidson, Slavka Kolesar (Illustrator)

Magical illustrations enhance evocative text in a delightful blend of cultural diversity, geography, science, rich language and gratitude. A gentle and poetic board book about weather systems across the world. Young readers will enjoy meeting children from around the globe and experiencing the phenomena of the sky as each child thanks Mother Earth for bringing the sun, wind, rain, snow, lightning and thunder to them. The sun is a shine, that wakens the day, sparkles the dew, makes everything new. Miigwetch, merci, golden Sun. Thank you, thank you, shining one.

Genres: Picture Books, Nature, Poetry

20 pages, Board Book

Published April 13, 2021

Reviews

[Tina Loves To Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute children's book about weather and earth that I read to my twin boys. I have to say I like this book, and I found it super cute. I think this can be a great book to talk to you kids about rain, snow, or lighting storms. I liked the pictures, but I did not love the pictures. I do not think this book drawn my kids into it 100%. I do read a lot of books to my kids, so they do not get drawn into books just because I am reading to them. They always loved to have books read to them, so they also listen to the books. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Orca Book Publishers) or author (Leslie A. Davidson) via NetGalley, so I can give honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A visually and poetically beautiful board book about being grateful for natural scenes around the world, with "thank you" in different languages included (notably, mostly non European, including a few Indigenous ones). The writing is a bit off kilter, in the fun and unique way, as it uses words in ways a bit traditionally ungrammatical. (Like in the title, for example). The illustrations are bright, cheerful, hopeful, calming. Highly recommended!

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book to teach little ones about nature, weather, and different cultures. I love the way the book has embraced gratitude for the earth and diversity. It's a quick story with beautiful illustrations, so it's a great book for different age groups and a good one to grow into.
Many thanks to Orca Book Publishers and NetGalley for the advance copy.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sun is a Shine uses simple rhyming lines to thank the earth. The texts says thank you in multiple languages (Ojibwe miigwetch, French merci, Arabic shukran, Oshiwambo tangi unene, Saami giitu, Spanish gracias, Bengali dhonnobad, Scottish Gaelic moran, and Mandarin Chinese xie xie). The authors also make the text inclusive by including diverse and intentionally gender-neutral illustrations.

The text follows the title "the ____ is a ___" to thank the sun, wind, rain, snow, lightening, thunder, mist, and moon. This format lends to some awkward lines like "the rain is a wet" and the "snow is a soft," but overall, it seems like a great way to introduce young readers (ages 0-3) to nature appreciation and works well as a board book.

I received an electronic ARC for this book from Net Galley to review.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute book about the weather, with phrases for thank you in Gaelic, Bengali, Spanish Mandarin, Ojibwe, French, Arabic, Oshiwambo and Saami. If you have never heard of some of these languages, well, here you are, you now know about them.

So, not only do you learn about the weather, but you learn about different ways to say thank you from people from the Indigenous community of North America Namibia, Scandinavia, and Bangladesh.

Bright pictures, and gentle story. I think kids will love learning their new words.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

A BB that teaches a young to say 'thank you' for all the gifts nature gives us. I think it is so important that children connect with nature; over the next 25 years we are going to see drastically negative global outcomes if we do not learn to appreciate what nature has given us. Hopefully the next generations will do a better job at this than we did.

[Emilee (emileereadsbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Orca Book Publishers for a free digital copy for my review.

A beautiful ode to nature and how it nurtures and excites. How we live within all the forces of nature and how it provides for us.

[Abby Johnson]

A sweet, poetic thank you note to the earth and many different natural phenomenon, this book also includes "thank you" in many different languages. This would be a good book to share around Earth Day or when talking about weather or the environment.

[Priscila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible storyline for kids to learn about nature, cultures, languages and being grateful for our beautiful planet. The illustrations are so gorgeous and the way of expressing the story with rhythm is great.

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Bella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rhyming book. Weather (eg misty, thunderous) unifies the verses. Each verse includes a non-English phrase translating to “thank you” in different languages to build global awareness.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joyful and engaging little book celebrates the sun, moon, and weather that all inhabitants on earth share. A variety of different parts of the world and languages are presented in this vibrant poem.