ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
PICTURE BOOKS
Kramer, Jackie Azúa

I Wish You Knew

32 pp. | Roaring Brook | May, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-1-250-22630-3 $17.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-250-83946-6 $10.99
(3) K-3 Illustrated by Magdalena Mora. After a young girl's father is deported, she wishes that her teacher "knew that when I...sit alone at lunch / or cry over little things, / it's because / I miss him." Mora's warm mixed-media illustrations emphasize the girl's sadness and feeling of isolation until the focus shifts to the teacher's perspective. Thinking of her class as a whole, she "wish[es] they knew / that...they / are not / alone." And soon, they do. Sitting in a "sharing circle," the students write down worries (one child is "hungry a lot," another misses her military mom) and, if they wish, read them aloud. The sophisticated narrative structure effectively conveys the message that community can help us bear hard things. In her author's note, Kramer (The Boy and the Gorilla, rev. 3/21) shares her connection to the story.
Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

RELATED 

PICTURE BOOKS

Born Ready
by Patterson, Jodie
PICTURE BOOKS

The House of Grass and Sky
by Ray, Mary Lyn
PICTURE BOOKS

The Dog's Gardener
by Storms, Patricia
PICTURE BOOKS

And I Paint It
by Kephart, Beth
PICTURE BOOKS

Poem in My Pocket
by Tougas, Chris
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?