1 April Morning: Children Remember the Oklahoma City Bombing [Library Binding]

Nancy Lamb (Author), Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1996

The thoughts and emotions of fifty Oklahoma City children-- with the collaboration of therapists and teachers--emerge as the children discuss their feelings about the initial attack and the process of healing they have experienced since that dreadful morning.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fifty Oklahoma City children, ranging in age from three to 14, offer their memories of and feelings about the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, whose 169 fatalities included 19 children and the parents of 100 others. Though Lamb (The Great Mosquito, Bull & Coffin Caper) did not interview any young people whose immediate family members were injured or killed in the blast, deeming them "still too fragile" to participate in the project, those quoted here were obviously profoundly touched by the tragedy and its chilling repercussions. "'The first night it rained, it seemed like God was crying, too,' said Emili." Without diminishing the horror of the disaster, Lamb introduces each section of quotes by describing a specific incident or event related to the bombing, conveying images deftly shaped for her young audience: "When the smoke cleared, the north side of the building looked like a giant had stomped his foot on it in a fit of rage, squashing steel, concrete, and marble into a pile of sorrow-filled rubble." Cooper's softly focused renderings of children, many in the embrace of a consoling adult, effectively serve as all-purpose, emotion-laden backdrops to the disquieting but ultimately life-affirming text. By so openly sharing their confusion, anguish, sadness and hope, the young contributors may well inspire their peers to communicate lingering, unspoken feelings about the tragedy. Ages 6-up. (Apr.) FYI: Proceeds from this book will help to fund The Care Center in Oklahoma City.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5 Up?Trauma, therapy, and healing are the intensely personal experiences that Lamb hopes to reach into with this book. She interviewed 50 Oklahoma City children, ages 3-15, to create a verbal collage of their thoughts and feelings following the April 1995 bombing, woven with her own sensitive narrative. No doubt the process was healing for the author and the children?but whether the book itself will heal remains to be seen. Compassion is clearly evident in the quotes and in Cooper's exquisitely warm, gentle, and hug-filled illustrations. Contrary to its visual appearance, this is not a book for young children, though the pictures and carefully chosen quotes could be shared with them. It is a valuable addition to libraries serving older children and adults who may well find it supportive to research on this historically significant event. This is a strong companion to Dear Oklahoma City, Get Well Soon (Walker, 1996), which combines letters from children outside Oklahoma City and comments from adults involved, and Clive Irving's In Their Name (Random, 1995), a far more detailed account of the event and the lives lost. One April Morning is, however, a labor of love, a thing of beauty, deeply evocative, and a beneficent memorial.?Jody McCoy, Casady School, Oklahoma City
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Library Binding: 1 pages
• Publisher: Lothrop Lee & Shepard (May 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688147240
• ISBN-13: 978-0688147242
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,421,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nancy Lamb is the author of 43 fiction and non-fiction books for adults and children. She is also the author of The Art and Craft of Storytelling and The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children. Lamb serves on the faculty of the Big Sur Writing Workshop and the Big Sur Children's Writing Workshop. She taught at the Hariette Austin Writing Program at the University of Georgia, and recently taught a master class in Singapore for the Media Development Authority. In addition to writing and teaching, she is also an editor and story strategist.

Nancy has joined the faculty of a new online learning site for writers, www.ScribblersUniversity.com, along with authors Ellen Hopkins, Andrew Smith, Arthur Slade and many others to help writers to become published, and stay published.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Both realistic and reassuring--a real contribution., February 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: One April Morning: Children Remember the Oklahoma City Bombing (Hardcover)

This book is a genuine treasure for those trying to explain to children the painful events that can occur into today's world. That's because children's experiences and voices are honored within a caring adult context and structure. I found the children's remarks had a cumulative, powerful, and even healing effect, which reflected accurately their concerns and showed them trying to make sense of a tragic and frightening event. In the end the reader is left with not only the very real anger and loss, but with the incredible spirit of everyone--both within Oklahoma and outside of Oklahoma--who reached out in compassion to help a fellow human being. Ms. Lamb, an Oklahoma native, was in Oklahoma City when the Federal Building was bombed. Perhaps that gives her book its ring of authenticity. We owe her thanks for taking on such a difficult subject and writing about it in a realistic, but reassuring way. This one's a keeper.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice insight, June 29, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: 1 April Morning: Children Remember the Oklahoma City Bombing (Library Binding)

I liked this book! The children's views are very telling. We always think of the children when we picture this horrible event, and those are the people we hear from in this book. Thank you, Nancy Lamb