Customer Reviews

Sky Sash So Blue

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this book for my son and I when he was about 5. It was one of the most breathtaking and warming, yet sad stories I have ever read in a children's book. The illustration is also beautiful. About 3 years ago, I gave it away as a wedding present and recently bought two more copies as a gift to 2 little girls, and for our library.

The illustrations are the star of this book. Andrews' work can be found in the Metropolitan, MOMA, and the Hirschorn, among other museums, so it's easy to see how the art can upstage anything else. Half painting, half collage, the artwork is impressive and beautiful. The figures are stiff as dolls in psychedelic landscapes.

The text, however, tells a bittersweet story of a mother and two daughters, slaves in an inhospitable environment. Sissy, the older daughter, is getting married and would like to have an `all-over' wedding dress, that is, a dress made of one piece of cloth. Her dream is unlikely to come true, because slaves don't have access to such materials. Her best hope is for her mother to stitch together bits and pieces of rags to make a dress.

The story is told from the little sister's perspective in long, rhyming passages. Though the story is dramatic and there is plenty to work with, it left me a bit cold. I felt the text was too long and it strained under the burden of having to rhyme.

My 2 1/2 year old daughter picked this book, almost randomly, from the library shelf. I think she was attracted to the beautiful picture on the front cover. I tried to talk her out of it because the book is obviously advanced for her, but we took it home anyway. She asked for the book several times and listened to the entire story both times (high praise from a toddler). The words were beautifully written. The rhythm is slow and soothing.

I still think the book is a little mature for a toddler, but I intend to buy it and read it to her again when she's older. I love that the story of slavery is told from a child's view. I don't expect my daughter to ever understand what it would be like to be born into slavery, but this book makes this very important subject more attainable to a small child.

A also like that this is a universal story about a mother's unlimited love for her children.

This is a very touching story... I agree with the previous reviewer, we just got it out of the library for the cover and didn't expect it to be about slavery. But I'm glad I got it. Even though I'm not sharing it with my daughter now, this will definitely be a book for when she gets older. Sissy's husband-to-be, a free man, walks from far away to their wedding but Sissy's owner refuses to give them a preacher or to do anything to validate the couple. Undeterred, Ma'am (her mother) gathers every scrap of white fabric she can find and stitches together an all-over dress of white and conducts the ceremony herself. "She decides she'll be the one/To pray them, sing and bless/For she's miracl'd something already/and out of next-to-nothing/Stitched a wedding dress." They have to take the dress back apart after the ceremony and return all the cloth: "In the kitchen, jelly net spilled through fingers/ I'm the wedding dress, I'm the wedding dress." When John Bee comes back with enough money to buy Sissy's freedom, her mother and sister have to stay but they know that he will return when he has saved up enough money and one day they all can be together.

This is a wonderful story, celebrating the strength of family, determination in the face of adversity, and finding joy where you can. I think it should be a part of every elementary school library and read often, not just in February.