About the Holiday

World Kindness Day began with a conference in 1997 in which organizations from across the globe met in Japan for the purpose of uplifting and recognizing kindness on a global scale. From this meeting they created a “Declaration of Kindness” and, later, a nonprofit called the World Kindness Movement was formed to support and honor community-scale kindness initiatives. Kindness on any scale, on any day, is important to celebrate. To recognize today’s holiday, we follow a story that shows how just a touch of kindness from another person and a will to persist can help one child reach for the stars and, just maybe, end up touching the clouds. 

Thank you to Carolrhoda Books, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group, for sharing a copy of Touch the Sky with me for review consideration. All opinions on the book are my own.

Review by Dorothy Levine

Touch the Sky

Written by Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic | Illustrated by Chris Park

When Vern visits the playground, he yearns to be able to swing like the other children do, “to be one of the kids who swooped until their toes touched the sky.” The only problem is Vern does not (yet) know how to pump. And as much as he tries, yanking his body this way and that, ordering his legs with a scream, nothing seems to work. While Vern tries, other children on nearby swings laugh and swoop by him. 

Image copyright Chris Park, 2024, text copyright Staphanie V.W. Lucianovic. Courtesy of Carolrhoda Books.

Vern is just about ready to give up, when Gretchen comes along. Even though Gretchen and Vern have never played together, Gretchen confidently snags the swing next to Vern and asks, “Do you want to learn how?”

Through many attempts of running, pushing, swooping and trying again, Gretchen coaches and encourages Vern. When her verbal instructions land Vern in the wood chips a few too many times, she switches strategies, standing next to his swing and doing the motions with her own body upright.

Image copyright Chris Park, 2024, text copyright Staphanie V.W. Lucianovic. Courtesy of Carolrhoda Books.

Just as Vern starts to make progress, Gretchen must leave. Vern is left with a tough choice: to keep trying on his own or give up. When he decides to continue, the motions Gretchen taught tiptoe down the page along with Vern “Run / Hop / Lean / Stretch / Sweep / Pull / Tuck / Swing” until finally, wonderfully “He [takes] flight with the birds.”

The story then ends with this reminder of the cyclical nature of kindness: After a moment of basking in the meditative motion of pumping, Vern notices another kid in Gretchen’s swing watching him enviously. He repeats what Gretchen said when he felt stuck: “‘It feels hard until you get it, and then it’s not…Do you want to learn how?’”

Image copyright Chris Park, 2024, text copyright Staphanie V.W. Lucianovic. Courtesy of Carolrhoda Books.

Touch the Sky brings to light a hurdle (learning to swing) that is common for many young folks but not often discussed in day-to-day life or in a picture book. While some new skills come with lessons (swimming, learning to ride a bike, reading) learning to swing is a challenge that children are often left to master on their own. Lucianovic creatively and accurately captures the process of learning to pump; her verbal instructions are catchy, succinct, and clear to follow. The composition of the words on the page mirrors the learning to pump process—sometimes twisting around like chains of a swing and other times flying colorfully across whole spreads. The story is centered in realistic dialogue, with age-appropriate humorous moments for readers (like when Gretchen’s mother admonishes her for petting a cat with cheese). The story is both literal and lyrical. Sweeping imagery of swinging for the first time adds a thrilling aspect to the tale.

Park’s illustrations add to the magical feeling of first coasting through a new skill. The illustrations are largely in crayon which gives the images a textured, child-like feel, adding a sense of wonder to the scenes. The pages of instructions include zoomed-in panels for readers to watch each step separately. These panels begin jumbled but then sort out into organized squares as Gretchen’s steps to pumping become clearer to Vern. Park’s use of rainbows and tiny stars when Vern’s situation metaphorically and literally begins to look up immerses readers in the journey he takes to “touch the sky.” 

A heartfelt tale of perseverance and kindness that can be appreciated by all who have struggled and received support from unlikely places, Touch the Sky invites readers to keep trying and to offer helping hands to others when they can. The book would be an excellent addition to home, public, and school libraries.

Ages 5 – 9

Carolrhoda Books, 2024 | ISBN 978-1728460451

About the Author

Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic writes books in the San Francisco Bay Area surrounded by a few kids, a few cats, and one husband. Her work includes The End of Something Wonderful, Hello Star, and The League of Picky Eaters. Visit her at stephanielucianovic.com.

About the Illustrator

Chris Park has been a professional illustrator for over twelve years. Some of his previous clients include TBS, Team Coco, Rolling Stone, American Greetings Co., Cloudco Entertainment, Pro Publica, Sleeping Bear Press, Usborne Publishing and Lightspeed Magazine. He co-authored and illustrated his the picture books Little Sock and Little Sock Makes a Friend with his wife Kia. Chris lives in Minnesota with his wife and two sons. Visit him at chrispark.com.

World Kindness Day and World Kindness Week Activities

Courtesy of the School of Kindness.

Kindness Bingo

Invite your child or class to spend World Kindness Day, World Kindness Week, or any day playing Kindness Bingo from the School of Kindness at 52 Lives with this game that includes 30 bingo cards, each containing 16 acts of kindness. Visit the School of Kindness website to learn more about their teaching resources.

Also available for free download is the World Kindness Day Pack, which also includes activities that connect to Anti-bullying week, which this year coincides nicely with kindness week.

You can purchase Touch the Sky from these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop (to support your local independent bookstore)

Picture Book Review