Reading with children can improve their language, literacy, and social-emotional skills, increasing their knowledge of the world around them.

Usha and the Stolen Sun

By Bree Galbraith and Josée Bisaillon

We are Reading:  

Usha lives in a town where the sun hasn’t shone for as long as anyone can remember. Only her grandfather remembers its brilliance and tells Usha stories about the time before other people took the sun away, building a wall to keep it all to themselves. So Usha decides to do something and sets off in search of the sun.

When at last Usha reaches the wall, she tries to kick it down, climb it, yell her way through it―but the bricks don’t budge. It’s only after remembering her grandfather’s words and hearing voices on the other side of the wall that cunning Usha changes her plan to make sure her voice is heard. She shares her grandfather’s stories, even the ones that rightfully make her angry, and piques the curiosity of the people on the other side until they are inspired to remove the bricks, one by one to better hear what Usha has to say.

Because Usha didn’t give up, they bring the wall down.

Inspired by the idea of civil discourse, this book offers a timely message of communication and compassion.

Family Connections:

As children learn to read, they begin to make connections. These connections might be with elements of their own lives or with things they have learned about the world around them. In this way, they are thinking beyond the text, which helps them better understand the books they are reading. 

The inspiration for Usha came from a quote by Persian poet, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi. 

“Raise your words, not  your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”

In this story, it’s very important that Usha shares her voice in all of it’s capacity – Yelling, crying, whispering, singing.

Talk about how YOU can use YOUR voice to be heard and make a change.  

We are Listening to:

Usha and the Stolen Sun

We are making curriculum connections:

Civics for All: Roles of the Individual, Civic Participation & Justice

DEI Focus: The importance of understanding and appreciating diverse backgrounds.

SEL Theme: Collaboration and Empathy

Students of the Month: In recognition of students who: listen with care and treat peers with compassion.

Key Words:

Discuss and define these words prior to reading the book. Do not focus on retention of all the words; instead make sure they understand the words enough to follow the story and remind children of their meanings as they come up in the book.

Block: To stop something from moving or getting through.

Enormous: Very, very big.

Ram: To push or hit something very hard with force.

Bright: Full of light or shining strongly.

One Book, One School Community…

“The idea is that… (a community) that opens the same book does it in greater harmony.” -Mary McGrory, 2002