A Multi-Media Experience

Picture Book: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Authors: William Kamkwamba

Illustrator: Elizabeth Zunon

Summary: This is a true story of 14 year old William, whose village in Malawi suffers a crippling drought. It begins with an explanation that William's village is a farming community with no electricity for lights or irrigation. 

But William loves the dark because he can dream of building things from scraps he collects. He does build many things.  

William works in the fields and attends school when his family can afford the fees. 

As the burning sun and lack of ran burns fields to dust,  

William's family has no fees for school.

One meal a day is all they can afford. Others in their village have even less.   

William is a determined learner so he goes to the village library and reads science books, but they are in English. Thanks to an English dictionary, William feeds his desire for learning. 

When he sees a book about how a windmill can produce electricity, creating light and pumping water, 

 

William imagines the good such a machine can bring his family and village. 

He is determined to build the "electric wheel" with the scraps he finds. Others think he's crazy, 

but his friends soon want to help. 

The windmill is built, 

and electricity is generated, but "Light could not fill empty bellies" so a water pump is built next. 

Later, other windmills are built, once the community sees the "magic" of William's inventions and their power to feed their community and their entire country. 

Hanna’s Comments: Picture books are great resources for all ages, but when you can supplement them with other media experience such as video, the learning will be even more meaningful. I was thrilled to learn that there is a new Netflix film based on this story. It stars Chiwetel Ejiofor from the movie 12 Years a Slave. I watched and was very pleased by how closely it corresponds to this book. It was beautifully done, but some death scenes and violence are present so be sure to preview with your audience in mind. Other versions of this story are available as well, one a chapter book for children, another is appropriate for teens and adults, and you'll find a book about William in a series for elementary-aged students called Remarkable Lives Revealed. This last book would likely have many photographs. For both the film and the picture book, you'll need to address the meaning behind the mystical costumed figures. These are ghost dancers, an aspect of William's culture that gives him inspiration and comfort. The power of this story is multi-faceted. Themes such as vocation (William has a scientific mind he seems called to use) and science vs magic vs faith are rich subjects for conversation with teens and young adults in your churches. You can also focus on the wind as a metaphor for God’s power, God’s inspiration, or The Holy Spirit which is inside William giving him agency to change his family’s (and community’s) quality of life. The movie ends with this line: God is as the wind which touches everything. I recently heard a news story about solar panels decreasing in cost and being used all over Africa. More modern versions of evolving tech or updates on William might be included in your program. Anytime you can challenge your audience, no matter their age, to connect their faith with current events, especially global issues, then you’ve added great meaning and potential for spiritual growth.

Original Publisher & Date: Scholastic, 2012

Age & Grade Appropriateness: 6 and up, 1^st and up

Formats other than Book: None at present but the other books are available in other formats.

Scripture Connections: Scriptures about wind such as the story of Pentecost in Acts 2, scriptures of prophets leading their communities such as those of Elijah, and Bible stories about young leaders such as in the story of David & Goliath

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book to a group of teens and explore the themes above. Beforehand, invite the teens to watch the Netflix movie or watch it together. 

A Picture Book a Day for a Year: Day 276

Picture Book: Goin’ Someplace Special

Author: Patricia McKissack

Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney

Summary: In a southern American town in the 1950’s, Tricia Ann is being allowed to go to “Someplace Special” alone for the first time. She called it this because it was her favorite place in the world. “Be particular and remember everything I told you,” her grandmother says. Then she adds, “And no matter what, hold yo’ head up and act like you b’long to somebody.” On the bus she sits in the back in the “colored section.” She goes to Peace Fountain and dances around. She tumbles onto a nearby bench, but then she notices it is marked, “For Whites Only.” Outside a fancy hotel, she gets swept inside by a crowd greeting a star. As she gets her first glimpse of the grand lobby, she is shooed away by someone saying, “No colored people are allowed!” This is all so upsetting that she runs to the ruins at the Mission Church to cry, missing her grandmother and thinking of turning back. Instead she meets Blooming Mary, who takes care of the gardens and encourages Tricia Ann to think of what her grandmother would want her to do. She knows her grandmother would want her to go on to “Someplace Special.” She has one last difficult encounter with a white girl her age before arriving at “Someplace Special,” a place her grandmother calls “a doorway to freedom.” As she enters, she sees chiseled in stone at the top of the building, “PUBLIC LIBRARY: ALL ARE WELCOME.”  

Hanna’s Comments: The Author’s Note in the back explains that this is a fictionalized version of events in her childhood in Nashville, Tennessee. Here she personalizes the racism that she faced, and explains that her parents had fortified her with enough love, respect, and pride that she was able to face these situations. She explains that the treacherous journey to the library was worth the effort for there she felt welcome and able to read and check out many books, learning that “reading is the doorway to freedom.”

Publisher & Date of Publication: Atheneum Books, 2001

Age & Grade Appropriateness: 4 and up, Pre and up

# of Pages: 40

Available in Spanish? Not at present

Formats other than Book: Tablet

PBT Category: Non-fiction, Post 2K

PBT Topics this Book Connects with: acceptance, action, adaptation/assimilation, 

America, anger, armor, belonging, bravery/courage, bullying/martyrs/persecution/oppression, challenges, civil rights, confidence, conformity, difficulties, disabilities/handicaps/limitations, emotions/feelings, encouragement, equality/inequality, evil, exclusion/inclusion, fear, freedom, golden rule, grandparents, gratitude/thanksgiving, injustice, insecurity, integration, intolerance, journeys/migrations/pilgrimages/quests, justice, language/literacy/reading, the law/rules/10 commandments, North America, obstacles, perseverance, prejudice, pride, race relations/racism, risking, satisfaction, segregation, self-control, self-discovery, sin, victims

Scripture Connections: You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32); For you were called to freedom (Galatians 5:13)

Idea(s) for Application:  Use this book when teaching children in your faith community a lesson on the importance of freedom and its relationship to knowledge. Also, this is a journey story with obstacles, suffering, and doubts. In spite of these, Tricia Ann perseveres. There are many journey stories in the Holy Scriptures that could be connected to this story.

A Picture Book a Day for a Year: Day 216

Terrific Trio: Book 3

Picture Book: Thank You, Mr. Falker

Author & Illustrator: Patricia Polacco

Summary: Little Tricia loved books and couldn’t wait to learn to read. It didn’t happen in kindergarten though she did get to show off her drawing skills. In first grade Tricia couldn’t get beyond the first basic reader so she began to feel dumb. After her beloved grandparents died, school seemed even harder. Reading numbers was hard too. By third grade she was getting teased and called dumb, and by 5^th grade she hated school. A classmate, Eric, began to bully her. During recess, Tricia would hide under the stairwell. Her new 5^th grade teacher, Mr. Falker, explained that she didn’t see numbers and letters the way others do, but he was determined to teach her to read. After school everyday, she met again with Mr. Falker and a reading specialist who had her doing reading and writing exercises. After many months, she was able to read sentences. Thirty years later, an adult Patricia Polacca met Mr. Falker again and introduced herself. He asked what she did for a living. She was pleased to tell him with much gratitude that she makes books for children.

Hanna’s Comments: This story begins and ends with a family ritual involving pouring honey on a book and declaring that “knowledge is as sweet as honey, but it has to be chased through the pages of a book.” This autobiographical picture book, PBT’s 3^rd in a Terrific Trio, again tells the story of one of Polacca’s teacher heroes. This one may have made the most influential difference in her life by protecting her from bullies and teaching her to read. Polacca seems to have had dyslexia or some other type of learning disability. This is a surprisingly common problem among school children that deserves supportive conversation in religious communities where too often differences are viewed as shameful or simply ignored. 

Publisher & Date of Publication: Philomel, 1998

Age & Grade Appropriateness: 5 and up, K and up

# of Pages: 40

Available in Spanish? Yes

Formats other than Book: Audio download, Audio cassette

PBT Category: Pre 2K

PBT Topics this Book Connects with: abilities, ancestors/patriarchs/matriarchs, art, brokenness, bullying/martyrs/persecution/oppression, caring/tending, challenges, community, differences, difficulties, disabilities/handicaps/limitations, education/learning/school, encouragement, gentleness/meekness, goodness, grandparents, gratitude/thanksgiving, helping, heroes, hiding/isolation, individuality/uniqueness, kindness, language/literacy/reading, loneliness, memories/remembering/ritual/tradition, mentors/teachers, obstacles, transformation

Scripture Connections: Train children in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6); we who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak (Romans 15:1-2)

Idea(s) for Application: Use this book to inspire adults in your faith community to make it a priority to encourage and positively influence the children in your family of faith. 

A Picture Book a Day for a Year: Day 3

Picture Book: Lola Loves Stories

Author: Anna McQuinn

Illustrator: Rosalind Beardshaw

Summary: Lola’s father regularly takes her to the library for books. Each time a book is read, Lola transforms into the main character of the book.

Hanna’s Comments: This is a simple but powerful tale illustrating the delights of reading stories and how what we read may influence us.

Publisher & Date of Publication: Scholastic, 2010

Age and Grade Appropriateness: 2 and up, nursery and up

# of Pages: 28

Available in Spanish? yes

Formats other than book: None at present

PBT Category: Post 2K

PBT Topics this Book connects with: bible/scriptures/books, creativity/imagination/ingenuity, language/literacy/reading, parables/stories, play, transformation

Scripture connections: any verse about the influence of scripture such as: all scripture is profitable for teaching (2 Timothy 3:16) & be doers of the word not merely hearers (James 1:23)

Idea(s) for Application: a parenting class about raising children in your faith emphasizing the importance of reading scripture & the influences of scripture