This book made me cry. Yes it is a simple story but the beautiful act of kindness you will find here is so very moving and a moment to share and treasure with your reading companion or class.
Anna goes to school in Tanzania. It is a long walk each day and she always arrives home after dark. One day, while she is working through her lunch break, a truck pulls up outside her school. It has come from 'The Bicycle Library'. Every child is given a bike. Every child except Anna. Stop reading. Now is a good moment to talk with your students. How should Anna react? Is this fair? What would you do if you were Anna? Can you understand why having access to a bicycle might be so important to Anna - perhaps even life changing?
Now turn the page:
"Anna is disappointed but she's excited to help her friends."
We now watch Anna helping her friend Leyla learn to balance, encouraging Samwel as he navigates obstacles, and taking the hand of Prisca when she falls. On the way home Anna runs beside Farida, Samwel, Leyla and Irene. Then Mohammad gives her a ride on the back of his bike. When they reach his house Anna climbs off ready to walk the last part of her journey home alone BUT ...
"When they get off the bike, Mohammed hands it to Anna. 'You have further to go."
Publisher blurb (Pajama Press): In a Tanzanian village school, Anna struggles to keep up. Her walk home takes so long that when she arrives, it is too dark to do her homework. Working through the lunch hour instead, she doesn’t see the truck from the bicycle library pull into the schoolyard. By the time she gets out there, the bikes are all gone. Anna hides her disappointment, happy to help her friends learn to balance and steer. She doesn’t know a compassionate friend will offer her a clever solution—and the chance to raise her own cloud of dust.
Brian Deines is a Canadian illustrator from Alberta. I was pleased to discover he lives in Red Deer which is a town near Sundre where I once worked. Alma Fullerton lives in Ontario.
Here are some websites to explore:
I would read In a cloud of Dust along side these titles:
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