My Shadow

by Robert Louis Stevenson, Sara Sanchez (Illustrator)

Overview

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me . . .

Inside, outside, climbing up the stairs, or jumping into bed, your shadow may be following you! He may even be one step ahead as you run down the street! Complete with a cast of the whole family, a cat, a dog, and a teddy, this story is for everyone. Little ones who are just discovering their shadows for the first time will find inspiration between these pages, while older, more experienced kids are sure to learn new ways to play with their shadows. Get ready to laugh and giggle and then find the nearest light source and try out some shadows of your own!

Sara Sanchez has created soft and inviting illustrations to creatively interpret Robert Louis Stevenson’s original lines from the poem “My Shadow,” which was originally published in his classic for children, A Child’s Garden of Verses. Sanchez’s pictures are filled with humor and help propel this timeless poem into the twenty-first century. My Shadow is sure to become a bedtime favorite for the whole family.

Sky Pony Press, with our Good Books, Racehorse and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of books for young readers—picture books for small children, chapter books, books for middle grade readers, and novels for young adults. Our list includes bestsellers for children who love to play Minecraft; stories told with LEGO bricks; books that teach lessons about tolerance, patience, and the environment, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781634501781
Publisher:	Sky Pony
Publication date:	03/15/2016
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	663,084
Product dimensions:	10.30(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, musician and travel writer. His most famous works are Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and A Child's Garden of Verses. Stevenson was a literary celebrity during his lifetime, and now ranks as the 26th most translated author in the world

Date of Birth:

November 13, 1850

Date of Death:

December 3, 1894

Place of Birth:

Edinburgh, Scotland

Place of Death:

Vailima, Samoa

Education:

Edinburgh University, 1875

Editorial Reviews

“The soft palette of the illustrations allows the 19th-century poetic language to carry over naturally and without anachronisms. VERDICT This accessible and appealing take on a childhood favorite should be appreciated by a broad audience in schools and public libraries.” –School Library Journal

“The soft palette of the illustrations allows the 19th-century poetic language to carry over naturally and without anachronisms. VERDICT This accessible and appealing take on a childhood favorite should be appreciated by a broad audience in schools and public libraries.” –School Library Journal

From the Publisher

05/01/2016
K-Gr 2—Stevenson's classic verse is brought to life when a blond, round-faced boy with squiggly red spirals on his cheeks cheerfully extols the virtues of his shadow. Sanchez focuses on the active parts of the poem, first with the opening pages of the boy and his shadow in various poses (easy for young storytime participants to emulate), then with scenes catching the boy in mid-motion: through a door with one foot past the entryway, jumping into bed, ascending steps, etc. Action words are also cleverly bolded, as when the letters of the word taller are underlined by the spread of a shadow over a green field as the boy "shoots up taller like a bouncy rubber ball." The soft palette of the illustrations allows the 19th-century poetic language to carry over naturally and without anachronisms. VERDICT This accessible and appealing take on a childhood favorite should be appreciated by a broad audience in schools and public libraries.—Joanna K. Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

Rand leads the reader through a joyful parade of children from all over the world in his rendition of the poem about a child playing with his shadow. A Chinese youngster plays kickball in front of a stone lion, a boy balances on the edge of a fountain in Italy, an African tyke stares at a puddle of shadow beneath his feet. Unfortunately, the Stevenson text, with its single narrator, is not well synchronized with the subjects of Rand's illustrations, who vary from page to page. For example, a girl in a garden is pictured saying, "One morning . . . I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup.'' The sentence is completed by a group of children playing on an island beach who say, "But my lazy little shadow . . . stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.'' Although Rand's often idyllic locales are gorgeously depicted, his settings may not always be clear to readers, adding further confusion to the artistic device. Ages 4-8. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly