Book Nook: I See the Sun in the USA

I recently had a chance to review I See the Sun in the USA, a simple, but powerful book that highlights several families from around the USA who have very different backgrounds. It's a great book to read to kids to encourage them to see the similarities in diversity and to appreciate the differences.

I had a chance to interview the authors to learn more.

• Why did you decide to write this book?

When we were giving talks about our books in schools, students often asked us why we didn't do a book about the U.S.A. With our government's new attitude and policies about immigration, we thought that it would be important to show how the U.S.A. was founded by people from many other countries and how that diversity of cultures and backgrounds contributes to the strength and vitality of our country. It is in contrast to some other countries where the population is more homogeneous.

Over the last few years, Dedie drove across the country twice and was so very impressed and inspired by the diversity of both the geography and the people. We spend so much time politically talking about what we see as wrong and needing change, that sometimes we forget to celebrate for our children what is good and unique.  A book on the USA began to seem a good idea to remind ourselves and our children of the original and basic principles of this country even though we often stray off course and have some dark periods of our history.  If we don’t have the ideals and aspirations of equality, liberty, and justice, then we can’t keep trying to move toward them.  

    As with all the books that we have done, the purpose is to give just a sense of the uniqueness of a particular country.  In a simple children’s book, it is of course necessary to choose only one aspect.  For the USA book, we chose immigration since all of us who live here, other than the Native Americans, have immigrant roots.  The exception is slavery, which was forced immigration.  This is only subtly alluded to in the family tree of the Somerville dad originating in Congo, where many slaves were originally captured and brought to the US.

• How did you choose the families featured in this book?

The families in the I See the Sun in the USA book are mostly based on Dedie’s extended family.  The Somerville family is based on cousins, the Alabama family is based on her niece and her family and the CA family is based on her son’s family and friends.  The Lakota family is based on a family with whom she spent time at the rodeo on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota.  The only purely fictional family is the Iowan farm family, but that is based on reading.

• How can books be so instrumental in teaching kids to appreciate diversity?

Tolerance and understanding come from experience, exposure, and especially education. Children have to be taught to appreciate diversity and see it as an asset rather than something to be feared. Exposing young children to the lives of children from other countries gives them a sense of familiarity. They see the differences and similarities, and the rhythms of all children's daily lives. Also, they are exposed to the many diverse alphabets in the world, since the books are in English and the language of the country depicted. Human creativity is displayed through the many written languages. With the USA book there is the added component of looking at one’s own family and community with perhaps different appreciation.