An Afghani girl dreams of peace in this illustrated 24 page poem.  She soars and flies like the kites against the wind and giggles and learns and hopes with her feet on the ground.  The book is written on a third grade sixth month AR level, but even at that the poem is hard to follow for elementary age children.  The voice doesn’t sound like a child’s, it is far more reflective and mature for how she is presented.  The text, not really a story, wanders and alludes to what obstacles face Afghani’s but doesn’t detail them.  The author assumes the reader knows that Afghanistan has been under war for decades, that war is painful and gloomy and gruesome.  Adults maybe can find the hope for peace and the struggles inspiring, but I don’t think children will really have a clue as to what the text is about. Luckily the pictures are AMAZING.

The illustrator does an amazing job in keeping the story light and hopeful and showing the culture without judgement or despair.  The domes of the masjids, the hijabs, the mendhi on the hands and even the smiling faces beneath the niqabs are done with lightness, kindness and beauty.  There is even a touch of whimsy that reminds the reader that this is supposed to be from a child’s perspective.

The sky can be full of kites, I think to myself,

but it can also be full of dreams…

And mine flies up high, high into the sky,

towards the stars…

The book overall is poetic and artistic.  I can see children enjoying the illustrations and maybe falling asleep to the melodious words, even if they can’t really make sense of them. The book says that profits go to charity, and that the book was translated from Spanish.   For the illustrations alone, the book has merit and older children may be inspired to take something difficult and turn it into something beautiful with their words.