Story telling is a timeless tradition handed down through the ages. It is the biggest way we can honour our ancestors. Reading becomes a special time between a child and the reader. Through story telling our children learn many things, such as life lessons, and compassion.
For my childhood, reading was filled with Robert Munsch books, The Paperbag Princess, Murmel, Murmel, Murmel, and Love You Forever. Love You Forever is a generational story of the love a mother has for their child that has no limitations as the child grows. The mother holds her child in her arms singing him a song of promise. A promise which the child carries into adulthood, with his aging mother and newborn child. It is a book that brings fond memories to generations of adults. A book that we end up reading to our own children.
As we enter into a more enlightened age where we wish to show representation and diversity, in what we read to our children, books are reflecting these needs. I Sang You Down from the Stars by Tasha Spillet-Sumner (Illustrated by Michaela Goade) invoked similar feelings. In this book, we see a mother preparing for her child to enter into the world. Her preparations to welcome her child into her life. From the first moments she knew, she wrapped her child into the traditions of her ancestors, shrouding it in love. Instead of a song, the illustrations carry the song, the promise, to the child from page to page. It's a story of love, tradition, and a promise.
