Moonlight Memories by Amanda Davis Illustrated by Michelle Jing Chan Book Review

Moonlight Memories is a bright book touching on the topic of grief and lost. Piper has recently lost her mother a month ago. She is suffering from feeling empty inside. Her father didn’t speak much about it but deep down inside she knew he was also hurting from the pain. Her father provided her with a special gift, a telescope where she could look up at the stars, the Big Dipper, moon craters, and a special surprise. She said her mother’s face twinkling in the stars. She drew what she saw and she continued to do so. She kept capturing another memory and putting it down on paper. She was able to use this to experience past memories with her mother and to be reminded of them. She remembered her mother’s love and was comforted by her memories. 

 

 

 

I would recommend this inspiring book covering the topic of grief and healing from the pain by remembering the past memories and cherishing them. This would be great for children aged 4-8 and is a wonderful introduction to grief. This book is based on a true story from the author when she lost her own father at a young age. She discovered her own ways to cope and she found her voice when she used writing and art to find healing. She wanted others to reach out to their support groups, friends, and family and find their own outlets to process their griefs. I loved how she included helpful activities for children such as creating a memory album/ scrapbook, writing a goodbye letter, building a heart puzzle, planting a tree/bush/flowers in their honor, and enjoying them on their birthday by doing whatever they enjoyed. I thought she a great job in using this book and the different ideas as a way to deal with our suffering and grief. I recently lost my grandmother from cancer almost a year ago and this is a wonderful tool in using it to explain death and learning to cope with lost. It helped to bring back past memories that we shared. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Hachette Book Group/Faithwords/Worthy Kids for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Moonlight-Memories-Amanda-Davis/dp/1546003169

30,000 Stitches: The Inspiring Story of the National 9/11 Flag Written by Amanda Davis Illustrated by Sally Wern Comport Book Review

 

30,000 Stitches is a true story based on an American flag recovered from the Twin Towers in New York City on 9/11. This book was written 20 years later. As many people know, this was the day the twin buildings collapsed and thousands lost their lives. This book is the story of how construction workers hung an American flag up and it was thirty feet wide and twenty feet tall. They eventually took it down after it faded to gray and was torn. Six years later, there was a massive tornado that hit Greensburg, Kansas and volunteers come from NY to help rebuild their town. They were asked to bring a memento from Ground Zero and they decided to bring the flag. People from the town saw the flag and came up with an idea to use their own torn flags to stitch and repair the flag. They decided to send the flag to all fifty states and let the whole country help stitch and repair it together as one nation. Veterans, active-duty soldiers, members of Nasa, and everyday people helped to repair it. The book also showed the flag being repaired by the family of Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King in Georgia. Ten years later and 30,000 stiches later it was finished by tornado survivors in Joplin, Missouri. It was returned to New York and is currently in a museum. 

 

 

I would recommend this awe-inspiring children’s book to anyone who is looking for a book that helps explain the fabric of America and provides hope in the midst of a terrible event. This is the first time that I have ever heard the story about the 30,000 stitches on the American flag and it was very heart touching. I don’t even recall hearing this discussed on the news. I loved the background story the author included at the end of the book to go more in detail about the flag and the history behind it. I liked how in depth it was and how it showed real life photos showing the real true flag. I also loved the illustrations and the colors of the book. It all appeared gray and darker colors that looked like stiches in fabric to showcase the story of the torn flag and the restoration process.

  

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Hachette Book Group/Faithwords/ Worthy Kids for my honest review.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy of 30,000 Stitches, check it out on Amazon.com:

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/30-000-Stitches-Inspiring-National/dp/1546013695/