In Under the Same Sky, Britta Teckentrup celebrates the fact that whoever we are or wherever we are, many of our experiences, emotions and hopes are the same.
‘We live under the same sky..’ is the first line of the book which looks at how we all experience love, play the same games and sing the same songs. Various animals and birds, including rabbits, flamingos and penguins, are shown living in a range of different habitats, they all celebrate their similarities as they look skywards.
The rhyming text is easy to read and makes very clever use of cutouts to emphasise the same emotions / experiences taking place in different habitats. The first page starts with a rhyming couplet and the corresponding illustration includes a cutout so that the first line of the couplet from the first page can be read again on the second page along with a new second line (not easy to explain but lovely to read!). Many of the habitats contrast each other to emphasis the differences, for example we can feel the same love whether we are in cold snow or soft meadows.
The text in Under the Same Sky contains less than 100 words but those words, supported by beautiful images, convey so much. We love the way that in each illustration the animals are looking up at the sky and the final illustration (my favourite!) brings them all together. My daughter loves the bears and Britta’s use of the word storm on this page conveys so much more than just a type of weather that we experience together.
Under the Same Sky is a great book to show children that regardless of how we look or where we live we share many emotions. Its simple text is perfect for beginner readers and the soothing earthy colours in the illustrations make this a wonderfully positive bedtime read.
Age Range: 3 to 6
Author / Illustrator: Britta Teckentrup
Thank you to Little Tiger Press for sending us a review copy of Under the Same Sky. We love the way that the cutouts in the illustrations work with the text.
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