My Father’s Arms Are a Boat by Stein Erik Lunde and Oyvind Torseter (grades PreK-2)

2014 USBBY Outstanding International Books

Lunde, E. & Torseter, O. (2013) My Father’s Arms Are a Boat. Brooklyn, NY: Enchanted Lion Books.

From Amazon :

It's quieter than it's ever been. Unable to sleep, a young boy climbs into his father's arms. Feeling the warmth and closeness of his father, he begins to ask questions about the birds, the foxes, and whether his mom will ever wake up. They go outside under the starry sky. Loss and love are as present as the white spruces, while the father's clear answers and assurances calm his worried son. Here we feel the cycles of life and life's continuity, even in the face of absence and loss, so strongly and clearly that we know at the end that everything will, somehow, be all right.

 

 

 

 Questions to consider in book clubs or classrooms:

• What effect do the illustrations have on the story?
• What language is used to key the reader that this is a Norwegian story?
• Does “quiet” have the same meaning/connotation in all cultures (In America we have the saying “Silence is Golden”)?
• “Red birds are dead people.” Where does this thinking come from?
• What aspects of the Christian faith could you discuss with this book?