Sky Dancers

by Connie Ann Kirk and Christy Hale

While young John Cloud isn’t yet ready to scale the big tree in his yard at... read more

While young John Cloud isn’t yet ready to scale the big tree in his yard at home on the reservation, his heart soars at the opportunity to visit Papa at work. Papa, who has always loved to build, is a steelworker in New York City and can only return home on the weekends. John finds the city streets noisy and chaotic, but when he finally arrives at a huge construction site, he glimpses Papa, breathlessly high, helping to build an important new structure: the Empire State Building. Mohawk steelworkers helped build many buildings and bridges in New York City during the 1930s and 1940s, Iroquois author Connie Allen Kirk explains in her note that follows this fictional story. Kirk’s child-centered narrative emphasizes the skill and tradition of steelworking (which often runs in families) from the perspective of a small boy who is proud of what his father does but loves most of all the times when they can be together. (Ages 5–8)

© Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2005

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