In the Small, Small Night
Written by Jane Kurtz
Illustrated by Rachel Isadora
Published by Greenwillow Books
In the middle of the night the world can seem huge and frightening, especially when you’ve just moved far from home. On Abena and Kofi’s first night in America, it is late and it is dark and they are up worrying. What if a giant lizard or a slender-snouted crocodile crawled into their suitcases? What if the people in their new school laugh at them? What if they forget Grandmother and their cousins, now that they are an ocean away? But Abena knows a secret to help them. It is a secret that can make the world and the night seem small again. She reaches for her new flashlight and turns it on. She says to her little brother, Kofi, “Pretend this is the moon. Close your eyes.” And then she begins … Kofi can’t sleep in his new home in the United States, so his older sister Abena soothes his fears about life in a different country by telling him two folktales from their native Ghana about the nature of wisdom and perseverance.
Primary ISBN: 9780066238142
Available As: Hardcover
Picture Book, Age 05 or older
Community Represented: Ghanaian/Ghanaian American
Themes: Educator Resource, Family Relationship: Siblings, Welcoming Library: Core Picture Books (Current)
Setting: United States
Character's Place in the Immigration Journey: Immigrant
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Teaching Guide
Source: Multicultural lit
This book is part of the Welcoming Library. The Welcoming Library is a traveling collection of picture books set in our New Arrival and
New American communities. From small towns to big cities, these immigration stories are helping readers
(of all ages) Welcome and Belong. WelcomingLibrary.org