Fly as far as your dreams can take you!

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Sora and the Cloud

By Felicia Hoshino

$15.95, hardcover, 36 Pages,
ISBN: 978-1-59702-027-5, 11 x 9

A noted children's artist, Hoshino authors her first picture book, inspired by her own experiences as a mother to her son Sora: a growing boy enjoys the ultimate daydream - to soar like a cloud!

Once a baby, now Sora is a boy who explores the world around him. First crawling and then walking, Sora soon learns to how to climb a tree. Up there a friendly cloud awaits! Hopping aboard, Sora embarks on a fantastic trip.

Curious birds, squealing kites and whispering fireworks whirl by. This wonderful flight of fancy is created in Hoshino's hallmark style: a unique combination of mixed media creates ethereal environments with subtle shading, and contemplative characters who invoke the innocence of youth.

Also included is a bilingual Japanese translation which highlights how Hoshino shares her heritage with her children and readers.

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More praise for Felicia Hoshino

"Sora and the Cloud soars in more ways than one, and is a perfect story to share with very young ones who are starting to look at the world with wonder and amazement."
- Paper Tigers

"An adventurous young boy takes flight on a friendly cloud in this delightful whirlwind of a daydream. The story is artfully structured... Young readers will revel in finding visual connections within the illustrations as they identify repeated motifs. They will also enjoy poring over the intricately detailed spreads... The San Francisco setting in combination with the bilingual text deftly shows the child's Japanese American identity. Non-Japanese speakers won't miss anything vital due to the cultural and translation notes that introduce Japanese vocabulary and enrich readers' experience. Children will want to revisit Sora's imaginary adventure again and again."
- School Library Journal

"This warm picture book captures the physicality of imaginative play that gets wilder and wilder, and preschoolers will recognize the fun of crawling and climbing over everything, as well as the big dreams of flying in the sky... The small kid in a giant world is a universal story, and Hoshino also weaves in particulars of Japanese culture, including detailed notes at the back in both alphabets."
- American Library Association Booklist

"This is the perfect book for a Japanese-English bilingual family, anyone interested in introducing other cultures to their kids, and both Japanese and English monolingual families. I hope this will become a classic, it has all the hallmarks of an award winner."
- Perogies and Gyoza

"It is beautifully illustrated and is the kind of book you can imagine a child daydreaming about. Add the Japanese culture throughout the book, and it is a wonderful introduction for any child. The book makes me smile. The story is simple yet fantasy and it makes it that wonderful mix that makes you happy to read."
- Crafty Moms Share

Reviews

ForeWord magazine Book of the Year - Bronze Medal 2011

"Felicia Hoshino's rich, clever and appealing book. Offering both English and Japanese text, it is itself a lovely tribute to the joys of soaring high... It is tempting to label 'Miyazaki-like' anything appealing to children and Japanese in origin. But in this instance the analogy fits. "
- New York Times

"Hoshino's watercolor-and-mixed-media illustrations are golden, topaz-touched; their palette and composition hint of the classic nursery rhyme art of Jessie Wilcox Smith and others."
- Kirkus Reviews

"Hoshino's ink-and-watercolor spreads both provide historical information and convey the story's emotional weight-and do both with grace."
- Publishers Weekly

"Sora and the Cloud is like the children's book version of a Murakami novel-a surreal adventure that leaves readers unsure what to make of it when it ends. The illustrations are lovely watercolor and ink on rice paper, adding convincing realistic detail to an imaginative story"
- Diverse Kids Books

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Press Release

Leveled Reading

Lexile Level: 620L
Lexile Code: AD "adult directed"
Fountas & Pinnel (F&P GRL): M
GLE (Grade Level): 2
Interest Level: Pre K-3
Reading Recovery Level (RRL): 20
Accelerated Reader: Lower Grades
- ATOS Book Level: 3.7
- AR Points: 0.5
- AR Quiz Types: RP