Today I am going to share with you two wonderful children's books by Peter J. Clark and illustrated by Kory Fluckinger. His first book is The Mighty Knights.
The Mighty Knights is about two young boys who are brave knights. They sleep with their swords and are always ready. They awaken to a growling sound in the middle of the night and fight the dragon they find under the kitchen sink. Working together they are able to defeat the dragon and then the boys go back to sleep with their swords ready in case another unknown comes their way. It is a wonderful tale about courage in young children. It is well written and a fun book. The illustrations are fun.
In the second book, Sapphire's Castle, the Mighty Knights are different kids. Sapphire is a young black girl and her friend, Archer, is a white boy. They are playing in Sapphire's castle tree house when a dragon comes. Sapphire is brave and Archer is a bit frightened, but comes through to help Sapphire. Together they are able to defeat the dragon and save the castle.
After reading Sapphire's Castle, Hazel told me she really liked it because the girl was the brave one in it instead of the boy. This is a message that is not in many books and she noticed. We did not even discuss the race issues in it. It is the young black girl who is brave and who owns the castle. Personally I love this message and it is one that needs to be in more children's books. I also love that Sapphire is not playing princess in her castle, but is one of the Mighty Knights who faces and defeats dragons.
If you have been reading my blog for some time you may know Hazel is easily scared and a bit timid. I saw her really thinking about how a girl can be brave when we read Sapphire's Castle. We have read stories with heroines, but this one is different in the fact that she looks about Hazel's age and Hazel could relate to her. Her castle was not a huge castle from a fairy tale, but a tree house in Sapphire's back yard. They were two kids playing in a way that Hazel does with her best friend. She could see herself as Sapphire and I think there was a moment where she was thinking she could try being brave and that to me is a huge thing.
Now they are trying to relaunch Sapphire's Castle. Please visit their Kickstarter page and consider donating to this amazing project. This really is a book that needs to be in every library and school as well as home. It has such an important message for young girls and especially for young black girls. I hope you will support the project and check out the books!! We definitely are enjoying them.
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