“Jasmine,” said her great-grandpa,
“you are a
gift to us.” Jasmine’s heart felt
big and warm. She smiled.
She was glad that
she was a gift.
“You know what?”
Jasmine jumped up and shouted...
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Jasmine’s great-grandmother uses a charming Romanian folktale to explain to the little girl that she is a gift. This touching and important story is filled with rich, varied illustrations,
beginning in “the big city of Los Angeles where Jasmine grew up,” and moving to the Romanian countryside
and the “big, soft eyes” of the little fawn who has come to stay.
Children, parents, and teachers will find themselves dancing
and clapping hands to Jasmine’s lively, toe-tappin’ theme song, “You Are a Gift,” followed by “I Am a Bright and Shining Light” with its joyous flute solo and beautiful vocal harmonies. Both songs are sung by the author with The Band of Light, and are included on CD.
Follow-Up Adventures give children the opportunity to draw and write about the people in their lives who are a gift to them, and to realize to whom they are a gift. The fun of geography is introduced as children are led to locate the foreign countries where Jasmine’s great-grandparents came from, as well as to find Jasmine’s home in Los
Angeles, California.
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