Stone Giant by Jane Sutcliffe

Author: Jane Sutcliffe

Illustrator: John Shelley

Genre: Non-Fiction/Biography

Awards: Bank Street CBC Best Children's Book of the Year (2015), NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People (2015)

Grade(s): 2nd-4th

Summary: This book is about how the city of Florence had a huge piece of stone that they had wanted carved into a David from the Bible's story David and Goliath. However, every artist that the city hired either grew too tired or had died before they were able to finish. Then the city began to hear about the work of Michelangelo, who was from Florence, but had been away working in Rome. They called for Michelangelo to come and help them with their David. When he arrived, he had saw his David in the stone and new he could do it. Michelangelo worked for three years and finally finished his David. The city of Florence wanted this David statue because they felt like they, too, have had to fight many "giants" to keep their city alive. They wanted this David to be a symbol that like David, they too could conquer any giant that comes their way. The book ends with the unveiling of Michelangelo's David in the middle of the city and the celebration and admiration of Florence's people.

My Thoughts: I absolutely loved this book and feel like it will be an enriching story to use in future lessons about art or biblical stories (if I end up teaching at a christian school). I would have to be careful because this book does show the whole David statue, which I would need to cover parts of it up during my read aloud. However, I love the illustrations and the message behind this story. It shows determination and good reason just from a statue. I can't wait to add this to my classroom library!!