About the Book
A joyful, lyrical picture book celebration of creativity, art, nature, and the family bonds that inspire and sustain us through good times and bad--from the viewpoint of a young girl and the love she shares with her grandfather.
Meadow loves making musical instruments out of clay--the very body of the Earth--just as her grandpa does. Together this family pair makes flutes, whistles, ocarinas, horns, and round pot drums that sing with the voices of nature. Wild animals respond to the joyful sounds by echoing back their own calls. Meadow and Grandpa sing up the earth, and the earth sings back to them.
One night, a fierce storm destroys their workshop, and Grandpa's beloved ocarina, an ancient instrument shaped like a hawk, is nowhere to be found. Grief and loss fill the air with ash and smoke. What follows is a gentle, heartwarming journey where Meadow uncovers hope and the secret behind Grandpa's breathtaking music that "sings up the earth."
Brimming with joy and wonder, Sing Up the Earth! celebrates a deep kinship between humans and nature while tenderly conveying the love that connects families from one generation to the next. Through lyrical storytelling and rich, evocative illustrations, Sing Up the Earth!:
Fosters children's innate love of nature and encourages "green time" over "screen time."
Helps children face loss and hardship through conversations with caring adults.
Celebrates the beauty of intergenerational love and friendship, particularly between a child and a grandparent.
Inspires the artist within each child by cultivating imagination, curiosity, and the freedom to try new things even if they make mistakes.
Includes an Author's Note describing the centuries-old, multicultural art of making musical instruments out of clay.
A book for all times and seasons, Sing Up the Earth inspires young readers to discover the joy and satisfaction of making things with their own hands, and to experience the comforting wisdom of older generations. Perfect for family reading, classroom story time, and even adult discussion groups, this uplifting story offers an invitation to deepen our relationship with the earth and a love that holds all things.
About the Author :
Cheryl Hellner is a poet and storyteller, a teacher and retreat leader who embodies a lifelong passion for creativity, art, and the natural world. After graduate studies in Early Childhood Special Education, she worked with inner city children in her local Head Start program evaluating special needs children and designing approaches that would help them to learn and flourish. Her passion for children's picture book stories grew from this work. Following her decade with Head Start, she worked in writing, editing, and small press publishing creating innovative editions of a new journal of faith and the arts, Potter's House Press, along with her good friend and co-editor, Gayle Boss. Cheryl lives with her husband, Jim, in a small solar cottage at Dayspring, a 206-acre retreat center of open fields, woods, streams, and ponds outside Washington, D.C. Together they work with children and adults designing programs, outings, and retreats that deepen our connection with the natural world.
Merce Tous lives and works in Barcelona, her hometown. She loves being close to the sea and enjoying the cultural activities that this cosmopolitan city offers. However, whenever possible, she escapes to nature, her main source of inspiration. Since childhood, she has enjoyed drawing, painting, and creating illustrated images and books. Her grandfather was her first drawing teacher--the person who sparked her passion for art, instilled a sense of curiosity, and passed on values of dedication and an appreciation for well-crafted work.
Review :
"Sing Up the Earth! is the kind of book I would have loved to read to my grandkids when they were young. Charming, lively, and honest, with colorful illustrations that nicely fit the text, and vice versa." - Luci Shaw, award-winning poet and author
"Cheryl Hellner gifts us with a beautiful and important story about how the song of the earth is there for us, if we would only listen. Even in loss and destruction, Sing Up the Earth! reminds us that a note remains to renew the music. The biblical Job asks us "to speak to the earth" and it will teach you. Thank you Cheryl for speaking to the earth."--Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, children's author.
"Lyrical and lovely, Sing Up the Earth! calls out to be read aloud. With simple but expressive language, an abundance of wild creatures, and a sprinkle of tension and mystery, the book will delight readers of all ages. Strong themes of losing and finding, breaking and remaking, give it substance without weighing it down. Like the melodies that connect humans and their animal kin, this story soars." --Laura Alary, children's author.
"Cheryl Hellner has written a deep story that encourages in children what they intuitively know: Earth and all her creatures sing. With Grandpa, Meadow learns to return Earth's song--and the creatures return her song. In this wonder-full call and response, even sorrow and loss become a beautiful verse in the Song of Life." - Gayle Boss, author of All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings and Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing
"A thought-provoking, melodic ode to the Earth, its peoples and their creativity, whose words and images will stay with the reader long after the final page is turned." - Glenys Nellist, Award-Winning Author of Song of the Seasons and Bedtime Blessings: God's Perfect Peace.
"Sing Up the Earth! gently invites us into intimate relationship with our human and non-human kin, and the One Great Love, through song. I particularly appreciated the tender relationship between Grandpa and Meadow, and the important contribution Meadow makes to singing up the Earth, even at her young age. The illustrations are glorious and so important to telling the story and setting the grace-filled tone. I heartily recommend this book to all generations." - Beth Norcross, founder, The Center for Spirituality in Nature, co-author with Leah Rampy of Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees.
"Sing Up the Earth! is a tender love story between humans and Earth, evoking imagination, wonder and creativity. I could almost touch the clay of Earth myself and shape a musical instrument just like grandpa and Meadow did with their hands!" - Gail Worcelo, Co-founder of Sisters of the Earth Community, Green Mountain Monastery/Thomas Berry Sanctuary
