Reviewed by Deborah Menkart
Review Source: Teaching for Change
Book Author: Stephanie Ellen Sy
A Roof! by Stephanie Ellen Sy tells a heartwarming story of a community coming together to help a family whose roof blew off in a typhoon, a common occurrence where the book is set in the Philippines. The book provides a description of the roles of everyone in the story, resulting in a nice introduction to students to life in a town in the Philippines.
However, we ask parents and teachers when reading the book to supplement it with the fact that the intensity of damage from the typhoons is increasing due to climate change. This despite the fact, as noted in Science Direct, “. . . the Filipino people bear a disproportionately low responsibility for causing climate change.” This key information is unfortunately missing from A Roof!
In the “Author’s Note” it states, “The Philippines is one of the most natural disaster-prone countries in the world.” While that is true, it would be more accurate to add that these “natural” disasters are being magnified by “unnatural” or “human-generated” climate change.
Climate change gets too little coverage in the corporate-funded media. We can’t afford to censor or minimize it in children’s books as well. When young people learn about the systemic causes and impact of climate change, they can play an active role in challenging it and securing their own future.
Deborah Menkart is executive director at Teaching for Change.
Find recommended books about this topic on our South Asian American booklist.
A Roof! by Stephanie Ellen Sy
Published by Penguin on September 17, 2024
Genres: South Asian
Pages: 40
Reading Level: Grade K
ISBN: 9780593697054
Review Source: Teaching for Change
Publisher's Synopsis: A dazzling picture book debut about a young girl in the Philippines who returns a neighbor’s roof after a typhoon with the help of her community.
Typhoons are a regular part of Maya’s life in the Philippines, but after this storm, she finds something unusual in her backyard — a roof! There’s an address written on it, and Maya is determined to return it to its family. She’ll need help to make her way through the damage left behind by the typhoon. As she sets out with her tatay, Maya collaborates with a farmer and his carabao, a couple of fishers and their boat, a sapatero, a labandera, a kusinera, and more of her neighbors. Together, they sail around knotted tree roots, hauling, heaving, pushing, and dragging the roof until they find its family — and begin to rebuild their community.
Told by Stephanie Ellen Sy in a cumulative structure that begs to be read aloud, and paired with Daniel Tingcungco’s lush and cinematic illustrations, A Roof! is a story about community care that celebrates the Filipino spirit of bayanihan.
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