Books like Why The Sky Is Far Away: A Nigerian Folktale

“Why The Sky is Far Away” is an exceptional Nigerian folktale retold by Mary-Joan Gerson and illustrated by Carla Golembe. Awarded “Best Illustrated Childrens’s Book” by The New York Times Book Review, the story tells a story of consumption and waste, and why these two things are so detrimental. The folktale begins with the sky being extremely close to the ground—people don’t farm or hunt, they simply reach out into the sky and grab what they want to eat. The story proceeds and people begin to grab more than they can eat, and disposing of the rest into garbage heaps. They sky does not appreciate this, and warns the king, ‘Oba’ to be careful about his people’s waste. Oba sends out a message to villages far and near to be cautious about how much they are taking the sky. After the festival of Oba, a celebration in which people dance and eat and praise their king, a woman named Adese grabs a piece of meat stew and begins to eat. Since she had already eaten at the festival, she cannot finish her meat stew and begs her husband, children, and other villagers to help her finish the piece of food. Everyone is stuffed, so she decides, “What does it matter? One more piece of sky on a rubbish heap?” At this moment, the sky erupts in lighting and moves far, far away. At the end, the sky booms, “You must learn how to plow the land and gather crops and hunt in the forests.” This story is incredibly illustrated—full of colors and drawings of the people of Nigeria. I would list “Why The Sky is Far Away” at a second-fourth grade level for read aloud. The themes, sentence and word complexity, and subject/cultural background complexity make it a good choice for advanced 2-4 grade level students. You could use this book in a cross-curriculum lesson involving science (the environment.) This book is the epitome of consumption/waste and what could happen (on a large scale) if we continue to use more than we need. After reading this story, you can discuss the culture of Nigeria AND have students research ways in which they as individuals and as a community can prevent excess waste. You could use this story as the lesson-hook for a field trip to a recycling plant! It is an incredible story that teaches an incredible lesson.