TOUCH THE SKY by Stephanie V. W. Lucianovic

Review by Kelly Carey

​​Stephanie V. W. Lucianovic’s picture book tells the story of Vern who longs to learn how to pump on a swing until his feet can Touch the Sky (Carolhoda Books, 2024). As with most things, when you are kid, Vern notes “It feels hard until you get it, and then its not.” But the process of figuring it out is frustrating and Vern gets “wood chippy,” confused, and fights a desire to give up until, with help from quirky Gretchen, he finds a way to soar.

​Chris Park illustrates the story with wonderful whooshy drawings and festive streaks of color that make the reader feel like they are stretching and pumping right along with Vern and Gretchen. Vern’s flying and flopping hair becomes its own character. There is a realistic sweetness and a giggly humor to this wonderful story and any kid who has been reduced to pushing along a swing on their belly will feel Vern’s desire for more. 
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On Writing: 
Embrace the mindset of a child. Clearly, Lucianovic did exactly that when writing Touch the Sky. First, she picked a kid friendly skill to offer up as her protagonist’s challenge. She didn’t create a crazy unrealistic task, but picked a universal early goal kids everywhere want to learn – how to pump on a swing. She smartly avoided the overused and obvious learn to ride a bike and as a result her topic is both unique, timeless and relatable to her child reader. Take Lucianovic’s lead and think about the milestone moments in your childhood. What did your child mind wish to do? What did you work hard to tackle when you were a kid?
  
Lucianovic not only picks a kid appropriate skill, but she keeps the voice, actions, and humor in the child’s mindset. Vern “hung over the ground and dragged his fingers through the wood chips” is such a simple action but it conjures understanding and a sense of place and time. Helpful Gretchen, whose name Vern knows because he hears her mother say, “Gretchen – do NOT pet the cat with your cheese!”, offers up moments of age-appropriate laughter. And Vern’s action cleverly repeat with strings of verbs, like “Lean, stretch, sweep. Pull, tuck, swing” that show Vern’s struggle and persistence. This break from straight narrative and dialogue, to lines of action words, break the predictable pacing and keep the text fun, inventive, and in a childhood rhythm of learning something new. 
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Use Touch the Sky as a mentor text for remembering what felt challenging as a child. 

Then use this book as a mentor text for mixing strings of action verbs into more traditional narrative and dialogue to make your manuscript soar. 

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To learn more about author Stephanie Lucianovic visit her website. To learn more about illustrator Chris Park you can check out her website.