Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite

A child on a swing on a lovely summer's day - such a simple pleasure, full of possibilities, full of imagination. This boy loves his swing. His mom once said that he might swing high enough to touch the sky and then what would he do? Our hero sets out to find out what he can do. Alone on his swing, he swings higher and higher until he does reach the sky. He learns that Mom was right about a lot of things. The sky is "like pale blue frosting, cool and sweet", the clouds are like the "fluffiest bed", and the stars "taste like sugar cookies". His adventure in the sky has him flying on the back of an eagle, with other birds and airplanes, and the wind rushing past them. There is music, too, from the "harps floating through open space". Mr. Moon even reads him a story. A beautiful day changes suddenly when our hero, climbing down the ladder that Mr. Moon presented, accidentally kicks one of the clouds and it turns black, threatening rain. As he sits on his swing, his mom calls him back inside. "It's starting to rain," she says. Our hero giggles as he remembers how he made the weather change to rain. He was in his own little world on the swing and, when his mom asks him where he was, our hero answers simply, "I just love to swing, Mom. I can touch the sky."

In I Can Touch the Sky, Karen Wiesner has created an enchanting and colorful book about the simple pleasures of childhood and the dreams that sparkle with imagination. The language is simple, but the imagery is outstanding with similes and metaphors to tempt each of the senses. There is so much hope for childhood dreams presented in this little story. With colorful illustrations, the author has pointed out a very important fact: there is more pleasure to be found in just sitting on the backyard swing than in some of the other pastimes children pursue today. An excellent little story that will hopefully spark the imaginations of countless children. Well done.