Smoky Night

Bunting, E. (1994). Smoky Night. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Books.

Brief Annotation: Daniel and his mother are watching riots happen in their neighborhood. They talk about their neighbor, Mrs. Kim, who owns a store that they don’t go to because they “are not like them”. A first erupts in their building and they must evacuate. Daniel cannot find his cat Jasmine and he is very upset and scared for her. At the shelter a fire fighter brings back Jasmine and Mrs. Kim’s cat. Daniel says, “They probably didn’t know each other before, Now they do.” He is talking about the cats but it can be related to the different cultures of people in their building.

Genre: Picture book, Culturally diverse, Fiction

Grade Level: Grade 3+

Readers who will like this: Readers that are learning about race relations. Children who love animals will also like this.

Response/Rating (1-4): *** This story is a mature way to look at a very serious issue for children. It brings the innocence from children from Daniel to take a different look at the topic about race and racism. It is an easy read for children with very real world context.

One question you would ask before a read aloud: Do you know what a riot is?