Four-five rocks!

Book Review

Title: Red sky in the morning
Author: Elizabeth Laird

Red sky in the morning was short listed for the Children’s Book Award. It is a story about love and family responsibilities. The author never puts real people in her stories; the family in this book is made up, except for the character of Ben. Ben is author’s brother Alistair.
The family was happily anticipating a new member. Anna was bursting to tell everyone at school about her new born baby brother. Ever since she knew her mum was pregnant, she had been planning her announcement at school. Dad had got the pram down out of the attic, and mum had lined the cot in some flowery material. They got him a name, Ben.
However, things did not go quite right for them. Dr. Randell said that Ben may be disabled. After a few months, Ben was very badly disabled. His head was twice as big as it should have been, the doctor called it ‘Hydrocephalus’. Ben had to undergo operation to remove some of the fluid out of his head. The family wanted to love him even more and shield him from anyone who did not understand.
I felt sorry when I learnt that Ben died due to respiratory failure. The family had been working hard to cope with Ben; their lives were turned upside down because of Ben. In the past, Anna could not find the words to tell her friends that Ben is different. Now, she regretted for being embarrassed about her brother.
I was touched by many parts of the story, I also learnt that we should love and treasure the people beside us despite their weaknesses.


Qihui