Come Back, Dear Sun: what if the sun took a vacation?

Come back, Dear Sun by Geena Bean is the story of one little girl’s mission to have the sun return. The story opens with Kaylee waking up with the sun still gone. She and her sister, Mattie, hatch a plan to talk to the moon about the sun. Along with their friends, Lilly and Fran, the girls make a string phone and with the help of a bow and arrow, shoot the other side to the moon. The moon comes close and tells them that the sun has taken a vacation. She is sad that she is no longer admired. The kids no longer play outside. The girls decide to write a letter to the sun, asking her to come back. After a few days, the girls wake up to a brilliant and radiant sun. The kids promised never to take the sun for granted again.

Ms. Bean had the inspiration to write this story after she couldn’t convince kids to play outside and use their imaginations, they rather play inside with video games. She believes the rise in violent video games has led to the lack of outside activity and to bullying. While I don’t blame video games for the rise of children’s inactivity and the rise of bullying, I do believe that children need to play outside more and get exercise that cannot be achieved indoors. It is unfortunate because many kids today have both parents working and must come home to an empty house. Or they live in neighborhoods which aren’t safe for playing outside. I enjoyed this story as a fun adventure with a great message. It had beautiful and colorful illustrations. I recommend it for any family's or school's library.