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 Author Caroline Brewer with Perry and Gladys Rosenstein of the Puffin Foundation, Ltd., Hawthorne Elementary Principal Al Perasso, Teacher Lucille Maas and her third grade students, who received free autographed books. "Kara Finds Sunshine on a Rainy Day" is a potent instructional tool. Teachers and youth leaders can challenge students to use the theme, "the sun is always shining," to write essays, poems, or songs based on the experiences of other historical figures, or people in their communities. Psychologists say that writing is a great means of extending healing. In addition, children can use the scientific fact that "The sun is always shining, even when we can't see it,'' to explore other properties of the sun in science lessons. Since the characters hail from many parts of the globe, children can use the book to learn about geography. 
They can use the theme or any of the characters in the book to do art projects, such as murals. They can also use brightly colored remnants of fabric and cardboard to "make their own sunshine" (replicas of the sun). They can do dramatic presentations. Each student can memorize a character's rhyme and become that character. For Rosa Parks, a child would mount the stage and say, "I am Rosa Parks. Back in the 1950s I was sad, because black people in the South were treated very bad, by segregation - laws that kept blacks and whites from sitting or eating together, no matter the place, time, or weather." (And so on).The characters and their geographical bases can also be used for lessons in math. For example, students might explore numerical facts about countries such as India and Vietnam. They might study the economic effects of the bus boycott initiated by the courage of Rosa Parks. "Kara'' can also be used for students in need of a community service project. A teenager who loves fixing autos decided he would find an elderly or low-income neighbor and offer to fix his or her car for free as a way to live out the theme, "The sun is always shining." The best thing about "Kara" is that its message can be extended as far and wide as a child's or a teacher's imagination. | ||
 Author signing book of Hawthorne student |  Author with children from Trust in Us Day Care afterschool program in Paterson |  Author with children from Paterson Housing Authority |
Children make their own sunshine
 
Children from Dumont, N.J.'s Dixon-Homestead Library show off their "Sunshine" t-shirts. 
 Students from the Schomburg Charter School in Jersey City are busy working on their paper replicas of "Sunshine." |
Kara Finds Sunshine is a publication of Unchained Spirit Enterprises, founded by Caroline Brewer