Ladder to the Moon

Maya Soetoro-Ng

Mar 2013 · Candlewick Press

About this ebook

From Maya Soetoro-Ng, sister of President Obama, comes a lyrical story relaying the loving wisdom of their late mother to a young granddaughter she never met.
(Ages 4-8)

Features an audio read-along performed by the author! Little Suhaila wishes she could have known her grandma, who would wrap her arms around the whole world if she could, Mama says. And one night, Suhaila gets her wish when a golden ladder appears at her window, and Grandma Annie invites the girl to come along with her on a magical journey. In a rich and deeply personal narrative, Maya Soetoro-Ng draws inspiration from her mother’s love for family, her empathy for others, and her ethic of service to imagine this remarkable meeting. Evoking fantasy and folklore, the story touches on events that have affected people across the world in our time and reaffirms our common humanity. Yuyi Morales’s breathtaking artwork illuminates the dreamlike tale, reminding us that loved ones lost are always with us, and that sometimes we need only look at the moon and remember.

Ratings and reviews

I loved this book so much I am going to bye this book for my children. Love you Maya Kassandra Soetro Ny

Beautifully written and illustrated. I can't wait to see more of her work.

Ladder to the moon

About the author

Maya Soetoro-Ng, a former high school history teacher and university instructor, was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is the maternal half-sister of President Barack Obama. She says Ladder to the Moon, her first picture book, was inspired by her young daughter Suhaila’s questions about her grandmother, Ann Dunham. Maya Soetoro-Ng lives in Hawaii with her husband and two daughters.

Yuyi Morales is the illustrator of Kathleen Krull’s Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, whose accolades included a Pura Belpre Award and a Christopher Medal, as well as the Pura Belpre Award–winning Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes. Born and raised in Mexico, she now lives with her family in northern California.