This Big Sky
Awards

Book Publishers of Texas Award for Best Book for Children or Young People, Texas Institute of Letters, 1998

1999, Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies

"One Hundred Books for Reading and Sharing, 1998," The New York Public Library

Finalist, PEN Center USA West 1999 Literary Award in Children’s Literature


Teachers & Librarians
Find curriculum activities for
This Big Sky.
If you have an activity or activities to share, please email these along with your name and school or library name.
Take a Poetry Pause
Listen to Pat read
"Halloween" from This Big Sky and "Leaf Soup" from Confetti: Poems for Children
2018: 20th anniversary

This Big Sky
Illustrated by Steve Jenkins
Temporarily out of print in hardcover or paperback though copies are available through various sources.

This evocative collection of poems combines Pat Mora¹s simple, yet shining words with Steve Jenkin¹s bright collage images. The landscapes, animals, and people come into sharp focus and the beauty and mystery of the American Southwest are captured.

Highlighted Reviews
Green star icon"Mora celebrates America’s vast, otherworldly Southwest in 14 poems that will delight readers of all ages with their playfully evocative imagery … Proving poetry can be fun, Mora and Jenkins have created a book that will leave readers longing to ‘leap through one blue door’—an opening to the sky, an opening to poetry."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Rich imagery, best savored at a leisurely pace, evokes the terrain and denizens of the American Southwest in these poems … Readers-aloud will welcome the glossary of Spanish terms with pronunciation that is included."—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"This gem is both a lovely book and an evocative look at a magical place."—School Library Journal

"Some of the poems have an ear-pleasing music that lifts the words from the page and sets them dancing."—Kirkus Reviews

"These spare and dramatic poems transport readers to the American Southwest-where the sky often does seem big"—Children's Literature