Cover Image: Sing Freedom

Sing Freedom

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

This is a story about the small country of Estonia and how they gained their freedom. I could see reading this to my kids when we go back to studying world cultures in our homeschool.

Was this review helpful?

Gaining Freedom in Estonia

This is straight-up children's nonfiction that explores the recent history of Estonia, from the time of Soviet occupation and rule to when it became independent. The book stresses the importance of song and how it actually made a difference for the people during Soviet rule and as they fought to be free. The book also shows the effectiveness of nonviolent protest as well. Since this is a children’s book, I would have loved to have seen this told in story form, perhaps following one family as they partook in certain historical events that helped foment change in Estonia. Still, this is interesting history and certainly let's children know that something as seemingly inconsequential as a song can make a difference as well as the importance and long-lasting effects of peaceful protest.

Was this review helpful?

I requested and received an e-ARC of this book from Vanita Oelschlager and Vanita Books through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was awesome! It is a non-fiction book about Estonia and its nonviolent fight for freedom from the Soviet Union. I have been to Estonia’s capital Tallinn and have witnessed firsthand how beautiful this medieval city and their culture is and I still learned a lot about the history and traditions of this small country.

Was this review helpful?

Sing Freedom! By Vanita Oelschlager is a very interesting book that taught me a lot about Estonia that I didn’t know before. This is a great way to teach a child about history without the brutality that was so prevalent in other countries. It is fascinating to see how they peacefully won their independence. The illustrations accompany the story well without distracting from it.

Was this review helpful?

Sing Freedom! by Vanita Oelschlager is an interesting little picture book. The story tells the history of Estonia, a nation trying to gain it's freedom. Although this book is considered a children's book, it tells a powerful story that anyone will learn from. I knew very little about the nation that is now known as the freest nation in the world.

What an incredible book to help children learn, connect with history and discover a new place.

The text was ideal- a great word count, each sentence was meaningful and rich. The illustrations fit perfectly with the story, although not as colorful as most children's books. This would make a great addition to any classroom or library.

The publisher provided an ARC through Netgalley. I have voluntarily read this book for review, giving my honest personal opinions and thoughts

Was this review helpful?

Here's another from the Oelschlager oeuvre, this time illustrated by DeSantis. The story is a true one: of the singing victory of the Estonians over the overbearing Soviet Union as it was known back then (but it was really all Russia). Estonia (called Eesti in Estonian) is one of the Baltic states, and it sits between the other two (Lithuania and Latvia) and the sliver of Baltic sea that separates Estonia from Finland. After World War 2 (like one wasn't more than enough), Russia began subsuming the smaller European nations along its border, and trying to grind them under its heels into subservience.

Estonia was one of the 14 such nations that resented this and always sought to recover its own identity and freedom. They did this in many ways, but in part, it was achieved through a five-yearly festival of song, where they rebelled by singing a nationalist Estonian song, which the Russians did not like. The Estonians would not give up and in the end, they found their freedom during Mikhail Gorbachev's reign.

This book tells a colorful and enjoyable story about this great and peaceful success, and is well worth reading.

Was this review helpful?

This is a shirt book about an important part in history of Estonia. The story with help of beautiful pictures tells about power of music on the way to the country's freedom.

Was this review helpful?

Sing Freedom! is a beautiful telling of how the people of Estonia peacefully sang their way to freedom from the Soviet Union. This book tells the story clearly for the suggested age range. The illustrator did a wonderful job with the art and color palette and it paired nicely with Oelschlager’s story telling. The book was beautiful and informative and would be a perfect addition to any child or school’s library.

Loved: The About the Art page at the back was a pretty cool addition.
Disliked: There wasn’t anything that I disliked about this book.

I would totally gift/recommend this book for any child (curious about history or not), school or class libraries, and even adults who love picture books.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

Was this review helpful?

This is a great children's story about not so known country Estonia and their peaceful path to independence. I liked the illustrations and how the author presented the story. Suitable for a bit older children.

Was this review helpful?

I want to thank #netgalley for giving me a copy of this book to review. I had never heard the story of Estonia before and now I'm happy that I have. I love stories about people fighting back. The fact that the people of Estonia fought back with song makes it better. This will be a great book to share with my students to give them some historical background knowledge and to show them how they can peacefully protest.

Was this review helpful?

Wonderful book about how to peacefully fight for freedom, about what a people can accomplish by standing peacefully together (and in this case sing). My child (5) seems a bit young still for this book but I will definately read it with her when she is a bit older. The story of the Estonian people and how determinedly over time kept singing in protest until almost the whole country was singing together for freedom, is definately very inspiring and seems to be a great basis for lots of conversations about determination, freedom, civil disobedience, non-violence and many more values. The illustrations go well with the story and how it is told.

Was this review helpful?

Interested in Estonian history? No? Well, you might be after you read this simple little picture book about the Singing Revolution.

When the Soviets came to power, they pretty much tried to obliterate any other cultures in the area. But Estonians held tight to their folk songs, and eventually used them as a form of civil disobedience. This book covers a period of history from roughly World War II until the present day. I hadn't heard about the Singing Revolution before; I'm glad I was able to read this book to find out a little bit about it.

The glossary at the back is helpful, but the terms aren't in alphabetical order (which is a bit odd). And did you know that Skype is an Estonian invention? I don't know why that little factoid was included, but it's kind of cool.

This could be a nice addition to a classroom library to help teach kids about an interesting little country that seems to fly under the radar (at least here in North America).

Was this review helpful?

Genre: Children Non-fiction

What is it about?

This book is about how Estonia, a little known European nation, managed to secure independence from the almighty Russian Empire.

We have heard of nations waging a lone war against the invaders to garrison their motherland.
We have also heard of nations joining hands/forming allies to fight them.

But then, there is Estonia, a tiny country wedged between the Russian Federation and Latvia, which gained independence without a single shot being fired or a single drop of blood being shed. Arming themselves with nothing but the love for their country, the Estonians showed a great deal of Resilience and perseverance everytime the Soviets tried to shove them away. The only weapon they wielded was their voice. No, they didn't raise Anti-Soviet slogans nor tried to form a mutiny. All they did was "Singing". Might be a hard pill to swallow but would you believe if I said that they literally sang their way to Freedom? Believe it or not, that was precisely what the spirited people of Estonia did.

What impressed me:

I love the book for the reason that it stresses the fact that Non-violence is the most powerful weapon one can wield. I laud Vanita Oelschlager for picking this up as the core subject/theme of the book because, in the time where the world is at the brink of a Third World war, this book serves as an important reminder to the millions of young kids out there that resorting to Non-Violence is much more powerful than pointing a gun at each other's head. The Illustrations by Mike DeSantis couldn't have been better and aided greatly in getting Vanita's message across the young minds around the globe.

This book clearly deserves Six Stars. The Sixth is exclusively for Vanita, who not only gave birth to this powerful book but also pledged to donate 10% of every sale from this book to a New Jersey Scout camp supported by the Estonian American National Council which aims at promoting the cultural heritage and interests of the Estonian folks.

Was this review helpful?

Wonderful, informative. A lot of information in an entertaining way! This is a great book. That's all I have to say about it.

Was this review helpful?

A great read! This book offers a true story of resistant and shows how one small act of resistant can change everything. I recommend it for any classroom.

Was this review helpful?

"Sing Freedom!" reveals such an amazing and inspirational historical story of Estonia that inspired a deep love and appreciation within me for the Estonian people, as well as a desire to one day visit Estonia. I knew very little about this country or its people prior to reading this book, and I found this book to be very educational. I now know that Estonia is a country that, after being invaded and attacked with bullets and bombs, while still threatened by guns and tanks, fought for and won their freedom through peaceful demonstrations and publicly singing songs that celebrate Estonia's rich history and culture. Today Estonia is considered one of the freest countries in the world.

Although this is considered a children's book, I believe "Sing Freedom!" is a book people of all ages should read.

Was this review helpful?

We try to shelter our young ones from the terrible news going on in the world. But, I want our children to learn about protest, dissent and means of non-violent conflict resolution. That’s why I was so pleased to read Sing Freedom! This simple, colorful children’s book tells the story of how the Estonian people won back their freedom from Soviet rule with the power of song and peace. I found the book informative, engaging and child-appropriate.

Was this review helpful?

An inspiring story about Estonia. Good recent history lesson. Looks a lot like a comic book so I think kids who like graphic novels would enjoy it.

#netgalley

Was this review helpful?

I could not open this review book. I am an Eastern European with no love for Russia, and this story is an important one to share.
Unfortunately the file wouldn't work, no matter what I tried.

Was this review helpful?

Wonderfully written and illustrated , children's story of how Estonia sought freedom from the USSR. The name of the book comes from how they attempted to achieve this freedom through the use of song. This is a great history story for children and it also shows that at times, conflicts can be solved by a peaceful means. This would be a great book for teachers to use to get wonderful discussions started with students on history and also conflict resolution among peers.

Was this review helpful?