The Cambodian Dancer: Sophany’s Gift of Hope

**Winner of the Moonbeam Children's Book Award Silver Medal for Non-Fiction --Picture Book**

This Cambodian children's book teaches that not even the most terrible brutality can destroy the human spirit.

The Cambodian Dancer, a Cambodian book for children, is the true story of a Cambodian refugee -- a dancer and teacher -- who built a life in the US after fleeing the Killing Fields of the Khmer Rouge. She then became a counselor to other Cambodian refugees and created a school of dance for children. Her gift of hope was to teach children in the Cambodian community the traditional dances of their country, so young people growing up far away from the land of their ancestors would know about their culture.

In plain but straightforward language and colorful illustrations, this multicultural children's story communicates to children a sense of the joy, sadness, injustice, and triumph that lives on in young Cambodian Americans. It shows that it is possible to overcome great hardship and that a single decision can do much to heal one's self and others.

This touching Cambodian book for kids brings a message of positivity to a true story of human hope and resilience.

Daryn Reicherter, MD is a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Stanford University and a psychiatrist at the Gardner Family Care Corporation’s Cambodian Program. He works locally with refugee survivors from around the world. Dr. Reicherter is a specialist in post-traumatic stress in survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime. He is an activist for human rights in the area of war crime through the programs he serves, and beyond.

Christy Hale is an award-winning writer, illustrator and designer of children’s book whose work has been honored by Horn Book, the American Library Association, the International Reading Association and others. She is the author and illustrator of Dreaming Up: a Celebration of Building and The East West House, and has illustrated many books celebrating diversity and sustainability as well as creativity in children.