And Yet You Shine: The Kohinoor Diamond, Colonization, and Resistance

And Yet You Shine is the story of the Kohinoor Diamond, which is one of the most famous diamonds. This story tells the story of how it was stolen from India, fought over, and stolen again from the British colonizers who cut it down. This story is about how this diamond still manages to be beautiful even after all the harm it has endured.

What I liked: I appreciate the way the images assist in telling the story and how they illicit feelings as you read through. The pictures are a range of colors and I love how each image is made from paper collages. The art style of this book was refreshing because it was done in a style I have not seen in other books.

Something else I enjoy about this story is how easy it is to follow along with what is happening to this diamond. I loved how this story is broken down into poetic stanzas that are easy to read aloud and you can pause if your audience has any questions.

This book ends with a note about the history of looting and theft, and with information about colonization and decolonization. I appreciate how the author breaks this down and makes it easy to understand for the reader. I also liked the way this reiterates what the story has just explained but with more information that couldn’t be included in the short stanzas.

Final Verdict: And Yet You Shine is a great, informative story to introduce children ages 8+ to the story of the Kohinoor Diamond. The short stanzas throughout the book allow readers to be able to read this story aloud, ask questions, and follow along without losing attention. This book is great for all ages and I appreciated learning about The Kohinoor Diamond which I wasn’t familiar with before.