Author Archives: omnilibros

Vanishing Colors

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In this haunting story, a young girl and her mother take shelter in their roofless house to sleep. The mother tells the story of a large bird that flies from the mountains to protect them.  Dark illustrations show that the city is ravaged by war.  The bird reminds the girl of happy memories and colors that were there before.  The girl and her mother can leave when the girl sees all the colors in the rainbow, which makes a bridge across the sky.  The book ends with the mother and child walking on, holding hands, under a rainbow. They will stay together and help each other. mjw

Title: Vanishing Colors Author: Constance Orbeck-Nilssen Illustrator: Akin Duzakin Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers Copyright: 2019 Original Language: Norwegian Translator: Kari Dickson Original Title: Fargene som forsvant Original Publisher: Vigmostad & Bjorke Original Copyright: 2017 ISBN: 978-0-8028-5518-3 Hardcover pages: 40 Age range: 5-9 Genre: Picture Book Book setting: Eastern Europe Author’s ethnicity: Norwegian Author’s residence: Norway Illustrator’s ethnicity: Turkish-Norwegian Illustrator’s residence: Norway Awards:  2020 USBBY Outstanding International Books List Subjects: Destruction, Emigration and Immigration, Homelessness and poverty, Migration, Parents, Refugees, Social issues

The Whale The Sea And The Stars

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Gerda the blue whale listens to her mother’s beautiful song.  She sings that if Gerda ever gets lost, she should look to the stars and they would guide her.  When Gerda leaves home, she travels from warm equatorial waters to freezing polar waters. She meets penguins, a grouchy octopus, seagulls, orcas, a polar bear, and a narwhal.  Gerda wants to stop traveling and find a special place of her own. She eventually hears someone singing her mother’s song.  It is Lars, her brother.  She has found the most beautiful bay filled with more and more whales: Beluga whales and grey whales, beaked whales and bowhead whales, humpback whales and right whales, all living happily.  She knows her journey is over.  The luminous illustrations were drawn by hand on a graphics tablet and finished using natural color palettes and textures. mjw

Title: The Whale The Sea And The Stars Author: Adrian Macho Illustrator: Adrian Macho Publisher: Floris Books, Edinburgh Copyright: 2019 Original Language: Czech Translator: Peter Kavecky Original Title: Gerda Prise Velryby Original Publisher: Albatros Media A.S. Original Copyright: 2018 ISBN: 978-178250-559-4 Hardcover pages: 32 Age range: 4-7 Genre: Picture Book Author’s ethnicity: Slovak Author’s residence: Bratislava, Slovakia Illustrator’s ethnicity: Slovak Illustrator’s residence: Bratislava, Slovakia Subjects: Marine life, Narwhal, Penguins, Polar bears, Stars, Whales

Bilal Cooks Daal

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Six-year-old Bilal helps his dad make his favorite food – daal.  The slow cooked dish from South Asia requires many ingredients and patience. Bilal’s diverse friends are excited to try the new dish.  They break naan around the table and share the steamy, garlicky, salty, sweet, creamy daal.  They all agree that it tastes great.  The colorful illustrations were rendered digitally. An author’s note explains that daal is known as lentils in English.  A recipe for chana daal with split chickpeas is also included. mjw

Title: Bilal Cooks Daal Author: Aisha Saeed Illustrator: Anoosha Syed Publisher: Salaam Reads, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division Copyright: 2019 Original Language: English ISBN: 978-1-534418103 Hardcover pages: 40 Age range: 4-8 Genre: Picture Book Author’s ethnicity: Pakistani-American Author’s residence: Atlanta, Georgia. U.S. Illustrator’s ethnicity: Pakistaani-Canadian Illustrator’s residence: Toronto, Canada Awards: 2020 ALA Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Subjects: Bi-racial, Celebrations, Cooking, Cultural differences, Cultural traditions, Family relationships, Friendship, Lentils, Pakistani, Patience

Coming Home

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A lone Scandinavian robin migrates across Europe to Great Britain in the winter to escape the harsher northern winters and to find his mate before Christmas. The striking illustrations of the red-breasted bird were created digitally. Robin migration facts are included. mjw

Title: Coming Home Author: Michael Morpurgo Illustrator: Kerry Hyndman Publisher: Candlewick Press Copyright: 2018 Original Language: English  Original Publisher: David Fickling Books, Oxford Original Copyright: 2016 ISBN: 978-1-5362-0042-3 Hardcover pages: 32 Age range: 3-7 Genre: Picture Book Book setting: Scandinavia, Britain Author’s ethnicity: English Author’s residence: Devon, England Illustrator’s ethnicity: English Illustrator’s residence: London, England Subjects: Birds Christmas, Holidays, Robins

The Hawk And The Dove

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The feisty hawk is feeling sad, so he puts on a mask and gloves and turns into a gentle dove.  The world is at peace.  No more cannon-fire blasts.  Planes that dropped bombs turn into butterflies.  Warships are replaced with sailboats.  Soldiers’ guns sprout flowers.  The world is calm and joyful, but will it last?  Paper cuts inspired by Henri Matisse allow readers to see the miracle that happens every time a page is turned.  A note at the end of the book describes the book’s inspiration and the author’s ever-present hope for peace. mjw

Title: The Hawk And The Dove Author: Paul Kornowski (1926-2001) Illustrator: Paul Kornowski (1926-2001) Publisher: Kids Can Press. Toronto, Canada Copyright: 2019 Original Language: Hebrew Translator: Annette Appel Original Title: Hawk and Dove Original Publisher: Zmora-Bitan, Dvir-Publishing House, Ltd. Original Copyright: 2017 ISBN: 978-1-5253-0125-4 Hardcover pages: 32 Age range: 5-8 Genre: Picture Book Author’s ethnicity: Israeli Illustrator’s ethnicity: Israeli Subjects: Birds, Military fiction, Peace, War

Who Stole The Hazelnuts? A Forest Mystery

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All was quiet and still in the forest until there came a shrill scream.  Someone has stolen the squirrel’s three hazelnuts.  Who could cause the squirrel such distress?  He accuses the mole, the mouse, the rabbit, the hamster, and the fox, who all reply, “it isn’t me.”  The squirrel returns to his tree to discover his three nuts.  They weren’t stolen after all.  The squirrel could have hung his head in shame.  He apologized to everyone and then enjoyed his hazelnuts – they were delicious!  The watercolor paintings of the animals, especially the squirrel, are hilarious in this new rhyming book by the author of the Rainbow Fish series. mjw

Title: Who Stole The Hazelnuts? A Forest Mystery Author: Marcus Pfister Illustrator: Marcus Pfister Publisher: NorthSouth Books Copyright: 2019 Original Language: German Translator: David Henry Wilson Original Title: Wer hat die Haselnuss geklaut? Eine Räubergeschichte Original Publisher: NordSud Verlag AG Original Copyright: 2019 ISBN: 978-0-7358-4382-0 Hardcover pages: 32 Age range: 4-8 Genre: Picture Book Author’s ethnicity: Swiss Author’s residence: Bern, Switzerland Illustrator’s ethnicity: Swiss Illustrator’s residence: Bern. Switzerland Subjects: Hazelnuts, Mystery, Squirrels

Girl Of The Southern Sea

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Fourteen-year-old Nia lives in the slums of Jakarta, Java, with her father and her little brother. She dreams of attending high school and becoming a writer, but school is too expensive.  Her father runs a banana fritter cart near the railway station, but the money he makes usually just supports his drinking habit.  He is an unhappy and weak man who disappears for days, so Nia has to raise her little brother.  A series of unfortunate events leads to Nia’s father’s plan to marry Nia off to a much older man.  Nia overcomes all the obstacles and determines her own future.  A map of Indonesia and a glossary are included. mjw

Title: Girl Of The Southern Sea Author: Michelle Kadarusman Publisher: Pajama Press, Toronto Copyright: 2019 Original Language: English ISBN: 978-1-77278-081-9 Hardcover pages: 224 Age range: 9-12 Genre: Fiction Book setting: Jakarta, Java, Indonesia Author’s ethnicity: Grew up in Melbourne, has lived in Indonesia Author’s residence: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Awards: 2020 USBBY Outstanding International Book List Subjects: Asian literature, Authors, Fantasy, Homelessness, Mythology, Poverty, Self-esteem and self-reliance, Slums, Teenage marriage

My Sweet Orange Tree

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Zeze, a precocious five-year-old born to a poor family in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, taught himself to read at a very young age and wants to grow up to be “a poet with a bow tie.” Zeze is a naughty child with a heart of gold.  He plays clever pranks on his neighbors and is punished severely for them by his parents. Imaginative Zeze adopts a small orange tree that grows in his yard as his magical friend.  Inspired by the author’s childhood, the book is a Brazilian classic, adopted by schools and adapted for cinema, television, and the stage. It has been translated into nineteen languages. mjw

Title: My Sweet Orange Tree Author: Jose Mauro De Vasconcelos (1920-1984) Publisher: Candlewick Press Copyright: 2019 Original Language: Portuguese Translator: Alison Entrekin Original Title: Meu pe de laranja lima Original Publisher: Editora melhoramentos Ltda, Brazil Original Copyright: 1968 ISBN: 978-1-5362-0328-8 Hardcover pages: 272 Age range: 14-17 Genre: Autobiographical novel Book setting: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Author’s ethnicity: Brazilian Subjects: Abuse, Imagination, Magic, Orange trees, Poverty

Bounce Back: Zayd Saleem, Chasing The Dream

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This is the third in a series about Pakistani-American fourth-grade basketball player Zayd Saleem. An ankle injury leaves him on the sidelines just as he is about to become team captain of the Gold Team. He is on the bench for several weeks and worries about how he can help his team win the championship.  Meanwhile, at home, his family is preparing Pakistani wedding festivities for his uncle. Specific cultural information is smoothly integrated into this universal story.  Black and white drawings enhance the text. mjw

Title: Bounce Back: Zayd Saleem, Chasing The Dream Author: Hena Khan Illustrator: Sally Wern Comport Publisher: Salaam Reads, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division Copyright: 2018 Original Language: English ISBN: 978-1-534412057 Hardcover pages: 144 Age range: 7-11 Genre: Fiction Author’s ethnicity: Pakistani-American Author’s residence: Rockville, Maryland. U.S. Illustrator’s ethnicity: U.S. Illustrator’s residence: U.S. Subjects: Basketball, Family life,Leadership, Middle schools, Muslims, Urdu, Weddings

When I Coloured In The World

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A young child gets a box of crayons and an eraser from his mum.  He rubs out bad words and replaces them with good words.  He rubs out desert and writes red roses. He makes roses grow all over the world.  He rubs out darkness and replaces it with yellow light.  Hunger gives way to green wheat, drought to silver rain, war to light blue peace, and much more.  The abstract, colorful drawings complement the poetic text and its positive message. mjw

Title: When I Colored In The World Author: Ahmadreza Ahmadi Illustrator: Ehsan Abdollahi Publisher: Tiny Owl Publishing Ltd. London Copyright: 2015 Original Language: Persian Translator: Azita Rassi Original Publisher: Nazar Publisher. Tehran, Iran Original Copyright: 2010 ISBN: 978-1-910328-07-1 Hardcover pages: 32 Age range: 5-9 Genre: Picture Book Author’s ethnicity: Iranian Author’s residence: Iran Awards: Iranian Flying Turtle Medal, 2010 Hans Christian Andersen shortlist Subjects: Colors, Crayons, Creativity, Erasers, Imagination, World

The Secret Of The Blue Glass

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In the library, in a house in a Tokyo suburb, live the Little People: Fern and Balbo, Robin and Iris. Just a few inches high, a beloved nanny brought them from England to the Moriyama family in Japan. Since then, each generation of the Moriyama family children take care of the Little People by filling the blue glass goblet daily with milk to feed them.  Now it is Yuri Moriyama’s turn.  When World War II comes to Japan, and the older Moriyama brother becomes a fanatic nationalist, the family is divided.  Yuri and a loyal pigeon keep the Little People safe.  This tender fantasy story is full of adventure, hardship, and cultural revelations. mjw

Title: The Secret Of The Blue Glass Author: Tomiko Inui (1924-2002) Publisher: Pushkin Children’s Books.  London Copyright: 2015 Original Language: Japanese Translator: Ginny Tapley Takemori Original Title: Kokage No Ie No Kobitotachi (Yuri And The Little People) Original Publisher: Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers.  Tokyo Original Copyright: 1967 ISBN: 978-1-782690-34-4 Paperback pages: 192 Age range: 12-16 Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy Book setting: Tokyo suburb Author’s ethnicity: Japanese Awards: 2019 Global Literature in Libraries Initiative Shortlist Subjects: Asian historical fiction, Libraries, Pigeons, World War II

Spur: A Wolf’s Story

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A young wolf named Spur, who is looking for food, is hurt when a shot comes from a helicopter that appears in the sky.  Spur’s family scatters for cover.  When the woods get quiet again, Spur finds another pack of wolves.  She tells them of the attack.  Although she misses her family, she feels grateful to the new pack. After a while, the roar of the helicopter returns.  She warns the other wolves and they hide.  Then, Spur hears a familiar wolf call.  It is her brother.  She splits from the pack and joins him.  Evocative artwork of wolves in their natural habitats enhances this empowering story. An author’s note tells more about culling wolves to protect livestock and to stabilize caribou populations, and the fact that there is evidence that killing wolves helps.  A resource list is also included. mjw

Title: Spur: A Wolf’s Story Author: Eliza Robertson Illustrator: Nora Aoyagi Publisher: Greystone Kids Books Copyright: 2019 Original Language: English ISBN: 978-1-77164-341-2 Hardcover pages: 32 Age range: 5-9 Genre: Picture Book Author’s residence: Montreal, Canada Illustrator’s residence: Berkeley, California Subjects: Caribou, Nature and environment, Seasons, Wolves