Author Archives: omnilibros

About omnilibros

Professor of Education Carthage College Kenosha, WI PhD. Children's Literature

Harry Miller’s Run

Eleven-year-old Liam is an enthusiastic runner who, with his mates, has entered his first Junior Great North Run. He visits an elderly neighbor, Harry Miller, who is about to move into a nursing home and who his mum helps to look after. Harry tells that he ran the thirteen-mile race from Newcastle to the sea at South Shields when he was a lad in 1938. This touching and uplifting story about friendship is illustrated with detailed black and white drawings. The Great North Run is an actual English athletic event. mjw

Title: Harry Miller’s Run
Author: David Almond
Illustrator: Salvatore Rubbino
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd., London
Copyright: 2015
Original Language: English
Original copyright: 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4063-6224-4
Hardcover pages: 64
Age range: 7 up
Genre: Historical Fiction
Book setting: England
Author’s ethnicity: British
Author’s residence: Northumberland, England
Illustrator’s residence: London
Awards: Author has won 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Medal
Subjects: Friendship, Marathon running, Reminiscing in old age, Running

Mr. Chicken Lands On London

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London is Mr. Chicken’s favorite city in all the world and he has a full itinerary. First, he has morning tea with the Queen. After the royal visit, it’s St. James’s Park and St. Paul’s Cathedral. He drives the double-decker bus himself, rides the Underground, and sits atop Lord Nelson’s Column – all before lunch. More sightseeing includes the National Gallery, Piccadilly Circus, and St. Martin-in-the-Fields. He attends the opera and makes it to Big Ben by the strike of midnight. This introduction to London is made fun by the crazy cartoon drawings and subversive humor of enormously oversized Mr. Chicken’s madcap adventure. The endpapers include a map of London, Mr. Chicken’s London Checklist, and his thank you note to the Queen. The author/illustrator was named Australian Children’s Laureate on February 8, 2016. mjw

Title: Mr. Chicken Lands On London
Author: Leigh Hobbs
Illustrator: Leigh Hobbs
Publisher: Allen & Unwin, Australia
Copyright: 2014
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-74331-592-7
Hardcover pages: 32
Age range: 4-8
Genre: Picture Book
Book setting: London
Author’s ethnicity: Australian
Author’s residence: Australia
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Australian
Illustrator’s residence: Australia
Awards: 2016-2017 Australian Children’s Laureate
Subjects: Birds, England, Europe, Geography, Humor, London

Diary Of A Time Traveler: Meet Over One Hundred Of History’s Biggest Superstars

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It all started when a boy named Augustus fell asleep in his boring history class, but thanks to his creative teacher, Professor Tempo, and his magic notebook, history comes alive. He and his teacher travel back in time to 1 Million BC in Africa when people first used fire, then make 28 more stops at important points in Earth’s history, and end in 1969 when man walked on the moon. Other highlights explored are Stonehenge, the early Olympics in Greece, The Great Wall in China, the end of slavery, and the advent of women’s suffrage. They meet explorers, inventors, leaders, writers, and more, such as Leif Erikson, Genghis Khan, Johannes Gutenberg, Michelangelo, William Shakespeare, Sacagawea, Marie Curie, and Duke Ellington. The text contains many amusing and interesting facts and is illuminated by fun, digitally created illustrations. An index is included. mjw

Title: Diary Of A Time Traveler: Meet Over One hundred Of History’s Biggest Superstars
Author: David Lang
Illustrator: Nicholas Stevenson
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions, and imprint of Quarto Inc.
Copyright: 2015
Original Language: English
Original Publisher: Aurum Press Ltd., Great Britain
Original Copyright: 2015
ISBN: 978-1-84780-704-5
Hardcover pages: 64
Age range: 7-10
Genre: Picture Book, Historical Fiction
Author’s ethnicity: English
Author’s residence: Suffolk. England
Illustrator’s ethnicity: English
Illustrator’s residence: North London, England
Subjects: History, Reference, Science fiction, Time travel, World history

An Island Of Our Own

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Siblings, seventeen-year-old Jonathan, ten-year-old Holly, and six-year-old Davy have to look after themselves since their mum died. Jonathan has turned down his place at university to work in a café to care for Holly and Davy. Their wealthy and eccentric Aunt Irene passes away and leaves them some photographs that might lead to an inheritance, and Holly is determined to find the hidden treasure. On their quest, using the modern technology of a Maker Space to find clues, they meet a wide variety of people and travel across England and Scotland. Holly, who narrates the story, is optimistic and spunky. Jonathan is strong, nerdy, and cool. References to Dr. Who, The Hobbit, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and The Chronicles of Narnia; short chapters; and likeable characters help make this contemporary adventure about the strength of family and kindness of others a lot of fun. mjw

Title: An Island Of Out Own
Author: Sally Nicholls
Publisher: Scholastic Children’s Books
Copyright: 2015
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1407-12433-9
Paperback pages: 240
Age range: 11up
Genre: Fiction
Book setting: England, Orkney Islands, Scotland
Author’s ethnicity: English
Author’s residence: Oxford, UK
Awards: 2015 IBW Children’s Fiction Award, 2015 Guardian Children’s Fiction Longlist
Subjects: Brothers and sisters, Discovery, Humor, Maker spaces, Mysteries, Photographs, Technology

In The New World: A Family In Two Centuries

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Robert and Margarete Peters and their children Johannes, who is eight, and Dorothea, who is six, emigrate from Germany to the United States in 1869. They leave behind severe economic conditions, their farm, family, and friends. They can take only what they can carry in the one trunk allowed in steerage aboard the Teutonia. They land in New Orleans and join a wagon train headed west to Nebraska, where they establish a farm outside Omaha. The book ends with fifth generation, multiethnic descendants of Robert and Margarete, who live on the same farm in Omaha, traveling back to their ancestral home in Germany to uncover their history. Detailed, delicate, and crisp pencil and watercolor illustrations enrich the fascinating, well-organized, flowing text in this excellent resource for social studies classrooms. Decorative maps on the endpapers show each family’s journey. mjw

Title: In The New World: A Family In Two Centuries
Author: Christa Holtei
Illustrator: Gerda Raidt
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing
Copyright: 2015
Original Language: German
Translator: Susi Woofter
Original Title: In Die Neue Welt: Eine Familiengeschichte in Zwei Jahrhunderten
Original Publisher: Julius Beltz GmbH and Co. KG, Beltz Verlag
Original Copyright: 2013
ISBN: 978-1-58089-630-6
Hardcover pages: 40
Age range: 5-10
Genre: Picture Book
Book setting: Germany and Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Author’s ethnicity: German
Author’s residence: Germany
Illustrator’s ethnicity: German
Illustrator’s residence: Germany
Subjects: Biography, Cultural identity, Emigration and immigration, Family life, Farmers, German Americans, Immigrants, Nebraska, United States 1800s

The Green Bicycle

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One of Saudi Arabia’s best-known and most controversial filmmakers has adapted her very successful film Wadjda for middle grade readers. Rebellious, 11-year-old Wadjda lives with her strict parents in modern day Riyadh and dreams of owning the green bicycle that she passes in a store everyday on her way to school. She wants to race her friend Abdullah, but riding bikes is frowned upon for girls and Wadjda’s parents refuse to buy the bike for her. Wadjda tries to raise the money buy selling bracelets and mixtapes that she makes. Fiercely independent, she doesn’t fit in at school, gets into a lot of trouble, and risks expulsion. She eventually enters a Quran competition in order to win the prize money and purchase the bike. She wins, but the school chooses to donate the money to Palestine on her behalf. She returns home to find that her mother has bought the bike and Wadjda then wins the race against Abdullah. Explanations of various elements of Saudi culture and its patriarchal society are woven into the story and provide helpful background for readers unfamiliar with the region. The film Wadjda (2012) was the first full-length feature to be shot entirely in Saudi Arabia and through 2013, the only feature-length film made in Saudi Arabia by a female director. The film has won numerous awards around the world. mjw

Title: The Green Bicycle
Author: Haifaa Al Mansour
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Copyright: 2015
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-0525-42806-0
Hardcover pages: 352
Age range: 8 up
Genre: Fiction
Book setting: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Author’s ethnicity: Saudi Arabian
Author’s residence: Bahrain
Awards: The film Wadjda (2012) won the 2013 Best International Feature Audience Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival
Subjects: Bicycles and bicycling, Coming of Age, Female empowerment, Gender roles, Girls and women, Koran, Middle East, Music, Muslims, Quran, Sex roles,

A Pig Called Heather

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Heather, the Duroc pig, lives on a lovely 300-year-old farm in Scotland, loves and can identify apples of all kinds, and has Isla, the farmer’s daughter, as her best friend. When the barn is destroyed in a fire and Isla and her father move to London, the new owner, Mr. Busby, has a commercial promoting farm life shot at the farm and Heather is “discovered.” She is whisked off to London to become a national celebrity and the star of an advertising campaign. At a photo shoot, Heather escapes and finds Isla. A pig living in a flat in London proves challenging and Heather ends up finding a home in the London Zoo. Heather’s animal friends are brilliant, perfectly personified, and completely believable. However they don’t talk to humans. Heather and Isla communicate by snout scrunching. The writing is imaginative, fast-paced, and contains fun Britishisms. The ending hints at the two sequels, The Return of A Pig Called Heather (paperback 2014) and Heather’s Piglets (2015), where Heather has more zany adventures. mjw

Title: A Pig Called Heather
Author: Harry Oulton
Publisher: Holiday House, New York
Copyright: 2105
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3290-5
Hardcover pages: 128
Age range: 8-12
Genre: Fiction, Animal Fantasy
Book setting: Aberdeenshire, Scotland. London
Author’s ethnicity: British
Author’s residence: England
Subjects: England, Farm life, Human-animal relationships, Pigs, Voyages and travels

Swan: The Life And Dance of Anna Pavlova

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This beautiful picture book celebrates the extraordinary life of one of the world’s prima ballerinas. Starting with her humble beginnings in 19^th century tsarist Russia, the story unfolds to tell of her triumphs on the stage and her tragic end. The tender and graceful illustrations, which are done in ink, gouache, graphite, pencil, and crayon, and the text, which is light, vivid, and magical, make this masterpiece an excellent read-aloud. An Author’s Note provides more detailed information and a Bibliography and Quotation Sources suggest places for young readers to learn even more about the gifted dancer. mjw

Title: Swan: The Life And Dance Of Anna Pavlova
Author: Laurel Snyder
Illustrator: Julie Morstad
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Copyright: 2015
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-4521-1890-1
Hardcover pages: 52
Age range: 6-9
Genre: Picture Book Biography
Book setting: Russia
Author’s ethnicity: American
Author’s residence: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Canadian
Illustrator’s residence: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Awards: 2016 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
Subjects: Ballerinas, Biographies, Dance, Performing arts, Russia (Federation), Women

The Snow Rabbit

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Two blonde sisters look out of their window at the snowy sky in this charming wordless picture book. One sister goes out and builds a snow rabbit. When she brings it inside to her wheelchair-bound sister and it begins to melt, they take it back outside and magical things start to happen. The sisters chase the rabbit and the wheelchair gets stuck in the snow. Finally the girls ride the rabbit, which has grown to an enormous size, back through the moonlight to the safety of their cottage. The 3-D hand-colored cut-paper illustrations, set in dioramas, dramatically lit, and photographed, add impact to the enchantment. mjw

Title: The Snow Rabbit
Author: Camille Garoche (Princesse Camcam)
Illustrator: Camille Garoche (Princesse Camcam)
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books, New York
Copyright: 2015
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-59270-181-0
Hardcover pages: 56
Age range: 4-8
Genre: Wordless Picture Book
Author’s ethnicity: French
Author’s residence: Paris, France
Illustrator’s ethnicity: French
Illustrator’s residence: Paris, France
Subjects: Children with disabilities, Magic, Rabbits, Sisters, Snow, Stories without words

Adam And Thomas

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Adam and Thomas are two nine-year-old Jewish boys who have been left in the forest by their mothers who must return to the ghetto. They eat berries to survive and build a nest in a high tree for shelter. They witness Nazis chasing other fugitives and help when they can. A peasant girl named Mina discovers the boys and leaves them packages of food at her own risk. Through their positive thinking and resourcefulness, they survive winter’s harsh weather and eventually reach the infirmary of the Red Army, but the story’s ending is uncertain. This powerful fable about survival and friendship is illustrated with delicate dreamlike watercolor and ink paintings. The author’s personal experience was inspiration for the book. mjw

Title: Adam And Thomas
Author: Aharon Appelfeld
Illustrator: Philippe Dumas
Publisher: Seven Stories Press, New York
Copyright: 2015
Original Language: Hebrew
Translator: Jeffrey M. Green
Original Title: Yalda Shelo Minhaolam Haze (A Girl From Another World)
Original Copyright: 2013
ISBN: 978-1-60980-634-7
Hardcover pages: 149
Age range: 10-18
Genre: Historical fiction
Book setting: World War II
Author’s ethnicity: Born near Czernowitz, Bukovina, Ukraine
Author’s residence: Beersheba, Israel
Illustrator’s ethnicity: French
Illustrator’s residence: France
Awards: 2016 Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book, 2016 Sydney Taylor Book Award, 2016 National Jewish Book Award Finalist
Subjects: Courage, Holocaust, Jews, Refugees, Surfival, War stories, World War II, 1939-1945

Lola And I

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Narrated by blind Lola’s black Lab guide dog named Star, this picture book portrays the friendship between a girl and her dog. At first, Lola was afraid to go outside. But eventually, she and Star go out to explore Lola’s Italian environment. They shop for clothing, have cream croissants and lemonade in the park, go tobogganing in the mountains, and have their portrait painted at the beach. The strong text, with sight-free sensory details, is enriched by warm, soft-focus illustrations. mjw

Title: Lola and I
Author: Chiara Valentina Segre
Illustrator: Paolo Domeniconi
Publisher: Fitzhenry and Whiteside
Copyright: 2105
Original Language: Italian
Translator: Chiara Valentina Segre
Original Title: Lola e io
Original Publisher: Camelozampa. Monselice, Italy
Original Copyright: 2012
ISBN: 978-1-55455-363-1
Hardcover pages: 32
Age range: 5-8
Genre: Picture Book
Book setting: Italy
Author’s ethnicity: Italian
Author’s residence: Italy
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Italian
Illustrator’s residence: Italy
Awards: 2105 IBBY Outstanding Book for Young People with Disabilities
Subjects: Blind, Children with disabilities, Dogs, Guide dogs, Human-animal relationships, Special needs, Visually impaired

The Pied Piper Of Hamelin: An Old Legend Collected By The Brothers Grimm

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In the year 1284, the town of Hamelin was overrun by rats and the Mayor himself offered a good fee to the stranger, wearing a parti-colored or “pied” robe, who promised he would rid the town of the plague of rats. The rat-catcher played a tune on his pipe “that had never been heard before,’ which caused the rats to scurry to the River Weser, where they all drowned. But when the townspeople would not give him the gold he had earned, the Pied Piper left the town angry and later returned, dressed like a huntsman, playing another strange melody on his pipe. This time, the Hamelin children followed him and disappeared. This fine translation of the original strange and unsettling tale is adorned with dark and creepy, yet elegant watercolor painting by one of the world’s preeminent book artists. An afterword gives information about the legend and a list of other tales illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger. mjw

Title: The Pied Piper Of Hamelin: An Old Legend Collected By The Brothers Grimm
Author: Retold by Renate Raecke
Illustrator: Lisbeth Zwerger
Publisher: Michael Neugebauer Publishing Ltd. A Minedition book
Copyright: 2014
Original Language: German
Translator: Anthea Bell
Original Title: Originally published in German Legends (1816/18) by Jacob Grimm (1785-1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859)
Original Copyright: 1816-1818
ISBN: 978-988-8240-82-1
Hardcover pages: 32
Age range: 7-9
Genre: Picture Book, Fairy tale
Book setting: Hamelin, Germany
Author’s ethnicity: Renate Raecke – German
Author’s residence: Germany
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Austrian
Illustrator’s residence: Vienna
Awards: Illustrator has won Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1990
Subjects: Greed, Legendary characters, Legends, Folklore, Rat