Category Archives: Uncategorized

Ida And The Whale

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Ida and the whaleIda, a curious little girl, spends her days sitting in a tree house pondering existential questions. One night, she befriends a giant flying whale who takes her on an incredible journey beyond the stars. They visit many strange and wonderful places including one where everything is upside down and one where everything is still and empty. Along the way, Ida’s questions are answered and she and the whale part ways as friends. Combined mediums of watercolor, pen, and computer graphics illustrate the beautiful and philosophically situated worlds Ida and the flying whale visit on their journey. mm

Title: Ida And The Whale
Author: Rebecca Gugger
Illustrator: Simon Rothlisberger
Publisher: NorthSouth Books
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 9780735843417
Hardcover pages: 33 
Age range: 4-8
Genre: Picture book
Author’s ethnicity: Swiss
Author’s residence: Thun, Switzerland
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Swiss
Illustrator’s residence: Thun, Switzerland 
Subjects: Emotions, Human-animal relationships, Philosophy, Whales

 

The Second Sky

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Gilbert, a baby penguin, wants to fly in the sky like an albatross.  He practices to no avail because he has big clumsy feet and small fluffy wings.  He falls on his face, his back, and his bottom.  His uncle tells him to give it up, but Gilbert knows he will find a way to fly.  He finally spreads his wings, jumps, tumbles, and splashes into the sea.  He sinks and sees stars, moons, clouds, forests, gardens, and mountaintops.  Under the sea, he flies.  He discovers the second sky in his own element.  The watercolor and pencil illustrations are beautiful with Gilbert’s movement and action. mjw
Title: The Second Sky
Author: Patrick Guest
Illustrator: Jonathan Bentley
Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Copyright: 2019
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-0802-855206
Hardcover pages: 32
Age range: 4-8
Genre: Picture Book
Author’s ethnicity: Australian
Author’s residence: Australia
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Australian
Illustrator’s residence: Australia
Subjects: Determination, Flight, Penguins

Rasha: Little Girl Big Heart

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Feisty fourteen-year-old Rasha is abandoned by her mother in a village far from their cosmopolitan Dhaka home, where she is forced to live with her aged and probably mad grandmother. The village has no electricity, heavy rains, and nosy neighbors. Rasha has to attend a primitive school with a bullying teacher.  She rises against her circumstances and exposes the teacher, stops a child marriage from happening, builds a boat so that she can get to school, and teaches her new school friends how to use a computer.  She even wins a science Olympiad. mjw
Title: Rasha: Little Girl Big Heart
Author: Muhanned Zafar Iqbal
Publisher: Puffin Books.  Penguin Random House India
Copyright: 2016
Original Language: Bengali
Translator: Arunava Sinha
Original Title: Rashed Amar Bondhu
Original Publisher: Tamralipi, Dhaka
Original Copyright: 2010
ISBN: 978-780143434887
Paperback pages: 240
Age range: 12-15
Genre: Fiction
Book setting: Bangladesh
Author’s ethnicity: Bangladeshi
Author’s residence: Bangladesh
Translator’s ethnicity: Bangladeshi
Translator’s residence: Bangladesh
Awards: Translator has won the Crossword Prize for Translated Books.  The book is on the 2019 Global Literature in Libraries Initiative Award Shortlist
Subjects: Bangladesh liberation war, Dhaka, East Pakistan, Freedom, Freedom fighters, Intergenerational

Ojiichan’s Gift

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Mayumi visits her grandfather (Ojiichan) in Japan every summer.  She helps him in his beautiful rock garden.  But one summer, everything changes.  Ojiichan has grown older and he cannot tend the garden any more.  Mayumi makes him a mini rock garden in a bento box. This is a heartwarming story about the bond of love.  The watercolor paintings are detailed and calming just like a Japanese rock garden. The Japanese words used in the story are explained in a brief glossary. mjw
Title: Ojiichan’s Gift
Author: Chieri Uegaki
Illustrator: Genevieve Simms
Publisher: Kids Can Press. Toronto
Copyright: 2019
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-77138-963-1
Hardcover pages: 32
Age range: 4-8
Genre: Picture Book
Book setting: Japan
Author’s ethnicity: Japanese
Author’s residence: British Columbia
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Canadian
Illustrator’s residence: Toronto, Ontario
Subjects: Asia, Gardens, Multigenerational, Rock gardens

Borka: The Adventure Of A Goose With No Feathers

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Borka is the youngest of six geese born to Mr. and Mrs. Plumpster.  She has no feathers, so Mrs. Plumpster knits a gray woolen sweater for her. The other geese tease her.  She is left behind when the family migrates south for the winter because she cannot fly.  She makes friends with a dog named Fowler and a boat skipper named Captain McAllister, who takes Borka on his boat.  He brings her to Kew Gardens in London where she fits in nicely because there are so many kinds of strange birds there.  She meets Ferdinand and he and Borka live there happily.  The bold, richly textured illustrations complement this beautiful classic.  This is the 55thanniversary edition, back by popular demand. mjw
Title: Borka: The Adventure Of A Goose With No Feathers
Author: John Burningham
Illustrator: John Burningham
Publisher: Candlewick Press. Somerville, MA
Copyright: 2018
Original Language: English
Original Publisher: Jonathan Cape, U.K.
Original Copyright: 1963
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0040-9
Hardcover pages: 32
Age range: 5-7
Genre: Picture Book
Book setting: England
Author’s ethnicity: English
Author’s residence: North London, England
Illustrator’s ethnicity: English
Illustrator’s residence: North London, England
Awards: 1964 Kate Greenaway Medal
Subjects: Birds, Dogs, Geese, Knitting

Rain

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Haiku verses accompany 12 scenes of rain in a variety of natural settings.  Each double-page spread features one haiku and one engaging, detailed illustration, such as mountain goats on hills, puffins flying near a lighthouse, and Japanese girls walking amid falling cherry blossoms. Each scene takes place in a different kind of rain.  The book will inspire readers to write their own haiku. mjw
Title: Rain
Author: Anders Holmer
Illustrator: Max Klein
Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
Copyright: 2018
Original Language: Swedish
Original Title: Regn
Original Publisher: Natur and Kultur. Stockholm, Sweden
Original Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 978-0802855077
Hardcover pages: 32
Age range: 4-8
Genre: Poetry, Picture Book
Book setting: Scenes from all over the globe
Author’s ethnicity: Swedish
Author’s residence: Sweden
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Swedish
Illustrator’s residence: Sweden
Subjects: Haiku, Poetry, Rain

This Is Me, Mayil

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This is the diary of spirited sixteen-year-old Mayil Ganeshan.  She is curious and intelligent and wants to be a writer.  Also included are her rhymes and doodles.  The diary feels natural and is third in a series. mjw
Title: This Is Me, Mayil
Author: Niveditha Subramaniam and Sowmya Rajendran
Illustrator: Niveditha Subramaniam
Publisher: Tulika Publishers.  Chennai, India
Copyright: 2018
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-93-5046-996-5
Paperback pages: 124
Age range: 13 up
Genre: Fiction
Book setting: India
Author’s ethnicity: Indian
Author’s residence: India
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Indian
Illustrator’s residence: India
Subjects: Autobiography, Diary, Humor, Rhyme, Verse, Young adult

A Drop Of The Sea

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Ali lives with his great-grandmother at the edge of the desert, not far from a hundred-year-old palm tree.  Ali has grown worried that, in her old age, his great-grandmother is finding it harder to walk. Ali asks if all her dreams have come true.  She replies that she hasn’t seen the sea.  A determined Ali takes his pail and a pack of dates and walks the two days it takes to get to the sea.  He carefully fills his pail and walks the two days back to his great-grandmother.  Gently he offers her the pail.  At the very bottom only a few drops of the sea remain.  The old woman declares that this is one of the most beautiful days of her life.  The artwork in this sweet story was rendered digitally and in gouache and pencil.  A clever touch is the use of paper maps to indicate Ali’s journey. mjw
Title: A Drop Of The Sea
Author: Ingrid Chabbert
Illustrator: Raul Nieto Guriddi
Publisher: Kids Can Press. Toronto, Canada
Copyright: 2018
Original Language: French
Original Title: Un Bout de Mer
Original Publisher: Editions Frimousse
Original Copyright: 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0124-7
Hardcover pages: 36
Age range: 4-7
Genre: Picture Book
Book setting: A Middle East desert
Author’s ethnicity: French
Author’s residence: France
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Spanish
Illustrator’s residence: Spain
Subjects: Bedtime story, Multigenerational, Seas, Sleep

The Hen Who Sailed Around The World: A True Story

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For the last two years, 24-year-old French sailor Guirec Soudee has been sailing the world with his red hen Monique.  Monique never suffers from seasickness.  She keeps him company and provides him with a constant source of food – eggs.  Over the course of the adventure she laid 1,040 eggs! They are currently crossing the Pacific Ocean.  Guirec has documented their journeys with his remarkable and comical photographs and you can follow him online at guirecsoudee.com.  His first book The Transatlantic Voyage Of Monique was released in France.  A map of the voyages is included.  mjw
Title: The Hen Who Sailed Around The World: A True Story
Author: Guirec Soudee
Illustrator: Guirec Soudee
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Copyright: 2018
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-0-316-44884-0
Hardcover pages: 40
Age range: 4-8
Genre: Nonfiction, Information book, Travel literature
Book setting: Around the world
Author’s ethnicity: French
Illustrator’s ethnicity: French
Subjects: Chickens, Human-animal relationships, Northwest Passage, Photographs, Sailing, Survival

Anne Arrives: Inspired By Anne Of Green Gables

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In this first of a charming early reader series that reimagines L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, Anne Shirley arrives at the farm of Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert. They had adopted what they thought would be a sturdy boy to help on their farm.  Instead, they got imaginative – and outspoken – red-headed Anne-with-an-e.  This book covers the first few chapters of Montgomery’s book.  The lovely illustrations are rendered in graphite, watercolor, and colored pencil and completed digitally.  And the chapters are short enough to keep young readers’ attention. mjw
Title: Anne Arrives: Inspired By Anne Of Green Gables
Author: Kallie George
Illustrator: Abigail Halpin
Publisher: Tundra Books, and imprint of Penguin Random House. Canada
Copyright: 2018
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-77149-930-9
Hardcover pages: 72
Age range: 6-8
Genre: Historical fiction
Book setting: Prince Edward Island, Canada
Author’s ethnicity: Canadian
Author’s residence: Vancouver, British Columbia
Illustrator’s ethnicity: U.S.
Illustrator’s residence: Maine.  U.S.
Subjects: Farms, Foster homes, Orphans

Why The Elephant Has Tiny Eyes

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Told in verse, this folktale from the Tai Phake people of India’s northeast tells why the elephant has tiny eyes.  The first elephant (chaang) had large eyes. Along came a wagtail bird that made the elephant laugh so hard that his eyes crinkled small.  An unusually limited palette recreates the region’s landscape. mjw
Title: Why The Elephant Has Tiny Eyes
Author: Pow Aim Hailowng
Illustrator: Priya Kuriyan
Publisher: Tulika Publishers.  Chennai, India
Copyright: 2018
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-93-86667-71-7
Paperback pages: 26
Age range: 4-8
Genre: Picture book, Folktale
Book setting: India, Tai Phake people of northeast India
Author’s ethnicity: Tai Phake Indian
Author’s residence: India
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Indian
Illustrator’s residence: Kochi, India
Subjects: Birds, Bridges, Elephants, Fables, Myths

Hello, Horse

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When the little boy’s friend Catherine asks him to come meet her horse named Shannon, he replies that he’s not so sure he likes horses.  Shannon is very big, but Catherine says she’s very kind.  Catherine teaches the boy to talk quietly to the horse, how to feed her carrots, how to lead her across a field, and even how to blow at her softly to show that he likes her.  Catherine helps him up onto the horse for his first ride.  Facts about horses are sprinkled throughout this gentle story. The book ends with an author’s note that tells that Shannon is the illustrator’s horse.  An index and more information are also included.  The beautiful illustrations were done in mixed media. mjw
Title: Hello, Horse
Author: Vivian French
Illustrator: Catherine Rayner
Publisher: Candlewick Press.  Somerville, MA
Copyright: 2018
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0167-3
Hardcover pages: 40
Age range: 5-8
Genre: Picture Book
Book setting: Scotland
Author’s ethnicity: British
Author’s residence: Scotland
Subjects: Farm animals, Horses, New experiences