 There is so much to explore in the park! Stop at the bandstand, the playground, the garden, the woods, the greenhouse, the pond, the petting zoo, and more. Discover exciting activities like horseback riding, tai chi, tightrope walking, soccer, and even hula-hooping. Look for a chihuahua, swans, ducks, caterpillars, pigeons, ponies, and a llama. At the end, choose a form of transportation from a busy city map to travel back home or play a memory game to test new vocabulary. There are 200 words for children to learn in the book- names for plants, birds, picnic foods, and much more. The colorful, detailed illustrations of this park trip use a variety of artistic techniques and provide an almost picture dictionary of a park. mjw |
| Title: My Day In The Park Author: Marta Orzel Illustrator: Marta Orzel Publisher: Blue Dot Kids Press Copyright: 2022 Original Language: French Translator: Johanna McCalmont Original Title: Au parc il y a Original Publisher: Belin Jeunesse/Humensis Original Copyright: 2017 ISBN: 978-1-73760-3245 Hardcover pages: 34 Age range: 3-6 Genre: Picture Book Author’s ethnicity: French Author’s residence: France Illustrator’s ethnicity: French Illustrator’s residence: France Subjects: Cities, Concepts, Maps, Parks, Towns, Vocabulary, Words |
My Day In The Park
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Narrated by a young refugee, this beautiful and realistic picture book tells about having to leave home and the healing power of hope. The girl and her mother used to live in an apartment with a star-shaped lamp in their window. In their new country, everything is different – the language, their apartment, and the food. One day, the mother brings home art supplies so that they can make a cardboard star just like the one they had back home. That helps to make their new place feel a little more like home. The penultimate page shows the girl with a new friend, both carrying their musical instruments. The mostly blue and yellow illustrations were created with hand drawn contours and Photoshop. An author’s note explains that the book was inspired by Desnitskaya’s experience leaving Russia after the start of the Ukraine War. It is the author’s hope that his book can help children from different countries who have lost their homes to start loving the place where they were forced to be. 
In the pueblo of Palenque in Colombia at the turn of the 21st century, hardly anyone knows how to read or write. The young female narrator of the story is curious about the letters her older sister receives in the mail from her doctor friend. She hopes that they are love letters. Senor Velandia, the shop owner, is one of the few in the pueblo who can read. He helps the girl to read if she will help him in his shop. Slowly she learns the alphabet by writing letters on the ground with a piece of charcoal. She teaches the other children of the pueblo to read the letters with her and discover the magic of reading. The digital, richly colored, textured illustrations depict the Afro-Latine community. An author’s note explains the history of enslaved people in Central and South America, who were forbidden to read by the colonizing Spaniards. This story is woven together from the stories the author heard from various women across Colombia. mjw
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