It’s Dani’s birthday. He lives with his parents and sister in his Jewish community in Buenos Aires. He worries that his classmates won’t come to his party because they think the unique bright light that follows him everywhere is too annoying. His friends do attend his party and he realizes they like him just the way he is. His light is there to share with the world. When he blows out the candles on his cake, his big light becomes many small lights for his friends, who are delighted. Together, they create a brighter world. The cheerful illustrations rendered in pencil and Procreate, show how the Argentinian and Jewish cultures combine in Dani’s world. Backmatter explains Jewish life, experiences, and strength in Argentina, where 250,000 Jews now live in the capital city of Buenos Aires. A glossary of Spanish and Hebrew words is also included. This gentle story has an accompanying activity guide at KalaniotBooks.com. mjw |
| Title: A Bright Light In Buenos Aires Author: Santiago Nader Illustrator: Paula Wegman Publisher: Kalaniot Books. Moosic, Pennsylvania Copyright: 2024 Original Language: English ISBN: 979-8-986-3965-8-3 Hardcover pages: 32 Age range: 5-10 Genre: Picture Book Book setting: Buenos Aires, Argentina Author’s ethnicity: Argentine Author’s residence: Buenos Aires, Argentina Illustrator’s ethnicity: Argentine Illustrator’s residence: Buenos Aires, Argentina Subjects: Argentina, Birthdays, Buenos Aires, Celebrations, Diversity, Futbol, Hebrew, Jewish fiction, Shabbat, South America |
A Bright Light In Buenos Aires
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This question-and-answer book features a young girl and her grandfather exploring water’s role in world history and earth science. Topics include: How much water is there on earth? Why does it rain? How are rainbows and water related? How is a sea different from an ocean? What lives in our oceans? How powerful is water? What is life without water? How can we protect our planet’s water? The answers offer many vocabulary words clearly explained in the energetic text. The book’s endpapers reveal fascinating water facts. To illustrate the book, the author/artist sprinkled, dripped, and thinned acrylic paints with water. Approximately ten liters (2.6 gallons) of water were used to create the book’s gorgeous artwork. 


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