Tag Archives: Arts

The Secret Kingdom: Nek Chand, A Changing India And A Hidden World Of Art

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Nek Chand was born in the village of Berian Kalan in the Punjab region near the Himalayas.  He grew up listening to stories and building a small world of his own out of sticks, clay, and rocks.  In 1947, with the Partition of India, the Punjab was divided into India and Pakistan.  His Hindu family no longer belonged where they lived and they resettled in Chandigarh, a modern city in India.  Nek found a job as a government roads inspector, but never felt like he belonged.  He found an abandoned forestland and, using natural materials, started building a secret kingdom.  He worked for sixteen years creating this secret garden of art from his imagination.  The gouache and watercolor illustrations are very detailed and there is a foldout of photos of the actual garden and sculptures.  An author’s note gives more background information about Chand’s life and the Nek Chand Foundation.  The book concludes with an extensive bibliography.  mjw

Title: The Secret Kingdom: Nek Chand, A Changing India, And A Hidden World Of Art Author: Barb Rosenstock Illustrator: Claire A.Nivola Publisher: Candlewick Press Copyright: 2018 Original Language: English ISBN: 978-0-7636-7475-5 Hardcover pages: 48 Age range: 7-10 Genre: Picture Book, Biography Book setting: Chandigarh, India Author’s ethnicity: U.S. Author’s residence: U.S. Illustrator’s ethnicity: U.S. Illustrator’s residence: U.S. Awards: 2019 Orbis Pictus Honor Book Subjects: Asia, Biography, Green living, Imagination, Mosaics, Partition, Recycling, Rock garden, Sculptures, Storytelling, Visual arts

Astrid The Unstoppable

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Nicknamed “the little thunderbolt,” ten-year-old Astrid likes to spend her days skiing, sledding, singing, and drinking hot chocolate with her grumpy best friend and godfather, Gunnvald.  She is the only child living in the village of Glimmerdal and she wishes there were other children in the town.  When two children unexpectedly show up, and then another strange woman appears, Astrid’s life suddenly gets very exciting.  This hilarious book will charm fans of Pippi Longstocking and Heidi. A map of Glimmerdal sets the scene. mjw

Title: Astrid The Unstoppable Author: Maria Parr Illustrator: Katie Harnett Publisher: Candlewick Press Copyright: 2018 Original Language: Norwegian Translator: Guy Puzey Original Title: Tonje Glimmerdal Original Publisher: Det Norske Samlaget. Oslo Original Copyright: 2009 ISBN: 978-1-5362-0017-1 Hardcover pages: 320 Age range: 9-12 Genre: Fiction Book setting: Norway Author’s ethnicity: Norwegian Author’s residence: Norway Translator’s ethnicity: Grew up in Scotland Translator’s residence: Scotland Subjects: Girls, Humor, Norway, Rural children, Songs

Swan Lake: A Retelling Of The Classic Ballet By Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

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The ballet, Swan Lake, the tragic love story of Odette, a princess transformed into a swan by an evil sorcerer, is reimagined in beautiful black, white, and red charcoal illustrations in this over-sized picture book version of the classic tale.  The story is briefly summarized at the beginning of each of the three acts. It is a story of first love, good and evil, and betrayal and loss. mjw

Title: Swan Lake: A Retelling Of The Classic Ballet By Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Author: Anne Spudvilas Illustrator: Anne Spudvilas Publisher: Allen and Unwin Book Publishers.  Sydney, Australia Copyright: 2017 Original Language: English ISBN: 978-1-74331-845-4 Hardcover pages: 48 Age range: 10-14 Genre: Picture Book Book setting: Murry-Darling riverscape in Australia Author’s ethnicity: Australian Author’s residence: Wentworth, Australia Illustrator’s ethnicity: Australian Illustrator’s residence: Wentworth, Australia Subjects: Ballets, Birds, Dance, Fairytales, Love, Magic

Mary Poppins

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Based on the original 1934 novel by P.L. Travers, this picture book version has beautiful soft pastel and colored pencil illustrations that take readers back to Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane in London to meet Mary Poppins and the Banks children.  There is a tea party on the ceiling, a visit to the night zoo, and a trip to the star shop.  This is the perfect introduction to everyone’s favorite nanny. mjw

Title: Mary Poppins Author: P.L.Travers (1899-196), adapted ny Amy Novesky Illustrator: Genevieve Godbout Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Copyright: 2018 Original Language: English Original Copyright:  1934 ISBN: 978-1-328-91677-8 Hardcover pages: 32 Age range: 4-7 Genre: Picture Book, Fantasy Book setting: London Author’s ethnicity: English Illustrator’s ethnicity: Born and raised in Quebec Illustrator’s residence: Montreal Subjects: Fantasy; London, England: Magic: Nannies

The True Tale Of A Giantess: The Story Of Anna Swan

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This historical non-fiction children’s book follows the rich life of acclaimed Nova Scotia Giantess Anna Swan. Anna grows up feeling (figuratively and physically) out-of-place in her hometown and yearns for  a life of travel and adventure. She decides to join P.T. Barnum’s Gallery of Wonders and meets other people who are unique like she is. Being a part of the Gallery opens up doors for Anna and she is able to have all the adventures she dreamed about as a little girl. She meets and befriends Queen Victoria and falls in love with fellow giant Martin Van Buren Bates. Her life story emphasizes the value of individuality and creating one’s own world to fit into if such an environment is not provided. The illustrations in mixed media and Photoshop include a spectrum of shaded grey, blue, and olive-green pastels and feature soft round-faced characters with blush faces.    mm

Title: The True Tale of a Giantess: The Story of Anna Swan Author: Anne Renaud Illustrator: Marie Lafrance Publisher: Kids Can Press, Toronto Copyright: 2018 Original Language: English ISBN: 978-1-77138-376-9 Hardcover pages:  32 Age range: 4-8 Genre: Biography, Picture Book Book setting: Nova Scotia, New York, England Author’s ethnicity: Canadian Author’s residence: Westmount, Quebec Illustrator’s ethnicity:  Canadian Illustrator’s residence: Montreal, Quebec Subjects: Biography, Circus, Giants, Nova Scotia, Performing arts, Women

The Truth Commission

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Normandy Pale is a high school junior at the Green Pastures Academy of Art and Applied Design.  This is the year she is supposed to come into her own and come out from under the shadow of her brilliant older sister Keira, who as a teen became a best-selling graphic novelist.  Normandy turns to her writing, her needlework, and the “truth commission.”  Her friends have started the project because they believe the theory that the truth can heal.  So they begin asking people truths about things that other people already suspect. Things go well until it leads straight back to Keira and her dysfunctional family.  The book is Normandy’s “narrative nonfiction” project at school, complete with footnotes, drawings, and notes to her creative writing teacher.  The characters are real and the language is witty. mjw

Title: The Truth Commission Author: Susan Juby Illustrator: Trevor Cooper Publisher: Penguin Teen, Canada Books, Inc. Copyright: 2017 Original Language: English Original Publisher: Razorbill.  Toronto, Canada Original Copyright: 2105 ISBN: 978-0-14-318916-9 Paperback pages: 320 Age range: 14 up Genre: Narrative Nonfiction Book setting: Vancouver Island Author’s ethnicity: Canadian Author’s residence: Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada Illustrator’s ethnicity: Canadian Illustrator’s residence: Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada Awards: Sheila A. Egoff Award for Children’s Literature, Amy Mothers Teen Book Award Subjects: Art students, High school, Humor, Siblings, Values and virtues, Writing

The Red Ribbon

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Fourteen-year-old Ella is a seamstress in the Upper Tailoring Studio at Auschwitz-Birkenau, a sewing workshop inside the Nazi Concentration camp.  Her job is to make couture dresses for the wives of the camp’s Nazi overseers and the female SS officers.  Ella meets Rose and the two do their best to survive.  Ella dreams of opening a fancy dress shop after the war. The wonderful and surprising writing offers a different view of the Holocaust. mjw

Title: The Red Ribbon Author: Lucy Adlington Publisher: Candlewick Press Copyright: 2018 Original Language: English Original Copyright: 2017 ISBN: 978-1-5362-0104-8 Hardcover pages: 288 Age range: 12 up Genre: Historical Fiction Book setting: Auschwitz Birkenau, Poland Author’s ethnicity: English Author’s residence: England Subjects: Fashion Holocaust, Sewing, Survival