Tag Archives: Families

Child Soldier: When Boys And Girls Are Used In War

At age five, in 1993, Michel Chikwanine was kidnapped from his schoolyard soccer game in the Democratic Republic of Congo and forced to become a child soldier for a brutal rebel militia. He managed to escape, find his family, and emigrate to Canada at age eleven, where his teacher encouraged him to share what happened to him in order to raise awareness about child soldiers around the world. He has since traveled to 35 African countries and become an activist. The story is told in first person in graphic novel format, with earthy-tone illustrations that are gentle and child-friendly. A map and a bit of history help readers understand Michel’s experience. This true story concludes with a photograph and more information about Michel, facts about child soldiers, what is being done to help, and a list of primary sources for further research. This book is part of the CitizenKid series of books that inform children about the world and inspire them to make a difference locally and globally. mjw

Title: Child Soldier: When Boys And Girls Are Used In War
Author: Jessica Dee Humphreys and Michel Chikwanine
Illustrator: Claudia Davila
Publisher: CitizenKid, Kids Can Press Ltd.
Copyright: 2015
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-77138-126-0
Hardcover pages: 48
Age range: 8-14
Genre: Information Book, Nonfiction, Graphic Novel
Book setting: Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa
Author’s ethnicity: Chikwanine – Born in Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa
Author’s residence: Chikwanine – Toronto, Canada. Humphrey – Toronto, Canada
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Born in Chile
Illustrator’s residence: Toronto, Canada
Subjects: Autobiography, Children and war, Comic books, Conflict and change, Global awareness, Social justice.

Little Red Riding Hood

Leave a reply

This eye appealing retelling of Little Red Riding Hood with die-cut patterns and textures is absolutely gorgeous. The brilliantly placed text and die-cut illustrations create a fun and alluring interactive reading experience.The die-cut pages’ placement foreshadows upcoming events which invite readers to guess what will happen next. The mixture of patterns, textures, ominous shades, and bright colors evokes Little Red Cap’s carefree attitude despite being surrounded by clues of looming dangers. ema

Title: Little Red Riding Hood
Author: Jacob Grimm (1785-1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859)
Illustrator: Sybille Schenker
Publisher: Michael Neugebauer Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: 2014
Original Language: German
Translator: Anthea Bell
Original Title: Little Red Cap
Original Copyright: 1857
ISBN: 978-988-8240-79-1
Hardcover pages: 52
Age range: 5-7
Genre: Picture Book, Fairytale
Author’s ethnicity: German
Illustrator’s ethnicity: German
Illustrator’s residence: Berlin
Subjects: Fairytale reimaginings/ retellings, Folklore, Folktales, Little Red Riding Hood

You Can’t See The Elephants

Leave a reply

Thirteen-year-old Mascha is bored living with her grandparents for the summer in their quiet, small town. She meets siblings, Max, 7, and Julia, 9, who are withdrawn and shy and covered with bruises. Mascha suspects that their father is physically abusing them and when the adults don’t listen, she takes matters into her own hands. She makes some unusual choices, kidnaps the children, and locks them in an abandoned farmhouse in a nearby field. Mascha is brave, helpless, and desperate, and she wants to do the right thing, but her actions bring unintended consequences for everyone. This disturbing, heartbreaking, and straightforward novel about child abuse is discussion provoking mjw

Title: You Can’t See The Elephants
Author: Susan Kreller
Publisher: G.P.Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, USA
Copyright: 2015
Original Language: German
Translator: Elizabeth Gaffney
Original Title: Elefanten sieht man nicht
Original Publisher: Carlsen Verlag Gmb H
Original Copyright: 2012
ISBN: 978-0-399-17209-0
Hardcover pages: 192
Age range: 10 up
Genre: Fiction
Book setting: The translator set the book in the USA
Author’s ethnicity: German
Author’s residence: Germany
Awards: Author has been nominated for the German Youth Literature prize twice and has won the Kranichsteiner Literary Prize
Subjects: Abuse, Brothers and sisters, Child abuse, Dysfunctional relationships, Grandparents, Siblings

When Dad Showed Me The Universe

Leave a reply

A boy’s father one day decides it is time that his son is introduced to the universe. They travel afar to reach the universe. They go to a supermarket to buy treats to eat on their journey, walk past a park, a hardware store, a fish shop, and jump over a creek before they reach their destination. The son believes that he has found the universe when he looks at the dog park. His father tells him, “Don’t be silly,… You’re supposed to look up.” Looking up he finds thousands of stars in the sky. Captivating soft colored pencil illustrations along with the brush of abstract thinking and low comedy will engage early readers. ema

Title: When Dad Showed Me The Universe
Author: Ulf Stark
Illustrator: Eva Eriksson
Publisher: Gecko Press
Copyright: 2015
Original Language: Swedish
Translator: Julia Marshall
Original Title: När papa visade mig världsallet
Original Publisher: Bonnier Carlsen
Original Copyright: 1998
ISBN: 978-1-927271-81-0
Hardcover pages: 32
Age range: 4-9
Genre: Picture Book
Author’s ethnicity: Swedish
Author’s residence: Sweden
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Swedish
Illustrator’s residence: Sweden
Awards: Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, August Prize (Illustrator)
Subjects: Fathers, Sons, Stargazing, Universe

The Never Snowy Christmas

Leave a reply

A young boy living in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands wishes for snow on his island and comes up with ingenious and impetuous ways to get it. He asks a policeman. He saves his money to buy a snow maker he saw in an electronics magazine. He has a friend in Belgium send some snow. And he even puts flour in the freezer and then throws it in the air, only to get “grounded until he’s old.” Cartoon-like illustrations showing US Virgin Islands architecture and landscapes accompany the rhyming text. A note about the US Virgin Islands and information about the story and author are included. mjw

Title: The Never Snowy Christmas
Author: Zenzi Hodge
Illustrator: Jonathan Brown
Publisher: Sandscript Publishing, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Copyright: 2014
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-0-9905662-8-1
Hardcover pages: 36
Age range: 4-8
Genre: Picture Book
Book setting: St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Author’s ethnicity: Born in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Author’s residence: St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Illustrator’s residence: Utah, USA
Subjects: Christmas, Dreams, Snow, Tropics

The Nest

Leave a reply

Anxious, OCD-ridden, pre-adolescent Steve has a new baby brother who has congenital health problems. The baby needs surgery and may never be completely normal. Steve’s parents are pre-occupied with the baby and Steve starts to have dreams and nightmares with angels/wasps who promise that they can grow a new, healthy baby to replace his sickly newborn brother. And at the same time, a wasps’ nest is rapidly growing outside the baby’s bedroom window. Scientific information about wasps is woven into Steve’s first-person perspective. Black and white graphite drawings add to the mood of this very intense, intriguing, and scary story that will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman mjw

Title: The Nest
Author: Kenneth Oppel
Illustrator: John Klassen
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Copyright: 2015
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-4814-3232-0
Hardcover pages: 256
Age range: 10 up
Genre: Fiction
Book setting: Canada (Toronto)
Author’s ethnicity: Canadian
Author’s residence: Toronto, Canada
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Canadian
Illustrator’s residence: Los Angeles, California, USA
Awards: Author has won the Canadian Governor General’s Literary Award. Illustrator has won the Caldecott Medal
Subjects: Babies, Changelings, Ghost stories, Horror stories, Infants, Paranormal fiction, Special needs, Supernatural, Wasps

Moko Jumbi Dreams

Leave a reply

Ten-year-old Lexi dreams of becoming a moko jumbi majorette, a stilt walker in a parade. Though Lexi misses her best friend, she befriends her new neighbors, Miss Ivy and her foster children. Unfortunately, people petition that they should move out of the neighborhood. Moreover, Lexi’s family worries about the threatening hurricane which is quickly approaching. This lively first book in a series has a glossary of terms, questions which accompany the reading, a list of vocabulary words, and a bibliography of helpful resources. ema

Title: Moko Jumbi Dreams
Author: Alscess Lewis-Brown
Illustrator: Wayne “Bully” Petersen and Cynthia Hatfield
Publisher: Little Bell Caribbean an imprint of Editorial Campana
Copyright: 2011
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-934370-22-3
Paperback pages: 112
Age range: 9-14
Genre: Fiction Novel
Book setting: The US Virgin Islands/ the Caribbean
Author’s ethnicity: Born in Antigua
Author’s residence: St. Croix, US Virgin Islands
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Petersen: Caribbean
Illustrator’s residence: Petersen: The Virgin Islands, Hatfield: St. Croix
Subjects: Caribbean, Dreams, Foster children, Neighbors, Racism, Small towns, Stilt walkers

The Bernadette Watts Collection: Stories And Fairy Tales

Leave a reply

Watts’s works “display warm and pleasing colors that bathe each image in an almost theatre-like setting” -Eric Carle.

Bernadette Watts is an iconic English children’s book author and illustrator who has illustrated several fairy tales and fables. This huge collection of fairy tales features some stories written by world renowned storytellers and Watts herself. The gorgeous impressionistic illustrations of animals, creatures, people, and nature complement the wondrous stories. This collection is excellent for introducing readers to popular tales, such as Cinderella, Rapunzel, The Ugly Duckling, Sleeping Beauty, and The Snow Queen, as well as some unfamiliar works. ema

Title: The Bernadette Watts Collection: Stories And Fairy Tales
Author: Short stories by Bernadette Watts, Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859), Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), Aesop (620-560 BC), Gerda Marie Scheidl (1913-2005), Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), and more
Illustrator: Bernadette Watts
Publisher: North-South
Copyright: 2015
Original Language: German
Translator: North-South Books
Original Title: Bernadette
Original Publisher: NordSüd
Original Copyright: 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4242-0
Hardcover pages: 317
Age range: 4 up
Genre: Fables, Fairy Tales, Picture Books
Author’s ethnicity: Watts: English, Grimm Brothers: German, Andersen: Danish, Aesop: Greek, Scheidl: German, Tolstoy: Russian
Author’s residence: Watts: England
Illustrator’s ethnicity: English
Illustrator’s residence: England
Subjects: Fables, Fairy tales, Fairy tale reimaginings/ retellings, Folktales, Illustrated children’s books, Short stories

Wall

Leave a reply

A young boy, his mother, and younger sister were separated from their father when the Berlin Wall was built between East and West Germany. Escape attempts were common. Some who tried “were lucky, others were not.” The boy succeeds in digging a tunnel to the West. A sympathetic guard helps him and when he and his family reach the West, they discover that their dad has begun a tunnel east to find them. Dark, dramatic digital illustrations pierced by spotlights and the carefully worded, minimalist text will appeal to young children’s natural instinct for fairness and justice. The book was published to coincide with the 25^th anniversary of the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and is based on true stories. A brief note provides more information about the Wall. mjw

Title: Wall
Author: Tom Clohosy Cole
Illustrator: Tom Clohosy Cole
Publisher: Templar books, an imprint of Candlewick
Copyright: 2014
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7560-8
Hardcover pages: 32
Age range: 32
Genre: Historical Fiction, Picture book
Book setting: Berlin
Author’s ethnicity: British
Author’s residence: London
Illustrator’s ethnicity: British
Illustrator’s residence: London
Subjects: Berlin, Berlin Wall (1961-1989), Cold War

John Diamond

Leave a reply

Twelve-year-old William Jones cannot stop hearing his father’s footsteps and sighs at night. When William learns that his father is troubled because he swindled his old business partner, Mr. Diamond, he promises to himself that he will travel to London to rectify his father’s wrongs. He quickly realizes that London is an eerie city full of danger, death, and betrayal. The author’s gothic writing is reminiscent of Charles Dickens’s works. Middle-grade readers who are fans of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events will devour this mystery novel. ema

Title: John Diamond
Author: Leon Garfield (1921-1996)
Illustrator: Isobel Lundie
Publisher: Random House
Copyright: 2014
Original Language: English
Original Title: John Diamond
Original Publisher: Kestrel Books
Original Copyright: 1980
ISBN:978-0099583271
Paperback pages: 256
Age range: 9-11
Genre: Historical Fiction
Book setting: Victorian London
Author’s ethnicity: English
Illustrator’s ethnicity: English
Illustrator’s residence: London
Awards:1980 Whitbread Prize for Children’s Novel
Subjects: Creepy, Death, Detective stories, Mystery, Scary stories

In Andal’s House (Tales Of The World)

Leave a reply

Young Kumar is invited to his classmate Andal’s house to watch the fireworks for the celebration of Diwali, India’s 5-day Festival of Light. Andal is a high-caste Brahmin and his family is wealthy. Kumar’s family had been Dalit, outcasts or untouchables. Kumar thinks he has been invited because he is the best student in their class, but when he arrives at Andal’s house, Andal’s grandmother sends him away. He cannot join the festivities. Disappointed, he returns home, where his grandfather explains how things used to be and that India is changing. Men like Mahatma Gandhi and Doctor B.R. Ambedkar have helped to outlaw discrimination against the Dalit, or the broken people. The story ends with Kumar feeling hopeful about both his and India’s future. A Glossary helps with unfamiliar words and an Author’s Note provides more information. Colorful folk-art illustrations in pencil crayon and watercolor ink depict the Diwali celebration and everyday life in contemporary India. mjw

Title: In Andal’s House (Tales Of the World)
Author: Gloria Whelan
Illustrator: Amanda Hall
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press. Ann Arbor , Michigan
Copyright: 2013
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-58536-603-3
Hardcover pages: 40
Age range: 6-10
Genre: Picture Book
Book setting: Gujarat, India
Author’s ethnicity: U.S.
Author’s residence: Michigan, U.S.
Illustrator’s ethnicity: English
Illustrator’s residence: United Kingdom
Subjects: Castes, Diwali, Gandhi, Prejudice, Social classes, Untouchables

Shooting Kabul

Leave a reply

Twelve-year-old Fadi and his family are illegally leaving Afghanistan for asylum in the U.S. in 2001. As they hurriedly board the escape truck, Fadi’s six-year-old sister Mariam lets go of his hand and is lost. As the Taliban is patrolling, there is no going back. They arrive in San Francisco to begin anew, but they are heart-broken and are constantly searching for Mariam. Fadi joins and finds comfort in the photography club at his middle school, with the hope that he can win a photo competition. The prize is a trip to India. Since Afghanistan is close to India, he thinks he can go there and find his sister. Fadi’s family also has to deal with the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Kids at school assume Fadi is responsible for what happened and make him fearful and miserable. A clever and satisfying ending will encourage readers to move on to the Glossary, Author’s Note, Suggestions for Further Reading, and Reading Guide. A map is also included. This story about family relationships, with realistic detail about the immigrant experience and Afghani (particularly Pukhtun) culture, is based on the author’s husband’s personal history of fleeing his home in Soviet controlled Afghanistan in the 1970s. One note: “shooting” in the title is a reference to photography, and not violence. mjw

Title: Shooting Kabul
Author: N.H. Senzai
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Copyright: 2010
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0194-2
Hardcover pages: 273
Age range: 8-12
Genre: Fiction
Book setting: San Francisco. Afghanistan
Author’s residence: U.S. Has lived in Saudi Arabia and England.
Awards: 2010 Middle East Outreach Book Award for Youth Literature, 2011 CBC/NCSS Notable Children’s Book
Subjects: Afghan-Americans, Bravery, California, Cameras, Emigration, Immigration, Love, Perseverance, Photography, Prejudice, Tolerance