Tag Archives: Families

My Happy Life

Dani is excited and nervous about starting kindergarten. She lives with her dad. Her mother has passed away. She starts school and finds Ella, who becomes her best friend. They eat triangle and square sandwiches together, play with Ella’s pet hamster Partyboy, and they each wear half-heart friendship necklaces. However, not everything in Dani’s life is happy. When Ella moves away, Dani’s new loneliness reminds her of her mother’s death. Happiness comes and goes during Dani’s day-to-day life. The story ends positively. There is always something to rejoice in. Dani and Ella write letters to each other and plan to spend a weekend together at Ella’s new home. Difficult subjects are handled in a caring way in this charming story. With its simple language, twenty short chapters, and fine pen-and ink drawings on just about every page, My Happy Life is a great first chapter book. mjw

Title: My Happy Life
Author: Rose Lagercrantz
Illustrator: Eva Eriksson
Publisher: Gecko Press, Wellington, New Zealand
Copyright: 2013
Original Language: Swedish
Translator: Julia Marshall
Original Title: Mitt Lyckliga Liv
Original Publisher: Bonnier Carlsen Bokforlaget, Stockholm, Sweden
Original Copyright: 2010
ISBN: 978-1-877579-35-6
Hardcover pages: 136
Age range: 6-10
Genre: Novel
Book setting: Sweden
Author’s ethnicity: Swedish
Author’s residence: Sweden
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Swedish
Illustrator’s residence: Sweden
Awards: Both author and illustrator have received the Astrid Lindgren Prize
Subjects: Best friends, Death, Grandmothers, Grief, Happiness, Loss, Kindergarten, Optimism, Primary school, Single fathers.

The End of the Line

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It is 1942 in Amsterdam and five-year-old Jewish Beatrix is left on a tram when her mother is taken away by Nazi soldiers. She is saved when elderly ticket-taker Lars Gorter and his brother, Hans the conductor, claim that she is their niece. The two brothers have no idea how to take care of a child and they know that harboring a Jew could cost them their lives. They turn to their neighbors, Mrs. Vos and Lieve van der Meer, for help. The unlikely group becomes a family. They survive through the horrors of war, hunger and cold, bombings, fear, and anxiety. The book concludes with explanations of the characters’ futures after Holland’s liberation in 1945. It also includes a description of “When Strangers Were Saviors” and an Afterword that provides information about details of the war. Based on historical facts about World War II, this suspenseful short novel is written from the point of view of the two brothers, yet it will engage young readers. mjw

Title: The End of the Line
Author: Sharon E. McKay
Illustrator: Serena Malyon
Publisher: Annick Press, Toronto
Copyright: 2014
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-55451-658-2
Paperback pages: 120
Age range: 8-11
Genre: Historical fiction
Book setting: Amsterdam
Author’s ethnicity: Canadian
Author’s residence: Prince Edward Island, Canada
Awards: 2015 USBBY Outstanding International Books Grades 6-8, 2008 First children’s author to be awarded the title of CFAP -Vet (War Artist), Canadian Forces (War) Artists Program
Subjects: Amsterdam, Courage, Elderly, Holocaust, Jews, Netherlands, Prejudice, Survival, Tolerance, World War II

Anna’s Heaven

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As church bells chime, young Anna and her restless father prepare to attend her mother’s funeral, though the funeral, death, and grief are never mentioned in the text. They fly through a hole in the sky and make their way to heaven. Their world becomes dreamlike and surreal with floating mailboxes, flying elephants, cooing sea urchins, and even an Elvis cameo. They take turns questioning, imagining, and commenting. This is their pathway to peace. A hopeful ending shows Anna comforting her now-smiling father and strawberries raining down from the sky. Beautiful language and fantastic photo collages don’t give answers, just space for questions about life’s mysteries. Anna’s Heaven may not be appropriate for some public schools, since there is a discussion of God in the story. mjw

Title: Anna’s Heaven
Author: Stian Hole
Illustrator: Stian Hole
Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Copyright: 2014
Original Language: Norwegian
Translator: Don Bartlett
Original Title: Anna’s himmel
Original Publisher: Cappelen Damm
Original Copyright: 2013
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5441-4
Hardcover pages: 42
Age range: 6-10
Genre: Picture book
Author’s ethnicity: Norwegian
Author’s residence: Norway
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Norwegian
Illustrator’s residence: Norway
Awards: 2015 USBBY Outstanding International Books Grades 3-5
Subjects: Daughters, Death, Dying, Fathers, Social issues

The Categorical Universe of Candice Phee

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Twelve-year-old, special-needs student Candice, who lives in Queensland, Australia, is given a school assignment to write an alphabetical autobiography – one paragraph for each letter. But Candice is different and quirky and she loves the dictionary, so she decides to write a chapter for each letter. She knows herself and she has a lot to say. She tells about her struggling family, her friend Douglas Benson from Another Dimension, her teacher Miss Bamford, her religiously-confused pet fish, and her Rich Uncle Brian. She is on a mission to make everyone in her life happy and to understand her world. Candice is smart, optimistic, endearing, and self-diagnosed as weird. This first-person narrative is wonderfully funny and thought-provoking. mjw

Title: The Categorical Universe of Candice Phee
Author: Barry Jonsberg
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Copyright: 2014
Original Language: English
Original Title: My Life As The Alphabet
Original Publisher: Allen and Unwin, Australia
Original Copyright: 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4521-3351-5
Hardcover pages: 242
Age range: 10-13
Genre: Fiction
Book setting: Albright, Queensland, Australia
Author’s ethnicity: English
Author’s residence: Darwin, Australia
Awards: 2014 Children’s Book Council of Australia Honor Book, 2014 Prime Minister’s Literary Children’s Fiction Awards Shortlist
Subjects: Australia, Autism, Families, Friendship, Parents

Cowgirl

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Gemma is a young teenager, who lives in a sad, run-down Welsh community named Bryn Mawr, where burglaries and muggings are common. Her dad is in prison and her mum has lost hope. Kate, the legendary Cowgirl, who lives out-of-town on her father’s dairy farm, is the school outcast. Gemma and Kate are thrown into an odd friendship. When Gemma learns that Kate’s beloved cows are due to be slaughtered, she concocts an unexpected plan, with the help of her no-nonsense grandmother, that changes the whole community. This refreshing and uplifting story is about everyone peacefully working together toward a common goal. mjw

Title: Cowgirl
Author: G.R Gemin
Publisher: Nosy Crow Ltd., London, England
Copyright: 2014
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-0-85763-281-4
Paperback pages: 261
Age range: 9 up
Genre: Fiction
Book setting: South Wales
Author’s ethnicity: Welsh and Italian
Author’s residence: London and Italy
Awards: 2015 Carnegie Medal Nomination, 2015 UKLA Book Awards long list, 2015 Tir na n-Og Award (Welsh Book Council)
Subjects: Community, Cows, Dairy farming, Flute, Grandmothers, Hinduism, School, South Wales

Anna Hibiscus

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Anna Hibiscus (probably six-years-old) lives in Africa. Amazing Africa. She lives in an unnamed West African city with her extended family, which is so big that she cannot count them all. This is the traditional way in Africa. Yet her family is modern and interconnected. They text, e-mail, and travel internationally. Each of the four chapters tells a complete story. Anna vacations with her family; awaits the visit of Auntie Comfort, who lives in Canada; sells oranges on the street and learns an important lesson; and finds ice shavings in the freezer and is invited to spend Christmas in Canada where there is real snow. Sweet, black-and-white drawings provide fascinating details of African life and match the rhythm of the text. Contemporary urban African stories to share with young children are hard to find. Cheerful, humorous, and interesting, this story is the first in a series that offers a much-welcomed glimpse of this culture. The author and illustrator team has also created two brilliant picture books about Anna, mjw

Title: Anna Hibiscus
Author: Atinuke
Illustrator: Lauren Tobia
Publisher: Kane Miller, A division of EDC Publishing, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Copyright: 2010
Original Language: English
Original Publisher: Walker Books Ltd., London
Original Copyright: 2007
ISBN: 978-1-935279-73-0
Paperback pages: 112
Age range: 5-9
Genre: Chapter book, fiction
Book setting: Africa
Author’s ethnicity: Nigerian
Author’s residence: Wales
Illustrator’s ethnicity: British
Illustrator’s residence: England
Awards: 2011 Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award
Subjects: African culture, City and town life, Family life, Multi-generational, Nigeria, Responsibility, West Africa

Dance of the Banished

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Teenagers Zeynep and Ali, who live in the village of Harput in Anatolia and plan to marry, are separated in June of 1913. Ali finds passage to Canada in search of a better life, but when World War I breaks out, he is declared an enemy alien and sent to an internment camp. Zeynep is left behind to work in a hospital, where she is faced with the horrors of war, revolution, and genocide. Each writes a journal for the other. Ali writes a chronicle of life in an internment camp in Kapuckasing, Ontario. Zeynep writes an eyewitness account of the Armenian genocide from the point of view of the Alevi Kurds. They are always in each other’s thoughts and are finally reunited in August of 1916. Based on true events, this well-researched story of love, hope, and tenacity to survive includes maps, an Author’s Note, and archival photographs of Kapuskasing Internment Camp, circa 1915. mjw

Title: Dance of the Banished
Author: Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Publisher: Pajama Press, Canada
Copyright: 2014
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-927485-65-1
Paperback pages: 234
Age range: 12 up
Genre: Historical fiction
Book setting: Anatolia, Turkey; Canada
Author’s ethnicity: Canadian and Ukrainian
Author’s residence: Ontario, Canada
Awards: 2008 Order of Princess Olha, Ukraine. Appointed to Canada’s First World War Internment Recognition Endowment Council
Subjects: Canadian history, Emigration, Immigration, Internment camps, Prejudice, Racism, World War I

To The Top End: Our Trip Across Australia

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Explore some of the most spectacular landscapes of Australia in this exciting adventure, told in the voice of the traveling kids. Start on the island of Tasmania with Tassie Devils and wombats. Travel on the ferry across Bass Strait to the Mainland, and then romp through the High Plains to the winding Murray River of the Riverland. Bike into the Flinders Ranges and fly in a homemade aeroplane over the Great Sandy Desert. Next, see dolphins, clownfish, and turtles in the cooling waters of the Great Barrier Reef and watch Uncle Kev eat green ants in the Daintree Rainforest Wilderness. And finally, sit down to a campfire feast on the coastal marshes of the Top End. Curly text that follows the landforms and funny detailed watercolor and ink drawings are packed with Aussie flora and fauna and hilarious visual and verbal jokes. Look for a soccer ball on each page and a map that highlights the trip on the endpapers. mjw

Title: To The Top End: Our Trip Across Australia
Author: Roland Harvey
Illustrator: Roland Harvey
Publisher: Allen and Unwin, Australia
Copyright: 2009
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-74175-884-9
Hardcover pages: 32
Age range: 6-9
Genre: Picture book
Book setting: Australia
Author’s ethnicity: Australian
Author’s residence: Melbourne, Australia
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Australian
Illustrator’s residence: Melbourne, Australia
Awards: 2010 Children’s Book Council of Australia Short List
Subjects: Australia, Birds, Culture, Families, Geography, Maps, Oceania, Sea life, Travel, Vacation

Wanting Mor

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Jameela, a young Islamic girl who has a cleft lip, lives with her mother and father in a war-torn village in Afghanistan. When her beloved mother, Mor, dies suddenly, her father takes Jameela with him to Kabul to seek a new life. He turns to drugs and alcohol and marries a new wife who treats Jameela like a slave and urges him to abandon Jameela in Kabul’s busy marketplace. Through the kindness of strangers, Jameela is placed in an orphanage, where she goes to school, learns the power of an education, and has surgery on her deformed lip. This, together with her strong faith and memories of her mother, allows her to turn her life around. This touching story, rich in cultural content, is set in 2001 and is based on real incidents. The many Pushto and Arabic words in Jameela’s first-person narrative are explained in a helpful glossary. The author has a teaching guide and book talk/tutorial for this book on her website at http://www.rukhsanakhan.com mjw

Title: Wanting Mor
Author: Rukhsana Khan
Publisher: Groundwood Books
Copyright: 2010
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-0-88899-862-0
Paperback pages: 192
Age range: 10-14
Genre: Fiction
Book setting: Kandahar, Kabul, Afghanistan
Author’s ethnicity: Pakistani
Author’s residence: Toronto, Canada
Awards: 2009 Middle East Book Award, 2010 United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY) Outstanding International Books List
Subjects: Afghanistan, City and town life, Disabilities, Girls, Muslims, Orphanages, Taliban

My Father’s Arms Are A Boat

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A young boy, grieving and unable to sleep, crawls up into his father’s arms on a cold night. They talk about cutting down the spruce tree, if the red birds will get the bread he left for them, and why his mother will never wake up again. The boy finds truth in nature, his father’s love, and a warm fire. The writing in this tender story is expressive and poetic and the 3-D paper sculpture and ink illustrations are striking. Most of the images are black, white, and gray, with red birds and an orange fox. mjw

Title: My Father’s Arms Are A Boat
Author: Stein Erik Lunde
Illustrator: Oyvind Torseter
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books, Brooklyn, New York
Copyright: 2012
Original Language: Norwegian
Translator: Kari Dickson
Original Title: Eg Kan Ikkje Sove No
Original Publisher: Det Norske Samlaget
Original Copyright: 2008
ISBN: 978-1-59270-124-7
Hardcover pages: 40
Age range: 6 up
Genre: Picture book
Book setting: Scandinavia
Author’s ethnicity: Norwegian
Author’s residence: Norway
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Norwegian
Illustrator’s residence: Norway
Awards: 2014 Mildred L. Batchelder Honor, 2009 Norwegian Ministry’s Culture Prize for the Best Book for Children and Youth
Subjects: Death and dying, Fathers, Emotions and feelings, Sons

The Fastest Boy in the World

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Eleven-year-old Solomon loves to run and dreams of seeing his heroes, the 2012 London Olympics gold-medal-winning Ethiopian running team. He cannot believe it when his grandfather announces that he is going to take Solomon to Addis Ababa on the day of the team’s victory parade. On their visit, Solomon learns that his grandfather was a famous runner and also that he was a war hero who risked his life to save a friend. When his grandfather collapses, Solomon has to run the twenty miles from the city to his village for help. This easy-to-read, short novel, with black-and-white ink drawings, introduces young readers to a setting that is very different from the Western world. mjw

Title: The Fastest Boy in the World
Author: Elizabeth Laird
Illustrator: Peter Bailey
Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Books, London
Copyright: 2014
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-4472-6717-1
Paperback pages: 163
Age range: 7 up
Genre: Fiction
Book setting: Addis Ababa and Kidame, Ethiopia
Author’s ethnicity: British (born in New Zealand)
Author’s residence: U.K.
Illustrator’s ethnicity: British (born in India)
Illustrator’s residence: U.K.
Awards: 2015 Carnegie Medal nominee. Author has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal five times
Subjects: Addis Ababa, Athletes, Ethiopia, Grandfathers, Olympics (London 2012), Running, Sports, Success

Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin

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Young Hana has signed up to play her violin in her school’s talent show, but she has only had three lessons. Her brothers tease her and suggest that she will be a disaster. Hana remembers her visit to her grandfather, Ojiichan, in Japan. He played Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Bach on his violin in the symphony orchestra in Kyoto. He also played songs about crows cawing, crickets chirping, and raindrops falling on oil-paper umbrellas. On the day of Hana’s performance, she plays her best (gambarunoyo) and surprises everyone – even herself. The beautiful illustrations, rendered in pencil and colored digitally, weave in special details and scenes from Japan. Music notes float through the air in this delightful story about determination and the importance of music. mjw

Title: Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin
Author: Chieri Uegaki
Illustrator: Qin Leng
Publisher: Kids Can Press Ltd., Toronto
Copyright: 2014
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-894786-33-1
Hardcover pages: 32
Age range: 4-8
Genre: Picture book
Author’s ethnicity: Japanese
Author’s residence: Canada
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Chinese
Illustrator’s residence: Canada
Awards: 2015 USBBY Outstanding International Books Grades PreK-2, 2015 Ezra Jack Keats Book Award
Subjects: Creativity, Grandfathers, Japan, Language, Music, Perseverance, Talent shows, Stage fright, Violin