Tag Archives: Language

Maria Had A Little Llama (Maria Tenia Una Llamita)

Maria Had A Little Lamb Book Cover “Mary Had A Little Lamb,” the classic rhyme, has been transformed in this bilingual version which takes place in rural Peru.  Each straightforward English verse is accompanied with the Spanish translation directly below, making this a perfect read-aloud.  Readers are transported to Peru as they read the rhythmically flowing text and view warm gouache and ink illustrations. A wordless picture spread allows students to become authors, making up their own stories. Distinctive Peruvian features such as Andean dress, culture, and landscape are depicted. cc
Title: Maria Had A Little Llama (Maria Tenia Una Llamita)
Author: Angela Dominguez
Illustrator
: Angela Dominguez
Publisher
: Henry Holt and Company, LLC
Copyright
: 2013
Original language
: English
ISBN
: 978-0805093339
Hardcover pages
: 28
Age range
: 3-7
Genre
: Picture book
Book setting
: Peru
Author’s ethnicity
: Mexican
Author’s residence
: United States
Awards
: 2014 Pura Belpre Award (Illustrator Honor)
Subjects
: Animals, Bilingual, Llamas, Peru, Peruvian culture, South America, Spanish language, Stories in rhyme

My Village: Rhymes From Around The World

My Village Rhymes from Around the World Book Cover Twenty-two nursery rhymes from around the globe are presented in English, the original language, and the original alphabet when appropriate. New Zealand, China, Australia, Norway, Ireland, Tonga, Jamaica, Japan, Zimbabwe, Fiji, Indonesia, Denmark, Iran, Germany, Samoa, Switzerland, Russia, Brazil, France, Holland, Iceland, and India are illustrated in bright collage and mixed-media artwork. Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen introduces the collection. Source notes are provided, but the name of the original language is not always given. mjw
Title: My Village: Rhymes From Around The World
Author: Danielle Wright
Illustrator
: Mique Moriuchi
Publisher
: Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Copyright
: 2010
Original language
: English
Translator
: Aida Nofrita, Andrea Gardi, Anjana Mani, Carim Portella, Farideh Khalatbaree, Genia Gurarie, Hallberg Hallmundsson, Katrien Vander Straeten, Lisa Yanucci, Monique Palomares, Mavis Kumbala-Mutisi, Nora Yao, Paul Selver, Rob Amery, Sereima Lumelume, Wanda Cowley, Wilma van den Bosch, and Winifred Mahowa
Original publisher
: Gecko Press
Original copyright
: 2008
ISBN
: 978-84780-086-2
Hardcover pages
: 53
Age range
: 3-6
Genre
: Poetry
Author’s residence
: New Zealand
Illustrator’s residence
: England
Awards
: 2009 White Raven Award
Subjects
: Africa, Asia, Australia, Caribbean, Children’s poetry, Europe, New Zealand, Nursery rhymes, Oceania, South America

Yes! We Are Latinos

Yes We Are Latinos Book Cover Through fictional first-person poems and brief non-fiction prose, thirteen different Latino and Latina young people in the U.S., who have diverse backgrounds and experiences are introduced to readers.  The poems are reflective and heartwarming and provide specific stories.  The nonfiction essays explain historical and social context, the Ladino language, the Chinese and Japanese presence in Latin America, African roots, Latino immigration to the U.S., U.S.-Cuban relations, environmentalists, and more. Bold, hand-cut illustrations, a bibliography for teachers and parents, and additional resources for young people complete this celebration of the diversity of the Latino community. mjw
Title: Yes! We Are Latinos
Author: Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy
Illustrator
: David Diaz
Publisher
: Charlesbridge
Copyright
: 2013
Original language
: English
ISBN
: 978-1-58089-383-1
Hardcover pages
: 96
Age range
: 10 up
Genre
: Poetry
Book setting
: United States
Author’s ethnicity
: Latina
Author’s residence
: United States
Illustrator’s residence
: United States
Subjects
: Cultural assimilation, Emigration and immigration, Latin Americans, North America, United States

My Own Special Way

My Own Special Way Book CoverHamda feels left out.  She wants to make necklaces, go shopping, and bake cakes like her older sisters do.  She has also made up her mind that she wants to wear the veil.  She chooses four different scarves and unsuccessfully tries four different ways to wear them.  She finally finds her own special way to prove she’s a big girl.  Told in five short chapters and illustrated with bold, colorful patterns, this entertaining story focuses on the Muslim experience of wearing the veil mjw
Title: My Own Special Way
Author: Mithaa Alkhayyat
Illustrator
: Maya Fidawi
Publisher
: Orion House
Copyright
: 2012
Original language
: Arabic
Translator
: Fatima Sharafeddini
Original title
: Tareeqati Al Khassa
Original publisher
: Kalimat Publishing and Distribution
Original copyright
: 2010
ISBN
: 978-1-4440-0320-8
Paperback pages
: 64
Age range
: 5-7
Genre
: Early reader/Fiction
Author’s residence
: United Arab Emirates
Illustrator’s residence
: Lebanon
Awards
: 2013 Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation Shortlist
Subjects
: Asia, fashion, Hijab (Islamic clothing), United Arab Emirates, Western Asia

Baggage

Baggage Book CoverThis lively rhyme with bright, avant-garde illustrations tells of a lady who gets on the train with a suitcase, a hatbox, a couch, a painting, a package, a pouch, and a cute little pooch.  During the journey, an enormous shaggy dog is substituted for the pooch.  When the astonished woman claims her baggage, she is told that her dog grew up on the trip.  This is a reproduction in size and layout of the Russian book, which was first published in 1926 to mold the minds of the children of the revolution.  The original Russian text is included. mjw
Title: Baggage
Author: Samuil Marshak
Illustrator
: Vladimir Lebedev
Publisher
: The Museum of Modern Art
Copyright
: 2012
Original language
: Russian
Translator
: Jamey Gambrell
Original title
: Bagazh
Original publisher
: Raduga
Original copyright
: 1926
ISBN
: 978-0-87070-842-8
Hardcover pages
: 12
Age range
: 6 up
Genre
: Picture book
Book setting
: Russia
Author’s residence
: Russia
Illustrator’s residence
: Russia
Subjects
: Dogs, Eastern Europe, Europe, Luggage, Railroad travel

Deep In The Sahara

Deep in the Sahara Book Cover Like most Muslim girls between the ages of nine and 15 in Mauritania, Lalla wants to wear a malafa, the veil that covers women’s heads and clothes in public. She learns from her mama, her older sister, market ladies, and her grandmother that the malafa is more than beauty, mystery, tradition, and belonging. It is for faith. The second-person narrative and cut-paper collage illustrations explain potentially unfamiliar customs and observances of faith. An author’s note and a glossary of Hassaniya words is included. mjw
Title: Deep In The Sahara
Author: Kelly Cunnane
Illustrator
: Hoda Hadadi
Publisher
: Schwartz and Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
Copyright
: 2013
Original language
: English
ISBN
: 978-0-375-87034-7
Hardcover pages
: 40
Age range
: 4-8
Genre
: Picture book
Book setting
: Muslim West Africa
Author’s residence
: United States (Author has lived in Kenya)
Illustrator’s residence
: Tehran, Iran
Subjects
: Africa, Clothing and dress, Coming of age, Mauritania, Muslims, Sahara, Western Africa

Pizza In Pienza

Pizza in Pienza Book Cover A young girl who lives in Pienza, Italy, tells the history of pizza. She also describes the customs in her community, like her midday meal and Giovanni’s, where pizza is cooked the old-fashioned way in a wood-fired brick oven. She learns at the library that ancient Greeks ate flatbreads, that a favorite pizza was named after Queen Margherita of Italy, circa 1889, and that the first pizzeria opened in New York City in 1905. The English text appears with an Italian translation on each page. Also included are a pronunciation guide, a two-page history of pizza, and a recipe. mjw
Title: Pizza In Pienza
Author: Susan Fillion
Illustrator
: Susan Fillion
Publisher
: David R. Godine, Publisher
Copyright
: 2013
Original language
: English
ISBN
: 978-1-56792-459-6
Hardcover pages
: 32
Age range
: 6 up
Genre
: Informational picture book
Book setting
: Italy
Author’s residence
: United States (Author has lived in Italy)
Subjects
: Europe, Pienza (Italy), Pizza, Southern Europe

Paris-Chien: Adventures Of An Ex-Pat Dog

Paris-Chien Adventures of an Ex-Pat Dog Book Cover An American dog in Paris, ex-pat Hudson, an adventurous Norwich Terrier, discovers that it is difficult to make friends and adjust to his new environment when all the other dogs speak French, not Dog.  He enrolls in a language course and learns French from Madame Vera, a French poodle.  He becomes a Paris-Chien. Colorful gouache illustrations of parks, shops, cafes, and dogs bring Paris to life.  French words in the illustrations are defined in a glossary.  Hudson’s triumphant experience will be meaningful to any child in a new situation. mjw
Title: Paris-Chien: Adventures Of an Ex-Pat Dog
Author: Jackie Clark Mancusoe
Illustrator
: Jackie Clark Mancusoe
Publisher
: La Librairie Parisienne
Copyright
: 2011
Original language
: English
ISBN
: 978-0-615-54542-4
Hardcover pages
: 40
Age range
: 4-8
Genre
: Picture book
Book setting
: Paris, France
Author’s residence
: United States
Subjects
: Dogs, Europe, France, Paris, Western Europe

I Am Different! Can You Find Me?

This clever picture book, presents sixteen “spot the difference” puzzles that celebrate our differences.  Each vibrant, mixed-media spread repeats the question Can You Find Me? in one of sixteen different languages now spoken in North America, including English, Hebrew, Hawaiian, Cree, Arabic, Filipino, Gullah, Mandarin, Hindi, Spanish, Nahuatl, Italian, Navajo, French, and American Sign Language.  Supplemental text provides information about each language, phonetic pronunciation guides, and familiar words that come from each language.  Backmatter includes a short piece on “Languages Around the World” and an answer key explaining that there may be more than one answer for each page. mjw

Title: I Am Different! Can You Find Me?
Author: Manjula Padmanabhan
Illustrator
: Manjula Padmanabhan
Publisher
: Charlesbridge
Copyright
: 2011
Original Language
: English
Original title
: I Am Different! Can You Find Me?
Original publisher
: Tulika Publishers, India
Original copyright
: 2011
ISBN
: 978-1-57091-640-3
Paperback pages
: 32
Age range
: 6 up
Genre
: Picture book
Author’s ethnicity
: Indian
Author’s residence
: India
Subjects
: Asia, India, Manners and customs, Multicultural education, North America, Language and culture, Picture puzzles, Southern Asia