Theme: Tradition

A Song for Cambodia

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

The true story of Arn Chorn-Pond, Cambodian American musician and human rights activist, who as a young boy survived Khmer Rouge work camps by learning to play a musical instrument.

Descriptors: Biography, Cambodia, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Picture Book » Other Themes: , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Uncle Monarch and the Day of the Dead

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

When the monarch butterflies return to the Mexican countryside where Lupita lives, she knows that it means that Da de Muertos, the Day of the Dead, is near. She and her favorite uncle watch the butterflies as they flutter in the trees. When a butterfly lands on Lupitas hand, her uncle reminds her that she [...]

Descriptors: Mexico, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9), Realistic Fiction » Other Themes: , , , , , » 1 Comment

How Mama Brought the Spring

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

One wintry morning, Mama tells Rosy a wondrous story about her own mama, Grandma Beatrice, who could bring spring to cold, cold Minsk by making magic in the kitchen. Together, mother and daughter mix batter and sing a song. Then the batter goes into the pan—pour, swirl, swizzle, FLIP! Soon Papa comes in from the [...]

Descriptors: Belarus, Fantasy, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: , , , » Leave a comment

Ties that Bind, Ties that Break

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

Third Sister in the Tao family, Ailin has watched her two older sisters go through the painful process of having their feet bound. In China in 1911, all the women of good families follow this ancient tradition. But Ailin loves to run away from her governess and play games with her male cousins. Knowing she [...]

Descriptors: China, Historical Fiction, Intermediate (ages 9-14), United States of America » Other Themes: , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

The Ancestors Are Singing

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

A collection of poems reflecting the culture, customs, daily life, and history of Mexico. Tony Johnston takes us from Mexico City to Oaxaca to Chiapas, from the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl to a shoeless boy selling newspapers, in this moving collection exuberantly illustrated by Karen Barbour.

Descriptors: Intermediate (ages 9-14), Mexico, Poetry » Other Themes: , , , , » Leave a comment

Here Come the Brides

By Yoo Kyung Sung | Published: December 1, 2008

From Syrian brides who dye their hands red with henna to the brides of Java, who wear headdresses of golden leaves and flowers, intriguing trivia, inviting prose, and rich illustrations come together to win both the hearts and the minds of young girls of all backgrounds, whatever their wedding dreams may be.

Descriptors: International, Nonfiction, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: , , , , , » Leave a comment

A Song for Ba

By Rebecca Ballenger | Published: October 29, 2008

In the Chinese opera, men traditionally sing both male and female parts. Wei Lim’s father, Ba, however, usually plays masculine characters and sings in a deep bass voice. But Wei’s grandfather played female roles, and has secretly taught Wei to sing these difficult parts. When the New World’s entertainments begin to cause a shrinking audience [...]

Descriptors: Canada, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9), Realistic Fiction » Other Themes: , , , , , » Leave a comment

Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions from around the World

By Kathy G. Short | Published: March 14, 2007

This book consists of brief statements relating what children from around the world do with a tooth that has fallen out and includes facts about teeth.

Descriptors: Folklore, International, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: » Comments closed

The Flag of Childhood: Poems from the Middle East

By Kathy G. Short | Published: March 14, 2007

In this stirring anthology of sixty poems from the Middle East, honored anthologist Naomi Shihab Nye welcomes us to this lush, vivid world and beckons us to explore. Eloquent pieces from Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Iraq, and elsewhere open windows into the hearts and souls of people we usually meet only on the nightly news. What [...]

Descriptors: Asia, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Poetry » Other Themes: , , , , , » Leave a comment

Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind

By Kathy G. Short | Published: March 14, 2007

Life is both sweet and cruel to strong-willed young Shabanu, whose home is the windswept Cholistan Desert of Pakistan. The second daughter in a family with no sons, she’s been allowed freedoms forbidden to most Muslim girls. But when a tragic encounter with a wealthy and powerful landowner ruins the marriage plans of her older [...]

Descriptors: Asia, Fiction, Pakistan, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , » Leave a comment