The Tightrope Walkers

A gentle visionary coming of age in the shadow of the shipyards of northern England, Dominic Hall is torn between extremes. On the one hand, he craves the freedom he feels when he steals away with the eccentric girl artist next door, Holly Stroud, his first and abiding love, to balance above the earth on a makeshift tightrope. With Holly, Dom dreams of a life different in every way from his shipbuilder dad’s, a life fashioned of words and images and story. On the other hand, he finds himself irresistibly drawn to the brutal charms of Vincent McAlinden, a complex bully who awakens something wild and reckless and killing in Dom.

The Song Of Delphine

Poor Delphine is all alone. She has no family and no friends, and as a servant in Queen Theodora’s palace, her life is full of work. Fortunately, Delphine loves to sing, and if her spirits are down, songs bring her comfort and cheer. When young Princess Beatrice comes to live at the palace, Delphine is excited at first, but the unkind princess only makes Delphine’s life more miserable.

A Ticket Around the World

Join a young boy as he hops around the globe, visiting friends in 13 different countries spanning all 6 populated continents. Along the way, he introduces us to each friend’s environment and customs, and shares interesting facts about each country’s culture, language, food, geography, wildlife, landmarks and more. Each country has a dedicated spread with a small map that shows geography and landmarks, letting readers imagine they are traveling, too. The format makes it easy to spot similarities and differences between countries.

Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her efforts to lead women in a nonviolent struggle to bring peace and democracy to Africa through its reforestation. Her organization planted over thirty million trees in thirty years. This beautiful picture book tells the story of an amazing woman and an inspiring idea.

Join the discussion of Wangari Maathai as well as other books centered around relocation on our My Take/Your Take page.

Featured in WOW Review Volume XI, Issue 4.

Small Elephant’s Bathtime

Small Elephant likes water, but not when it’s in a bath. Small Elephant’s mommy tries to make the bath more fun with toys and bubbles, but he is not fooled. He is too busy to take a bath. He has said no many times. He is getting very cross. And then he disappears! But Small Elephant’s daddy has a way to make the bath fun. He may look silly doing it, but it just might work!

The Snow Queen

Kai and Gerda are best friends who would do anything for each other. So when Kai begins to act cruelly, Gerda knows that something has gone terribly wrong and when he disappears, she knows she is the only one who can find him. Gerda sets off on an epic journey, facing three great trials before finally discovering Kai at the palace of the evil Snow Queen.

The Red Bicycle : The Extraordinary Story of One Ordinary Bicycle

In this unique nonfiction picture book, the main character is a bicycle that starts its life like so many bicycles in North America, being owned and ridden by a young boy. The boy, Leo, treasures his bicycle so much he gives it a name — Big Red. But eventually Leo outgrows Big Red, and this is where the bicycle’s story takes a turn from the everyday, because Leo decides to donate it to an organization that ships bicycles to Africa.

This book has been included in WOW’s Kids Taking Action Booklist. For our current list, visit our Boolist page under Resources in the green navigation bar.