Akimbo and the Baboons

Akimbo is excited to have his cousin, Kosi, visit him on the game reserve where he lives, and when a visiting scientist invites the boys to join her when she studies a pack of baboons, they can’t wait to assist her in the bush. The baboons they find are fun to observe, but when a black leopard threatens the pack—and the scientist—Akimbo and Kosi are reminded that danger is ever present in the African bush. Alexander McCall Smith takes young readers on a safari to his beloved Africa in this perfect first chapter book, beautifully brought to life with illustrations by LeUyen Pham.

Mao’s Last Dancer

Chosen from millions of children to serve in Mao’s cultural revolution by studying at the Beijing Dance Academy, Li knows ballet would be his family’s best opportunity to escape the poverty in his rural China home. From one hardship to another, Li perseveres, never forgetting the family he left behind.

Waiting for Mama (Omma Majung: 엄마 마중)

This tender story was first published in a newspaper in 1938. This tale from Korea is universal–a small child waits for Mama at the station, asking the conductor if he has seen her. The conductor hasn’t, but cautions the child to wait a little farther from the tracks. It is cold and snowy but the child waits patiently until finally Mama comes.

This is written in Korean. The English-Korean edition book is also available.

Featured in Volume I, Issue 2 of WOW Review.

Through Time: London

From a Neolithic camp to the host of the 2012 Summer Olympics, very few cities have seen as much history, innovation, and bloodshed as London. In this beautiful book, readers take an historical, geographical, and anthropological journey through London’s past through amazing artwork and detailed cross sections. From the earliest habitations to the Roman and Viking invasions, the Plague, Shakespeare, The Great Fire, right up to the Industrial Revolution, the Blitz, and more, readers will uncover layer after layer of London’s magnificent history and learn about the people who have called the city home.

Farmer Joe And The Music Show

“Down on the farm of Poor Old Joe, the hens won’t lay and the crops won’t grow.” With the help of his instrument playing friends, Farmer Joe soon has the hens clucking, the pigs hoofing, and the cows mooing to a hillbilly music show. And now, “…down on the farm of Clever Old Joe, the hens all lay and the crops all grow.”  

Panorama: A Foldout Book

Illustrations and simple text invite the reader to visit different places around the world, then to view the same scenes at night on the reverse of the fanfolded page.

Little Boat

One brave little boat is on a journey to discover the seven seas. Setting off into the big, wide world, Little Boat runs into treacherous waters, turbulent tides, and seafaring friends. After all his nautical adventures, our hero finds out that he’s no longer such a little boat.

Polar Bear Puzzle (Adventures of Riley)

Riley and his family fly north to Churchill, Canada, wo watch polar bear hunt deals from the ice of Hudson Bay. There’s just one problem: no ice! For Polar Bears, no ice means no seals, and without food, the bears can quickly become hungry, weak and dangerous! It’s a race against time as everyone searches for clues to this puzzling climate mystery. Will the ice freeze in time–or at all?  And will the polar bears finally get to eat again? The answer is up to you!