My New Shirt

Receiving the yearly birthday gift from his grandmother has become David’s living nightmare. The “surprise” she always has for him never varies. How can he stop this never-ending flow of stiff, white, scratchy shirts — “perfect gentlemen” shirts that make him squirm and pull and shift and twitch? David closes his eyes and imagines a long line of shirts — one for every year of his life — stretching on forever. Then suddenly, without really intending to, he has done the unthinkable. “DAVID!” his mother screams. And when David opens his eyes, there are his mother, his father, and his bubbie staring at him. The shirt is no longer in his hands. He has thrown it out the window! Now it is out on the street, in the jaws of his dog, and the very merry chase is on. Bitingly funny and keenly observed, My New Shirt is graphically presented as a photo album commemorating David’s desperate act of liberation from a family tradition badly in need of a change.

Juan Bobo Goes to Work: A Puerto Rican Folktale

What can you do with a boy who tries to do things right but only leaves disaster in his wake? Readers everywhere will love to laugh at the hilarious antics of the ever-blundering Juan Bobo, Puerto Rico’s most celebrated folk character. In this rollicking Juan Bobo tale, our hero sets out to find work at the farm and the grocery. Although the tasks are simple and the directions couldn’t be clearer, he always find a way to bungle things up as only a character whose name means “Simple John” could!

My Dadima Wears a Sari

This warm, multigenerational story offers a glimpse into the distinctive culture and customs of India, while reinforcing universal themes of love and the importance of family. Every day, Rupa’s grandmother wears a beautiful sari. She shares with her young granddaughter all the wonderful things that saris can do-from becoming an umbrella in a rainstorm to providing a deep pouch to carry seashells collected from the beach. Soon Rupa’s own imagination is sparked with new uses for the saris. A note from the author and instructions for wrapping a sari are included.

Morris’s Disappearing Bag: A Christmas Story

Morris, the youngest child, is spurned on Christmas morning by his brothers and sisters. He is not having much fun until he discovers a present he had overlooked–a disappearing bag that makes people invisible.

Fox

An injured magpie and a one-eyed dog live happily together in the forest, until a jealous fox arrives to teach them what it means to be alone.

The Boy Who Ran with the Gazelles

A desert nomad woman has no milk, so brings her pet gazelle for her son to nurse. One day the boy and the gazelle wander off, and the pet gazelle finds a herd of her own kind. She protects the boy and he learns to run and feed himself. Hunters discover and capture him. He is terrified and does not eat. Finally, he escapes to rejoin his herd.