Age

Catalog sorted by age group

Firework-Maker’s Daughter

A thousand miles ago, in a country east of the jungle and south of the mountains, there lived a firework-maker named Lalchand and his daughter, Lila. Lila’s learned from her father almost all there is to know about making fireworks. But he’s held back the final secret, the most dangerous one, saying Lila’s not ready to know. Not to be deterred, the headstrong girl enlists the help of her friend Chulak, and discovers that anyone who wants to be a true Firework-Maker must face down the Fire-Fiend of Mount Merapi, and bring back some of the Royal Sulphur. So Lila sets off fearlessly, ready to face pirates and demons and anything else that gets in her way.

Pullman is the author of the Golden Compass and Clockwork.

Little Green: Growing Up During The Chinese Cultural Revolution

This first-person memoir tells the story of Chun Yu, who was born in a small city in China, during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The streets were filled with roaming Red Guards, the walls were covered with slogans, and reeducation meetings were held in all workplaces. Every family faced danger and humiliation, even the youngest children. Shortly after Chun’s birth, her beloved father was sent to a peasant village in the countryside to be reeducated in the ways of Chairman Mao. Chun and her brother stayed behind with their mother, who taught in a country middle school where Mao’s Little Red Book was a part of every child’s education. Chun Yu’s young life was witness to a country in turmoil, struggle, and revolution — the only life she knew.

Under the Persimmon Tree

Najmah, a young Afghan girl whose name means “star,” finds herself alone when her father and older brother are conscripted by the Taliban and her mother and newborn brother are killed in an air raid. An American woman, Elaine, whose Islamic name is Nusrat, is also on her own. She waits out the war in Peshawar, Pakistan, teaching refugee children under the persimmon tree in her garden while her Afghan doctor husband runs a clinic in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. Najmah’s father had always assured her that the stars would take care of her, just as Nusrat’s husband had promised that they would tell Nusrat where he was and that he was safe. As the two look to the skies for answers, their fates entwine. Najmah, seeking refuge and hoping to find her father and brother, begins the perilous journey through the mountains to cross the border into Pakistan. And Nusrat’s persimmon-tree school awaits Najmah’s arrival. Together, they seek their way home.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume IV, Issue 4

I’d Really Like to Eat a Child

A scrawny little crocodile wants the opportunity to bite off more than he can chew. He’s tired of bananas; today he’d like to eat a child. But he’s smaller than he thinks, and the little girl he chooses for his first meal puts him in his place—she picks him up and tickles his tummy! The little crocodile is going to have to eat a lot of bananas and grow a lot bigger before he can add children to his menu! Simple yet hilarious artwork brings this droll story to life.

From Another World

Martin and his friends are helping their parents turn an old Brazilian coffee plantation into an inn. The children have a fun time helping to renovate the old place and they sleep in a shed that is being converted into a guest room. But one night they hear the sound of a young girl crying. Gradually, the ghost of a slave girl from the late 1800s named Rosario appears to them. Rosario tells them the story of her life and in doing so reveals the danger and instability that existed in Brazil after slavery ended. Though not the best at writing, Martin promises Rosario to record her story in the form of a book. Though the experience of slavery seems remote to the Martin and his friends, by the time they’ve heard Rosario’s story, the evil of slavery is made painfully clear. Ann Maria Machado’s deft storytelling skills and social conscience come together in this powerfully moving book that explores the history and impact of slavery.

The Absent-Minded Toad

A rhyming tale about a toad who travels to the outdoor market, only to discover upon his return home that he has neglected to pick up the items on his grocery list. He does manage, however, to have a spectacularly wonderful time perusing the venue and mingling with fellow customers.

Mama’s Saris

When a young girl eyes her mother’s suitcase full of silk, cotton and embroidered saris, she decides that she, too, should wear one, even though she is too young for such clothing. When the mother finally realizes how important it is for her little girl to feel like a big girl on her seventh birthday, she dresses up her daughter in the folds of a blue sari. The daughter is thrilled to look just like her mother, even if only for a day.

Troy Thompson’s Excellent Peotry Book

Troy Thompson, a Grade 6 student, in trying to understand the art of poetry, as he stumbles over the Japanese form of ‘Haiku’, the ballad, the limerick and the sonnet. At the end of the year, Troy’s poetry has improved and his respect for his teacher has grown too! An entertaining introduction to poetry, which can be read as a narrative. It is divided into assignments for the reader to follow and participate in and is peppered by Troy’s doodles and margin comments to his teacher. Ms Kranke obviously has quite a soft spot for this cheeky young student, and encourages him on his way, whether writing of his love for his school sweetheart, Kylie, or revealing the heroic and moving death of his policeman father.