Age

Catalog sorted by age group

Lunar New Year (Celebrations & Festivals)

Lunar New Year celebrates the biggest Chinese festival of the year through the eyes of Ling and her family in this authentic narrative non-fiction story. Follow along with Ling, her sister Mei, and granny Po Po as they clean the house, pick fresh flowers and visit friends and family carrying red lanterns through their neighborhood. Readers will learn all about the magic of the Lunar New Year by exploring the preparations leading up to the festival, the Reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s day fireworks, Dragon dancing and the New Year Monster, the lantern festival, and much more! Part of the Celebrations & Festivals series, where readers are invited into a family’s celebration to explore the magic and excitement of religious and cultural festivals from around the world.

 

The Moon Is A Ball: Stories Of Panda & Squirrel

Join best friends, Panda and Squirrel, in nine stories about the importance and meaning of friendship.  Whether they are lying on rocks to look up at the moon, taking walks or playing games, Panda and Squirrel do everything together. On some days they argue, but they always make up. With full-color illustrations by world-leading illustrator for children and Hans Christian Andersen nominee, Tjong-Khing, and written by one of Belgium’s most important and innovative children’s authors, Ed Franck, The Moon is a Ball is sure to delight young readers again and again. Perfect for emerging readers and reading aloud.

Okinawa

This heartbreaking manga, by an award-winning mangaka, examines the effects of World War 2 and post-war military colonization in Okinawa. An essential manga classic presented in English for the first time.

Okinawa is the WOW Recommends Book of the Month for April 2024.

The Pebble: An Allegory Of The Holocaust

Two best friends, Eitan and Rivka, live in a gated Jewish ghetto, where they have been imprisoned by the Nazis since last Spring. But here they can still experience children laughing, dogs barking and women chatting, all as Eitan plays his violin. Yet no one can leave, and if anyone goes through the gates, they never come back.  Light hearted in appearance only, this picture book presents one of the darkest moments in human history, the Holocaust, by showcasing the complexities of the human condition and how hope can endure, be it the music of a violin, or the sound of laughter and chatting. They may be trapped within walls of a ghetto, but they can still climb to the rooftop.

A Pocketful Of Stars

Safiya and her mum rarely see eye to eye. They don’t seem to have anything in common. But when her mother falls into a coma, Safiya must come to terms with their complex relationship. As she waits by her mother’s bedside, Safiya finds herself in a confusing alternate world, where she meets a rebellious teenage girl who looks suspiciously familiar.

 

Three Tasks For A Dragon

Studious Prince Lir is next in line to become the Wolfhound King, but he can’t ride a horse, lift a sword, or summon the fabled wolfhounds. So his stepmother decrees that her own son will inherit the crown instead, sending Lir away on a seemingly impossible—and assuredly fatal—quest: to rescue the maiden Cethlenn from the once-fearsome dragon Lasvarg. Rather than wage battle, Lir insists that Lasvarg, now decidedly past his prime, honor tradition by setting him three tasks to perform—starting with tackling the mold encrusting the dragon’s cave (and his feet!). As Lir improves Lasvarg’s life, he also grows closer to Cethlenn . . . as well as the wolfhound puppy strangely devoted to her. In time, they learn more of the dark magic that may be making pawns of them all—and how Cethlenn herself could be the key to breaking a spell that clouds the entire kingdom.

Three Tasks For A Dragon is featured in WOW Review Volume XVII, Issue 3.

Friend Of Numbers: The Life of Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan

Friend of Numbers tells the true story of Srinuvasa Ramanujan, who left his home of southern India in 1914 to study under the acclaimed mathematician G.H. Hardy at Cambridge University. Fascinated with numbers since he was a child, Ramanujan’s love of numbers and math keep him going despite the difficulties of adjusting to a place that is so different from home. Recognized as a genius during his time and our own, Ramanujan’s short but brilliant life is portrayed vividly in this picture book biography. The book includes back matter with an author’s note, a glossary of Ramanujan’s world, and mathematical content about number patterns and magic squares.

The Shade Tree

Villagers like to come to rest and cool down in the shade of a huge, old tree. But when a young traveler decides to join them one day, a rich man on whose land the tree stands demands they leave because he owns the tree and therefore its shade. Thinking fast, the traveler strikes a deal: one that will enable him to outsmart the rich man and ensure that the villagers will always have access to the shade tree’s shade, wherever it may fall.

Translator: Mixter, Helen

This book is part of the Worlds of Words Global Reading List for 2023/24.

Who Will Make The Snow?

Purr and Craw, twin moles born on the first day of spring, learn to dig themselves out of their comfort zones and experience the vast and unpredictable world around them. Indeed, they are curious about everything and ask endless questions. What is swimming? Do animals live in the sea? Why does mother speak French when she makes pancakes? No matter where or how far they go in the forest as they pursue answers, home is always waiting for them.

Catfish Rolling

Years after a major earthquake, which is said to have been caused by a rising and falling catfish under Japan, creates different zones in which time passes differently, Sora and her father secretly investigate the off-limit zones in order to find the answer behind the time anomalies and the disappearance of Sora’s mother. But one day her father begins to act strangely – his memory appears to be deteriorating. When he disappears, Sora has no choice but to venture down deep into the time zone to find her father and, perhaps, the catfish itself.

Featured in WOW Review Volume XVI, Issue 4.