The Storm Whale

Every day, in a house by the sea, a little boy watches his father leave for a long day’s work. One night, a great storm washes a small whale onto the beach. The boy discovers the whale is a good listener. The father discovers the boy is lonely. Together, they return the whale to the sea. And from that day on, the boy learns that the father can be a good listener too.

’twas Nochebuena

It’s Christmas Eve, and you’re invited to a Nochebuena celebration! Follow a family as they prepare to host a night filled with laughter, love, and Latino tradition. Make tasty tamales and hang colorful adornos (decorations) on the walls. Gather to sing festive canciones (songs) while sipping champurrado (hot chocolate). After the midnight feast has been served and the last gifts have been unwrapped, it’s time to cheer, “Feliz Navidad and to all a good night!” Latin American traditions for celebrating Christmas Eve in a text that combines English and Spanish words and follows the rhythm of Clement Moore’s “The Night Before Christmas”.

Malala, A Brave Girl From Pakistan/Iqbal, A Brave Boy From Pakistan

One country: Pakistan. Two children: Iqbal Masih and Malala Yousafzai. Each was unafraid to speak out. He, against inhumane child slavery in the carpet trade. She, for the right of girls to attend school. Both were shot by those who disagreed with them—he in 1995, she in 2012. Iqbal was killed instantly; Malala miraculously survived and continues to speak out around the world. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for her work.

Hunt for the Bamboo Rat

Zenji Watanabe, seventeen, is sent from Hawaii to the Philippines to spy on the Japanese during World War II and, after he is captured and tortured, must find a way to survive months of being lost in the jungle behind enemy lines.

The Extraordinary Mr. Qwerty

Norman Qwerty is a man of many ideas, and none of them are the least bit ordinary. He’s quite certain that no one else thinks the way he does, and this makes him keep to himself. But when his ideas get too big to hold in, he builds the most extraordinary thing! Soon the beloved Mr. Qwerty is never alone (unless he wants to be), and the world will never be the same. In a simple story whose intricate, quirky illustrations are teeming with fanciful inventions, Karla Strambini encourages creative kids to let their ideas out from under their hats and show the world what amazing things they have to share.

Love Monster and the Perfect Present

Love Monster is determined to give his best friend, a lovely girl monster, the perfect present on Gift Day, so when he discovers he cannot afford to buy anything special enough, he has an idea to make something, instead.

The Road To There: Mapmakers And Their Stories

Road maps; sailor’s charts; quilts; song lines; gilded parchment covered with jewel-like colors; computer printouts – to guide us through the strange, vast, beautiful, and mysterious frontiers of the world of maps, Val Ross presents the men and women who made them. Here are some of the unexpected stories of history’s great mapmakers: the fraud artists who deliberately distorted maps for political gain, Captain Cook, the slaves on the run who found their way thanks to specially-pieced quilts, the woman who mapped London’s streets, princes, doctors, and warriors. These are the people who helped us chart our way in the world, under the sea, and on to the stars. With reproductions of some of the most important maps in history, this extraordinary book, packed with information, is as fascinating and suspenseful as a novel.