Stockholm winter 1880: twelve-year old Mika knows that it will be a struggle for everyone in the orphanage to survive this winter. To everyone’s shock, a newborn baby is left at the orphanage in the middle of the night with a cryptic message. Who is this baby boy? Where did he come from? And who is the “Dark Angel”? Meanwhile, there is an ease of mind knowing that the notorious serial killer, known as the Night Raven, is finally off the streets… or is he? Enter Detective Hoff who recruits Mika because of her ability to notice small details – a skill she credits for her ability to survive. He is investigating a gruesome murder and needs Mika’s help. With such little hope for the future, Mika questions if this could be an opportunity, or maybe, just maybe, a chance to be someone who matters.
Age
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Colorful Mondays: A Bookmobile Spreads Hope In Honduras (Stories From Latin America)
Monday is Luis’s favorite day of the week, the day the bookmobile comes to his neighborhood in Villa Nueva. You see, in Villa Nueva, sad stories gather like dark clouds, but when the bookmobile arrives, light and color burst through with laughter, stories, and maybe even a puppet show! Inspired by the JustWorld International’s bookmobile program in Tegucigalpa, Colororful Mondays celebrates the ways in which books and learning can bring joy to communities.
I Have The Right
Written and illustrated by internationally acclaimed Iranan illustrator Reza Dalvand, I Have the Right combines poetry and art to introduce children to the universal rights they are entitled to. Adopted in 1989 and ratified by 140 countries, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children promises to defend the rights of children, keep them safe, and ensure they are respected and valued.
Letters In Charcoal
A young narrator recounts learning to read with the help of Señor Velandia, the owner of the village shop, so she can unlock the messages her older sister, Gina, receives from a young doctor each month. In doing so, she will change her life, as well as the lives of every child in the pueblo of Palenque Colombia. Inspired by stories told to the author by Colombian women, Letters in Charcoal celebrates the freedom to read and the joy reading can bring by adding light for a brighter future.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.