Primary (ages 6-9)

Material appropriate for primary age groups

Sugar Kid: A Story of the Girl from the Last Century Told

The Book of Olga Thunder “Sugar baby” recorded it with the words of Stella Nudolskoy, whose childhood coincided with the end of the 30’s – early 40’s in the Soviet Union. This is a very personal and poignant story of how five-year-Ale, happily growing up in a loving family, suddenly finds her daughter “an enemy of the people” and gets into a terrible, incomprehensible situation: after the arrest of their father and his mother is sent to a camp in Kyrgyzstan as CHSIR (family members traitor to the motherland) and ESR (socially dangerous elements).

See the review at WOW Review, Volume 7, Issue 1

At the Same Moment, Around the World

Discover Benedict drinking hot chocolate in Paris, France; Mitko chasing the school bus in Sofia, Bulgaria; and Khanh having a little nap in Hanoi, Vietnam! Clotilde Perrin takes readers eastward from the Greenwich meridian, from day to night, with each page portraying one of (the original) 24 time zones. Strong back matter empowers readers to learn about the history of timekeeping and time zones, and to explore where each of the characters lives on the world map.

Featured in Vol. VII, Issue 1 of WOW Review.

The Man With The Violin

Dylan is someone who notices things. His mom is someone who doesn’t. So try as he might, Dylan can’t get his mom to listen to the man playing the violin in the subway station. But Dylan is swept away by the soaring and swooping notes that fill the air as crowds of oblivious people rush by. With the beautiful music in his head all day long, Dylan can’t forget the violinist, and finally succeeds in making his mother stop and listen, too.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume 7, Issue 1

The Steadfast Tin Soldier

A new version of the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a tin soldier who falls in love with a ballerina. As in the original story, the tin soldier’s love for the beautiful ballerina is thwarted by a goblin. The tin soldier is separated from the other toys and washed down a sewer, where he encounters a rat and gets swallowed by a fish, but somehow, against all odds, he manages to end up back home only to be cast into the nursery fire. Rylant adds her own twist to the end of the tale, however, for in this version, the tin soldier and the ballerina are melded to each other, rather than melted, in the heat of the fire, so they’ll never be parted again.

Don’t Say A Word, Mamá

Mamá says she has the best daughters in the world. The two women live near their mother—Rosa with her husband and children, Blanca by herself. They both have flourishing gardens. Rosa and Blanca are so generous and kind and thoughtful—well, everyone, including Mamá, ends up with too much corn, tomatoes, and red hot chiles.

Let the Celebrations Begin

Miriam lives in hut 18, bed 22. She has little to eat and nothing to play with, but she can remember what it was like before, when she had her own food, her own bed, and her very own toys. As World War II nears an end, everyone says the soldiers are coming, so Miriam joins the women in planning a celebration. Every night, while the guards sleep, they busy themselves crafting toys out of scraps of their clothing to surprise the younger children. Based on a reference to a small collection of stuffed toys made by women in Belsen for the first party held after the liberation of the camp, this new edition of Let the Celebrations Begin!, originally published in 1996, is an affecting story of human survival.

Anna Carries Water

Anna fetches water from the spring every day, but she can’t carry it on her head like her older brothers and sisters can. In this charming and poetic family story set in Jamaica, Commonwealth Prize-winning author Olive Senior shows young readers the power of determination, as Anna achieves her goal and overcomes her fear.

The Bossy Gallito\Gallo De Bodas

In this cumulative Cuban folktale, a bossy rooster dirties his beak when he eats a kernel of corn and must find a way to clean it before his parrot uncle’s wedding. Includes a glossary of Spanish words and information about the different birds in the story.

Join the discussion of The Bossy Gallito as well as other books set in Cuba on our My Take/Your Take page.