Material appropriate for primary age groups
Sophie lives in the city, and her vegetables come from the supermarket. Then she goes to visit her grandparents in the countryside — and soon discovers how much there is to learn about how things grow! Sophie helps her grandfather through the different seasons, finding out about mulching onions, eating flowers, weeding, bees, making salad, catching beetles, digging, earthing up, picking and composting. When winter comes, Sophie has to go home — but her grandfather has one last surprise for her.
What if you picked out a book to read, but the characters weren’t ready for you yet
Take a peek inside this book and you’ll find some characters (though they’re still a bit sketchy). They’ll be perplexed to see you, so they’ll quickly try to track down their author (who has a lot more work to do). What you won’t find is a story, or a title, because — guess what? The book isn’t finished yet! But surely the author must have a story to tell? In this charming “meta” picture book, children of all ages are encouraged to interact with a book still in the process of being invented. And that’s a story in itself!
Basant is here, with feasts and parties to celebrate the arrival of spring. But what Malik is looking forward to most is doing battle from his rooftop with Falcon, the special kite he has built for speed. Today is Malik’s chance to be the best kite fighter, the king of Basant. In two fierce battles, Malik takes down the kites flown by the bully next door. Then Malik moves on, guiding Falcon into leaps, swirls, and dives, slashing strings and plucking kites from the sky. By the end of the day, Malik has a big pile of captured kites. He is the king! But then the bully reappears, trying to take a kite from a girl in the alley below. With a sudden act of kingly generosity, Malik finds the perfect way to help the girl.
This beautifully written story, loosely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “Thumbelina,” was created in response to the gorgeous award-winning art of Nasrin Khosravi. Author Uma Krishnaswami’s sensitive and poetic tale opens when Lina, a tiny girl no bigger than a thumb, is found in a flower by her mother. Because she is so tiny, adventure and mishap easily befall her — a giant frog leaves her stranded on a lily pad, she is freed by curious fish, then pestered by crazy bugs. Lina lives by herself in the depths of a forest until the cold of winter approaches and she begins to feel lonely. She encounters a mouse, who is happy to have someone to dust and sweep for him, but one day in the back room of his house Lina comes across the body of a swallow. The mouse is convinced the bird is dead but Lina, thinking she sees a wing tremble, brings it food and water. Amazingly, the swallow revives and the two of them fly together to the garden of wishes.
In 1325, when Ibn Battuta was just 21, he bid farewell to his parents in Tangier, Morocco, and embarked on a pilgrimage to Mecca. It was 30 years before he returned home, having seen much of the world. In this book he recalls his amazing journey and the fascinating people, cultures, and places he encountered. He traveled extensively, throughout Islamic lands and beyond — from the Middle East to Africa to Europe to Asia. Ibn Battuta kept a diary of his travels, and even though he lost it many times and had to recall and rewrite what he had seen, he kept a remarkable record of his years away. His meticulous observations, retold here by Fatima Sharafeddine and beautifully illustrated by Intelaq Mohammed Ali, give us a remarkable picture of what it was like to be a traveler nearly 700 years ago.
A delicious folktale sure to make you laugh! Oh no, Maw Maw is out of the most important ingredient for her beautiful buttery biscuits- sody sallyraytus! She sends her family off, one by one, with a warning about the bear at the bridge.A delicious folktale sure to make you laugh! Oh no, Maw Maw is out of the most important ingredient for her beautiful buttery biscuits- sody sallyraytus! She sends her family off, one by one, with a warning about the bear at the bridge. Follow along as they try unsuccessfully to get the sody sallyraytus home. Who knew that a friendly, and very hungry, squirrel would jump in to save the day!
As a young boy in Gujarat, India, Kumar sometimes feels like he lives in two worlds. First there is the old world where people and their choices are determined by prejudice and bigotry. But then there is the second, modern world: in this world Kumar can be friends with whomever he chooses and his future looks bright. As part of the annual Diwali celebration, Kumar is invited to the house of his classmate Andal to watch fireworks. Andal is from a high-caste Brahmin family so Kumar is especially pleased to be included. But there in Andal’s house, Kumar’s two worlds collide in a very unpleasant way. Instead of being welcomed as a guest, Kumar is sent away, forbidden to join the festivities. Angry and hurt, Kumar is left questioning his place in Indian society. Where does he fit in? To which world does he really belong?
The camel has worked its entire life for a man called Halim, carrying bundles of spices, dates, incense, silver and wool on long journeys across the desert east of the Red Sea. It often has to climb steep dunes, run when it is exhausted, and wait in the hot sun while Halim sits in the shade talking to the other merchants. One day the camel is overwhelmed by sadness and finds itself in tears. But still Halim shows no sympathy. When they arrive in the beautiful garden-filled city of Medina, where the Prophet lives, the merchant refreshes himself with food and drink and then naps on a pillow of sand, once again leaving the tired camel to stand alone in the burning sun. But when the Prophet sees the camel’s plight, everything changes. Halim finally empathizes with the camel’s pain and suffering.
A composite of global cultures, Walk this World celebrates the everyday similarities and differences that exist between cultures around the world. Travel to a new country with every turn of the page, each with new surprises to discover: peek through windows, open doors, and delve underground by opening the many flaps on every spread.
When Sammy, a young Wilson’s warbler, wakes up one frosty August morning near the Arctic Circle, he instinctively knows that it’s time to make his first migratory journey south to Panama. But there’s one problem — where’s Panama? All the other warblers having left without him, Sammy sets off on his journey by himself, stopping to ask the same question of each of the different animals that he meets along the way: “Is this Panama?”