Jasper is a moon bear who was held in a cage by bear farmers in rural China. The farmers extracted the bile from Jasper’s body and sold it to be used in traditional medicines. Despite how badly he was treated, Jasper was able to slowly recover, forgive, and trust humans. With each new bear who arrives in the sanctuary, Jasper becomes a friend, letting them know that they are in a place where healing will begin.
Primary (ages 6-9)
Material appropriate for primary age groups
The Lion Who Stole My Arm
When his ambition to become a great hunter like his father is crushed by a lion attack that causes him to lose an arm, young Pedru is overcome by a desire to kill the lion that mauled him but questions his resolve when an opportunity arises.
Hooey Higgins and the Tremendous Trousers
Have you ever found yourself in a slightly risky situation and thought, What I really need is a pair of super-protective trousers to keep me safe from crocodiles, flying toffee apples, and log-flume malfunctions? Head for Shrimpton-on-Sea, where Hooey, Will, and Twig are working on an ingenious contraption sure to make the world a safer place: the all-new Tremendous Trousers, aka TremTrows! All you do is slip on a pair of yellow sweatpants, stuff them full of bubble wrap, add some soda bottles topped with balloons, and inflate them with gas from a bunch of mints dropped into the soda. What could possibly go wrong? It’s a brilliant invention guaranteed to win the class prize — tickets to the carnival! Shweet!
This Is The Rope
A rope passed down through the generations frames an African American family’s story as they journey north during the time of the Great Migration.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume VI, Issue 4
All For The Better: A Story Of El Barrio
Some people live to make a difference. However they find the world around them, they try to make it better. For them, nothing is so perfect it can’t be improved, and no problem is so difficult it can’t be faced. This is the story of a young girl who in a small way made a difference to many people in her community. She had no special gift beyond caring, but you will see how, much you can do when you care enough to make a difference.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume VI, Issue 4
Confetti
Poems celebrating the beauty of the Southwest as experienced by a Mexican American girl who lives there.
This Big Sky
Poems that describe the landscape, people, and animals of the American Southwest.
Senor Cat’s Romance: And Other Favorite Stories from Latin America
A collection of popular tales told to young children in places such as Argentina, Cuba, Colombia, Nicaragua, and Mexico.
Cousins
In Cousins a little girl lives in two opposite worlds. There’s the house where she lives with her father and grandmother that is full of beautiful and expensive things, but rather quiet. Then there’s her other grandmother’s house where her cousin lives, which is always brimming with people. She loves her cousin’s world. But when she does something she regrets, she must confront her feelings of guilt. Eventually, she realizes she is very lucky to be able to move gracefully between two such wonderful worlds.
The Old Man Who Loved to Sing
A man fills the Australian wilderness with singing, but because he is old, one day he forgets to sing, so the animals help him remember.