Primary (ages 6-9)

Material appropriate for primary age groups

Dounia And The Magic Seeds

Dounia is the story of a little girl who loves her home city of Aleppo, Syria, and its many smells, sights, and traditions. But when war breaks out, Dounia and her grandparents must flee Aleppo to find safety. Before they go, their neighbour reads their future in a cup of coffee, she sees a long difficult journey ahead of the family and a blue house awaiting them at the end. Taking only a bird carved from Aleppo soap and four little barake seeds in her pocket, Dounia faces dangerous waters, a camp surrounded by barbed wire, and unfriendly soldiers, and she wonders where she and her family belong in the world. Remembering the ancient knowledge that barake seeds ward off evil, she pulls one from her pocket to use for each of the threats they face. Magically, the seeds from their faraway home help them along their way, until they finally find the blue house at the end of their journey.

In her new home, Dounia plants her final seed in a pot so it can grow and offer more seeds, while also keeping a piece of Aleppo with her. The baraké seeds represent the Syrian culture. Although Dounia is fleeing her country, she carries with her the strength of her people. It is by tapping into her roots, represented by the seeds, that she finds her own strength and resilience. The magical moments brought about by the baraké seeds can be interpreted as Dounia’s imagination it’s a way of seeing the war and the migration from a six year old’s perspective. Dounia does not understand everything that is going on, but she is not a powerless victim. By using the seeds, she feels she is taking an active part in her own destiny. In the end, whether it is magic or Dounia’s imagination at play, it’s a story about obstacles faced by migrants and about the courage they have in facing these obstacles. As Marya puts it in her article for TBI Magazine, it reverses the common narrative in North American media that Syria is synonymous with devastation and destruction, and that Syrian refugees can only be victims of their circumstance, rather than brave, vibrant heroes who can take charge of their own stories.

Copycat: Nature-Inspired Design Around The World

A collection of tanka poems, illustrations, and photographs explore biomimicry and show how plants, animals, and objects in the natural world have inspired human made inventions. Includes additional backmatter information about biomimicry, tanka and the natural and human-made objects featured.

The Brontes: The Fantastically Feminist (And Totally True) Story Of The Astonishing Authors

Meet the incredible Brontë family: Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell Brontë are no ordinary children. Growing up on the wild, lonely moors of Yorkshire, they have nothing to entertain them but their imaginations and each other. So they invent extraordinary imaginery worlds, full of wars and love stories, soldiers, heroes and villains, ruled over by powerful women. As they grow up, the Brontës discover that the real world isn’t such a great place to be a girl. But they are so determined that their voices be heard, they overcome almost unbeatable odds to be bestselling authors.

The Day Saida Arrived

Two girls forge a forever-friendship by learning each other’s language. The Day Saida Arrived demonstrates the power of language to build bonds beyond borders.

Featured in August 2023’s WOW Dozen on books about Language Learning and Communication.

Our Dragon

Two parents love their brand-new baby dragon…even though he is always breathing fire, especially when he’s hungry or tired. Dragon tries his best not to set any more fires, but sometimes accidents happen. And when he unwittingly coughs up another flame while playing, what are his loving-but-slightly-exasperated parents to do? He is a baby dragon, after all!

Eighteen Vats Of Water

Xian wishes to be a legendary Chinese calligrapher like his father, but struggles to focus. Following in his father’s footsteps, he uses eighteen large vats of water to visualize his progress: when all the vats have turned black with ink from his brush, Xian will have practiced enough to achieve greatness. However, Xian soon learns that rote practice is not enough. To be truly great, he’ll need to observe nature and capture the spirit of his subjects on the page.

Akpa’s Journey

After thick-billed murre Akpa emerges from his egg, high on an Arctic cliff, he soon learns that he must embark on a long migration before he is even able to fly. Flinging himself into the icy water with his father to guide him, Akpa must swim 1,000 kilometres of his journey south before he is able to finally fly the final leg of his journey. Adult male murres are also unable to fly during this time of the year, due to their changing feathers, so father and son must navigate south on the choppy ocean waves, meeting new and unfamiliar creatures along the way.