Material appropriate for primary age groups
As the seasons change, so too does a young Hmong girl’s world. She moves into a new home with her family and encounters both birth and death. As this curious girl explores life inside her house and beyond, she collects bits of the natural world. But who are her treasures for?
At home in her seaside town in England, little Mary Anning stared out her window. Unlike other children, Mary couldn’t wait for a rainy day. Because when it rained… the bones were revealed. With her father and brother, Mary would go out searching the damp soil after a storm, with the hopes of finding something nobody had seen before: a dinosaur. After her father dies, Mary must continue her search, picking up his tools and venturing out alone. In her life, she discovered several creatures, but was never given credit…until recently.
Drawn from author Kao Kalia Yang’s childhood experiences as a Hmong refugee, this moving picture book portrays a family with a great deal of love and little money. Weaving together Kalia’s story with that of her beloved grandmother, the book moves from the jungles of Laos to the family’s early years in the United States. When Kalia becomes unhappy about having to do without and decides she wants braces to improve her smile, it is her grandmother―a woman who has just one tooth in her mouth―who helps her see that true beauty is found with those we love most. Stunning illustrations from Vietnamese illustrator Khoa Le bring this intergenerational tale to life.
The Most Beautiful Thing was the WOW Recommends: Book of the Month for March 2021.
After something bad happens, a boy feels sad and gray. Mom and Aunt Cheryl try to talk about it, but he feels like running away. So he picks up a shovel and starts digging a tunnel from his room, deep down and into the backyard. Out there, far from the lights of the house, it’s dark enough that he could disappear. But the quiet distance also gives him the space he needs to see his family’s love and start returning home. As he heads back, the journey upward is different. He notices familiar details and tunes into his senses. The tunnel isn’t so scary this time. The boy emerges into his room just as Mom peeks in. When she notices a twig in his hair, he is ready to talk about the tunnel and finds warmth in her gentle acknowledgment: “You came back.” Love, connection, and slow healing, and are full of details that offer a glimpse into the lives of substantial and relatable characters.
Featured in WOW Review Volume XIV, Issue 4.
The bilingual picture book with a popular Ukrainian folktale Sirko, in Ukrainian and English languages. The funny story about a friendship of an old dog names Sirko and a Wolf. The old dog was not needed for his owners. Wolf helped Sirko to become loving and accepted again, and the old dog paid generously to his friend.
A Heartfelt Picture Book Celebration Of Food, Community, And Family–and Little Dumpling Treasures From Around The World.
Three girls follow their grandmother into her garden, where they examine her collection of rocks, crystals, shells, and meteorites and learn about the marvels they reveal.
After Laxmi’s Friend Zoe Points Out The Hairs On Her Lip, Laxmi Is Very Self-conscious Until Her East Indian Parents Help Her To Accept And Celebrate Her Appearance.
Jo Jo Makoons Azure is a spirited seven-year-old who moves through the world a little differently than anyone else on her Ojibwe reservation. It always seems like her mom, her kokum (grandma), and her teacher have a lot to learn–about how good Jo Jo is at cleaning up, what makes a good rhyme, and what it means to be friendly. Even though Jo Jo loves her #1 best friend Mimi (who is a cat), she’s worried that she needs to figure out how to make more friends. Because Fern, her best friend at school, may not want to be friends anymore.
Because she has been very ill and weak, River cannot join in the dancing at this year’s tribal powwow, she can only watch from the sidelines as her sisters and cousins dance the celebration–but as the drum beats she finds the faith to believe that she will recover and dance again.