At her home in Vietnam, a girl rescues ants from the sugar water set out to trap them. Later, when the girl’s family flees war-torn Vietnam, ants lead them through the moonlit jungle to the boat that will take them to safety. Before boarding, the girl folds a paper boat from a bun wrapper and drops it into the water, and the ants climb on. Their perilous journey, besieged by punishing weather, predatory birds, and dehydration, before reaching a new beginning, mirrors the family’s own. Impressionistic collages and a moving, Own Voices narrative make this a one-of-a-kind tale of courage, resilience, and hope.
Primary (ages 6-9)
Material appropriate for primary age groups
Lights On Wonder Rock
Heather wants more than anything to go to outer space, where the stars sparkle with magic and wonder. When a UFO lands behind her house and she meets a friendly alien, it seems that all of her dreams have come true. But soon her new friend has to return home. Will the spaceship ever come back for her? And if it does, is Heather ready to leave everything on Earth behind?
The Potato King
Once upon a time there was a Prussian King, Frederick, also known as Fritz, who saw potential in the lowly potato — a newly introduced crop from South America — and decided to plant it for his people. However, it quickly became clear that his subjects didn’t like being told what to eat. Determined to see the potato thrive, Fritz cleverly used reverse psychology to pique his people’s curiosity and make the crop popular, and the potato has flourished ever since. Potato-stamp illustrations throughout are simple and effective, exhibiting Niemann’s trademark wit and playfulness. The book includes a short informational note on the historical background to the story. Readers will be interested to discover how one of today’s most common foods likely rose to popularity and may also be inspired by the king’s creative problem solving
The Whispering Cloth
A Hmong girl in a Thai refugee camp learns to embroider the pa’ndau or story cloth from her grandmother to tell the story of her life.
Usha And The Stolen Sun
“Usha lives in a town where the sun hasn’t shone for as long as anyone can remember. Only her grandfather remembers its brilliance, and tells Usha stories about the time before other people took the sun away, building a wall to keep it all to themselves. So Usha decides to do something, and sets off in search of the sun. When at last Usha reaches the wall, she tries to kick it down, climb it, yell her way through it-but the bricks don’t budge. It’s only after hearing voices on the other side of the wall that Usha changes her plan. She sings, shares her grandfather’s stories, and piques the curiosity of the people on the other side until they are inspired to remove the bricks, one by one. Together, they bring the wall down. Inspired by the idea of peaceful protest, this book offers a timely message of cooperation and empathy”–
Aaalligator!
When a hungry alligator moves to their town, the residents want him out . . . until they get to know him (and learn what he’s actually hungry for!). A timely tale about empathy, acceptance and a community’s response to injustice.
Idriss’s Marble
“When war threatens their home, Idriss and his mother must flee. He clutches his lucky charm–a single marble–throughout their journey, walking over hazardous terrain, crawling under barbed wire, and sailing on a fragile little boat. Will the marble’s luck help them avoid capture and bring them to the safety of a new world?”
Bone Man: A Native American Modoc Tale
“On the day that you were born, Kokolimalayas, the Bone Man, drank the river dry and devoured all the people except you and me. When you are old enough to be a warrior, you will bring the waters back and people will live here once again”.Ever since he was a young boy, Nulwee has been told the frightening story of the Bone Man by his Grandmother. She has always warned him that if he was to wake the enormous skeletal creature, that he would then have to defeat him in battle to save their village. Nulwee lives in dread of that moment. How will a small boy be able to destroy the fearless Bone Man?
Emmy Noether- The Most Important Matheematician You’ve Never Heard of
Emmy Noether is not pretty, quiet, good at housework or eager to marry — all the things a German girl is expected to be in her time. What she is, though, is a genius at math. When she grows up, she finds a way to first study math at a university (by sitting in, not actually enrolling) and then to teach it (by doing so for free). She also manages to do her own research into some of the most pressing math and physics problems of the day. And though she doesn’t get much credit during her lifetime, her discoveries continue to influence how we understand the world today.
Manu, The Boy Who Loved Birds
On a school trip to Honolulu’s Bishop Museum, Manu and his classmates are excited to see an ancient skirt made with a million yellow feathers from the ‘ō‘ō, a bird native to Hawai‘i that had gone extinct long ago. Manu knew his full name, Manu‘ō‘ōmauloa, meant “May the ‘ō‘ō bird live on” but never understood: Why was he named after a native forest bird that no longer existed?