Primary (ages 6-9)

Material appropriate for primary age groups

The Fabled Life Of Aesop: The Extraordinary Journey and Collected Tales Of The World’s Greatest Storyteller

The Tortoise and the Hare. The Boy Who Cried Wolf. The Fox and the Crow. Each of Aesop’s stories has a lesson to tell, but Aesop’s life story is perhaps the most inspiring tale of them all. Gracefully revealing the genesis of his tales, this story of Aesop shows how fables not only liberated him from captivity but spread wisdom over a millennium. This is the only children’s book biography about him. Includes thirteen illustrated fables: The Lion and the Mouse, The Goose and the Golden Egg, The Fox and the Crow, Town Mouse and Country Mouse, The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Dog and the Wolf, The Lion and the Statue, The Tortoise and the Hare, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The North Wind and the Sun, The Fox and the Grapes, The Dog and the Wolf, The Lion and the Boar.

Finding Narnia: The Story Of C. S. Lewis And His Brother Warnie

Before C.S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, he was a young boy named Jack who spent his days dreaming up stories of other worlds filled with knights, castles and talking animals. His brother, Warnie, spent his days imagining worlds filled with trains, boats and technology. One rainy day, they found a wardrobe in a little room next to the attic, and they wondered, “What if the wardrobe had no end?” Years later, Jack began to think about what could be beyond that wardrobe, and about a girl named Lucy and her siblings. This picturebook biography introduces the beloved creator of The Chronicles of Narnia to a new generation of children who see hidden magic in the world around them.

I Dream Of A Journey

Akiko Miyakoshi’s enchanting picture book explores how an innkeeper who spends his days at the crossroads of others’ journeys secretly longs to have adventures of his own. People from all over the world come and go at the innkeeper’s little hotel. He enjoys meeting them, and many even become his friends. Only, sometimes, when he goes to sleep at night, the desire to travel far away himself wells up inside him. He dreams of packing a big bag and journeying wherever he pleases, from one unfamiliar town to another. He imagines stopping to visit friends and having wonderful and unexpected experiences. The innkeeper continues to go about his daily routine at his hotel, but, someday, he is sure, he will explore the world.

Lost Cities

Combining world culture, history, geography, and architecture, this visually stunning look at ancient cities around the globe takes readers to such places as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, and the mysterious sculptures of Angkor Wat. Perfect for fans of This Is How We Do It and Atlas Obscura.

The Phoenix of Persia

Retold for a modern audience, the story of The Phoenix of Persia is one of the ancient epic stories of Shahnameh (The Book of Kings) by the 10th century poet Ferdowsi, reminiscent of the classic fairytale Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. In this ancient Persian, a king awaits the birth of his son but when the child is born with white hair and skin, he is banished to the forest. The young babe is brought up by the phoenix Simorgh until his father realizes the love he has lost and seeks his return. A QR code is included to download Iranian music to accompany the text.

This Is My World (Lonely Planet Kids)

In this collection, 84 children from diverse backgrounds share their stories and photos of what’s unique about their lives – from weather, local festivals and hobbies to their favorite sports and food. These personal portraits also reveal the many things children have in common, no matter where they’re from.

Tahi

This is the true story of the remarkable team effort to save a kiwi that lost its leg. The fictional narrator of the story is a schoolboy who is doing a project on kiwi. This is very much a multi-layered story with the tale of the kiwi running alongside the story of the boy and his attempts to impress his teacher. As well as those stories, great factual detail about kiwi appears in the boy’s notebook on every spread. Weta Workshop, the Artificial Limb Centre and Wellington Zoo all joined forces to provide this kiwi with an artifical leg.

Malala’s Magic Pencil

As a child in Pakistan, Malala made a wish for a magic pencil. She would use it to make everyone happy, to erase the smell of garbage from her city, to sleep an extra hour in the morning. But as she grew older, Malala saw that there were more important things to wish for. She saw a world that needed fixing. And even if she never found a magic pencil, Malala realized that she could still work hard every day to make her wishes come true.

Featured in WOW Review Volume XII, Issue 2