Shima the Origami Master lives on a mountain in Japan. He isn’t lonely, for his beautiful origami animals keep him company.One morning Shima finds a marvelous new paper elephant on his desk. Where could it have come from? The next morning, a splendid dragon is in its place. It looks real enough to fly away.That night, Shima stays awake to find out who could make such wonderful creatures. But when he discovers who the mysterious artist is, he learns a surprising lesson about friendship.
Fiction
Fiction genre
Signal
Cooper’s Lesson
Cooper’s Lesson is an inspiring story about identity and intergenerational friendship, featuring a young biracial boy, written in both English and Korean. Cooper has had about enough of being half and half. And he’s really had enough of Mr. Lee, the owner of his neighborhood grocery store, speaking to him in Korean even though Cooper can’t keep up. Frustrated, he often wonders why things have to be so complicated. Why can’t he just be one race or the other? But one moment in Mr. Lee’s store changes everything. Soon Cooper realizes that the things that make up a person are never simple — whether one talks about them in English or Korean. Richly hued oil paintings and tender vivid prose combine to bring the characters to life.
Yoon and the Jade Bracelet
Yoon wants a jump rope for her birthday so she can play with the other girls in the school yard. Instead, Yoon’s mother gives her a Korean storybook about a silly girl who is tricked by a tiger. Yoon also receives a jade bracelet that once belonged to her grandmother. The next day at school, a girl offers to teach Yoon how to jump rope, but for a price — she wants to borrow the jade bracelet. When Yoon tries to get her bracelet back, the girl swears it belongs to her. Yoon must use the lessons learned in her storybook and her “Shining Wisdom” to retrieve the precious keepsake.
In this third book featuring Yoon, lush impressionistic dreamscapes evoke a simple and timeless message: it is possible to trick a tiger.
Take a closer look at Yoon and the Jade Bracelet as examined in WOW Review.
Chu Ju’s House
When a girl is born to Chu Ju’s family, it is quickly determined that the baby must be sent away. After all, the law states that a family may have only two children, and tradition dictates that every family should have a boy. To make room for one, this girl will have to go. Fourteen-year-old Chu Ju knows she cannot allow this to happen to her sister. Understanding that one girl must leave, she sets out in the middle of the night, vowing not to return.
Stanley At Sea
Stanley’s thrown his party — and braved his wild ride. Now Stanley and his pals embark on an adventure that makes sea-dogs of them all! It’s picnic time in the park — but not for Stanley. He knows he’s not supposed to beg, but his people are always eating. And Stanley is always hungry! After he’s told to “get,” Stanley wanders down by the river where he runs into Alice, Nutsy and Gassy Jack. Soon their keen noses lead them to a delicious treat on a small boat with no people in sight. When the boat’s mooring comes loose, they float away with the current down the river, under a bridge and then out to sea! It’s a scary new world where the sky stretches in every direction and big waves crash. The dogs know that when you’re Outside, sooner or later you always come to a fence. When suddenly through the mist they see what looks like a very tall fence, they know they’ve come to the End of Outside! But what kind of fence is this?
Buttercup’s Lovely Day
In poetry that lyrically winds like a creek through a farmer’s field, we journey through one lovely day in Buttercup’s life. Whether she is ruminating on the mud beneath her feet or the moon and the stares in the blue-black sky, she draws us deep into her rich and wonderful world.
Please Don’t Tease Tootsie
Featuring Tootsie the Cat, Dixie the Dog, and Bitsy Bunny, rhyming text and bold illustrations provide preschoolers with valuable tips and helpful advice on the proper way to care for family pets.
Mr. Karp’s Last Glass
Young Randolph has always been interested in collecting, so when he finds out that his family’s new boarder, Mr. Karp, also has a collection of mysterious crated items, he decides to find out more about the man.
Imagining Isabel: 9
The sequel to Among the Volcanoes portrays the intellectual and political transformation of a young Mayan woman who leaves her Guatemalan village to attend a special program for teachers.