When Carlitos’ mother and the other janitors go on strike for higher wages, Carlitos cannot think of a way to support his mother until he sees her on TV making a speech, and he then gets his class to help him make a sign to show his pride.
A bug flies through an open door into a house, through a bathroom, across a kitchen and bedroom and into a living room, where its entire life changes with the switch of a button. Sucked into the void of a vacuum bag, this one little bug moves through denial, bargaining, anger, despair and eventually acceptance, the five stages of grief, as it comes to terms with its fate.
The first bilingual picture book published under the Pinata Books imprint in 1994, Pat Mora’s ode to the desert is finally available in paperback format. The Desert Is My Mother creates a beautiful poetic and artistic rendition of the relationship between people and nature. Rather than being an expanse empty of life and value, the desert is lovingly presented as the provider of comfort, food, spirit, and life.
A little hedgehog is fast asleep when all of a sudden, the light clicks on. He is not happy about being woken. “Turn off that light!” he demands. The light switches off. And then on again. And off. And on. “Who keeps doing that?!” The hedgehog bumbles around, exasperated, in a flurry of onomatopoeia — GRRR!! OW! CRUNCH. BANG! — as his room mysteriously goes from dark to light over and over and over again.
In the wild winter wood, two hungry ravens fly in search of their next meal. A pack of wolves is on the hunt, too. Food is scarce, but, if they team up, the ravens and wolves just might be able to help each other. The ravens follow a pack of starving wolves on the hunt. The wolves come up empty handed – and even lose one of their own in the chase – but the ravens have better luck. The wolves hear the ravens cawing and investigate only to find an injured deer, the perfect meal! The wolves make the kill; the opportunistic ravens benefit, feasting alongside and after the wolves.
Traveling Butterflies indulges the awe these creatures inspire by taking a poetic, meditative look at the monarch’s life cycle. In a lyrical voice that seamlessly blends fact and storytelling, the book zooms in to show a monarch’s progression from an egg the size of a dewdrop through growth, metamorphosis, and preparation for their journey south.
When her identity is challenged, Tulipán, the Puerto Rican giraffe, ponders whether being Puerto Rican is a look or a feeling, whether it is in her blood or in her mind and heart. Her journey of self-identification takes her beyond simplistic and narrow definitions of the self.
Featured in WOW Review Volume IX, Issue 1.
In Japan in 1853, at the time of U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry’s visit to Japan, Yoshi, a young Japanese boy who dreams of becoming a samurai one day, learns about America from Majiro and has adventures with Jack, a young cabin boy aboard one of the U.S. ships. Includes historical notes and glossary.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume VIII, Issue 1.
Since the publication of There Is a Crocodile under My Bed! in 1980, countless children have overcome their fears of the dark with this ever-selling picture book. But times have changed and Ingrid and Dieter Schubert changed too. So they proudly present a totally renewed There Is a Crocodile under My Bed! The girl who discovers a crocodile under her bed thinks: This is going to be fun! She decides to tame the beast with her hoop and that’s the beginning of a special friendship.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume VIII, Issue 1.
An older brother is strong and respected, just like an elephant. A mother is stately and beautiful, but she prefers not to stand out a tall feat for a giraffe! How are animals like humans, and humans like animals?