As the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a former slave, Martin de Porres was born into extreme poverty. Even so, his mother begged the church fathers to allow him into the priesthood. Instead, Martin was accepted as a servant boy. But soon, the young man was performing miracles. Rumors began to fly around the city of a strange mulatto boy with healing hands, who gave first to the people of the barrios. Martin continued to serve in the church, until he was finally received by the Dominican Order, no longer called the worthless son of a slave, but rather a saint and the rose in the desert.
Picture Book
The Little Brown Jay: A Tale From India
Kindness and helping others often bring unexpected rewards. Meet Princess Maya and the little brown jay in this magical folktale from India, and find out how unselfish acts bring great joy.
The Churki-Burki Book Of Rhyme
Meet Churko and burki, the rhyming sister, and spend a day with them in their billage, playing and singing songs. Adapted from the Gond arist Durga Bai’s rendering of her own childhood in her village Paranghr, this is a merry tale of fun and rhyme.
Do!
Do! is a set of action pictures rendered in the elegantly minimalist Warli style of tribal art. It introduces basic verbs to the young reader through a series of delicately drawn pictograms, which both illustrate the verb and tell a further string of stories. Every page or pair of pages invites the child to explore a busy world and make up her own tales. The art conjures up a world teeming with human figures, animals, plants, and birds.
The illustrations in Do! were made by people belonging to a tribal community in Maharashtra, in western India. Ramesh Hengadi, Rasika Hengadi, Shantaram Dhadpe, and Kusum Dhadpe are the artists featured in this book.
Do! was conceived of by Gita Wolf, who has written more than seventeen books for children and adults. A highly original and creative voice in contemporary Indian publishing, she has pursued her interest in exploring and experimenting with the form of the book and its status as a revered cultural object.
Excuses Excuses
“Youngsters will delight in Neel’s fantastic excuses… The illustrations, a collage of tinted photographs and art, provide an appropriately surreal backdrop” -Kirkus Reviews” Art and text intertwined with balanced whimsy, imbue Neel’s tall tales with colorful energy and unlimited creativity.” – BookDragon, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program Who doesn’t know a child who is always ready with an implausible excuse when caught out by an indignant adult? Excuses Excuses builds on this universal experience using an Indian setting. Young Neel is the boy next door who can’t help getting into trouble, and yet he is endearing in his explanations. He has one for every day of the week and for every kind of adult ? it seems that he may never run out of them! Wildly funny and imaginative, this narrative in nonsense verse is fast-paced and keeps young readers guessing. Unusual and dramatic art that captures the improbable colors of India adds zest to a story that all children would want to be a part of.
Ganesha’s Sweet Tooth
Ganesha is just like any thoer kid, except that he has the head of an elephant and rides around on a magical mouse. And he love sweets, especially the traditional dessert laddoo. When Ganesha insists on biting into a super jumbo jawbreaker laddoo, his tusk breaks off! Ganesha is terribly upset, but with the help of the wise post Vyasa, he learns that what seems broken can actually be quite useful after all. The bold, bright colors of India leap right off the page in this fresh and funny picture book adaptation of how Ganesha came to write the epic poem of Hindu literature, the Mahabharate.
My Dad
Every Friday night Dad drinks beer and gets boisterous with his friends. Then, later, he and mom argue. Their son, who tells the story, and his younger sister, Gracie, are embarrassed by Dad when he gets like this.
Let’s Go See Papa!
The little girl in this story likes Sundays best of all — it’s the day her father calls. She hasn’t seen him for over a year because he works far away across the ocean in the United States. She writes in her notebook every day, keeping a record of everything that happens to share with him when she finally sees him again. And she thinks about the fun they used to have when he was home — taking their dog Kika to the park and buying freshly baked bread together. Then one Sunday her father asks if she and her mother would like to join him, and she’s surprised by her mixed feelings. It means leaving her grandmother, her friends . . . and Kika behind.
This is a powerful story from a young child’s perspective about what it’s like to have an absent parent and to have to leave your home, country and those you love for a new life.
Galileo’s Journal 1609-1610
This fictional journal is from the year in which Galileo constructed his own telescope and began to record his astronomical discoveries. Includes additional nonfiction biographical information.
Megan’s Year
Ten-year-old Megan Brady tells of her family’s lifestyle, spending summers traveling in a caravan through the Irish countryside getting work where they can, and winters in Dublin so the children can attend school.