Materials from the Americas
Today Juanito is accompanying his father who is in the landscaping business, and he takes his sketchbook along to draw anything that catches his eye, and gets to help his father plan an entire garden–and then help plant it. Includes an autobiographical note.
Reha feels torn between two worlds: school, where she’s the only Indian American student, and home, with her family’s traditions and holidays. But Reha’s parents don’t understand why she’s conflicted–they only notice when Reha doesn’t meet their strict expectations. Reha feels disconnected from her mother, or Amma, although their names are linked–Reha means “star” and Punam means moon–but they are a universe apart. Then Reha finds out that her Amma is sick. Really sick. Reha, who dreams of becoming a doctor even though she can’t stomach the sight of blood, is determined to make her Amma well again. She’ll be the perfect daughter, if it means saving her Amma’s life.
Hanging upside down in a tree, Sydney imagines he is a sleepy, sun-bathing sloth. And that’s where Sami finds him. Sami thinks sloths are too slow, so she scampers up the tree and becomes a spider monkey. “Fast is fun!” she chatters. “Fast is best!” And that’s where Edward finds them…One after another, the neighborhood kids wander by and slip into a shared imaginative world where leaves and giant flowers unfurl, playing, laughing, teasing and bickering, until Edward the elephant fills up his trunk and—WHOOSH!—sends the children “galloping home like a herd of small wet animals.”
Everyone is worried about the pandemic, but Malian knows how to keep her family and community safe: She protects her grandparents, and they protect her. She doesn’t go outside to play with friends, she helps her grandparents use video chat, and she listens to and learns from their stories. And when Malsum, one of the dogs living on the rez, shows up at their door, Malian’s family knows that he’ll protect them too.
Things are changing for one little girl whose mom is a busy doctor. When her mom has to be in quarantine―sleeping on a cot in their garage to keep the family safe from the virus―the girl does her best to be brave. She and her dad spend time together, she goes to school online, and she helps her grandparents too…making sure to wave so they know it’s her! They join their neighbours outside to thank the doctors and nurses around the world for their hard work. But of course the highlight of the day is when mom comes home, and they wave to each other through the window.
A captivating look at the life of a modern-day fossil hunter who makes the find of a lifetime told by award-winning author Helaine Becker. Wendy has an eye for the unusual and is skilled at finding things that others don’t see. While on a school field trip at age 12, she spots one of those unusual things poking out of the ground, and it turns out to be a piece of fossilized coral that’s 100 million years old. Wendy’s thrilled! And soon, she gets hooked on finding fossils. When she grows up, Wendy turns her passion into her career and becomes a preeminent fossil hunter, known as the “fossil whisperer” around the world. But it’s on a dig close to home where Wendy makes her most important discovery: Wendiceratops!
A gorgeous picture book inspired by a traditional Central American Indigenous story about a snake with the power to bring the rain, told in lyrical language and evocative art, and subtly conveying an environmental theme.
Itzel listens as her nana tells the story of when the giant snake would be awakened from its sleep: “And first with a whisper that would rustle the leaves, and then with a deep thunderous cry, the giant snake would bring the arrival of the rainy season.” But now, since many no longer believe in the snake, her nana says, “It has returned to the place where the water is born.” Now, Itzel and her nana are desperate for rain to water their bone-dry crops. So Itzel decides she must find and awaken the snake herself. She sets out in the night alone, but soon she is joined by an ocelot, and a bevy of other jungle creatures in need of the rain. And Itzel worries, is she leading them on a fruitless journey?
In each new adventure, Putuguq and Kublu learn about an element of Inuit mythology from their Elders, sometimes using what they learn to get the best of each other!
Putuguq and Kublu are at their grandparents’ house for lunch―caribou stew, Putuguq’s favourite! Putuguq’s worn out (and stinky!) kamiik remind his grandparents of the story of the amautalik and the orphan, a traditional story about a little orphan who outsmarts a child-stealing ogress. Grandmother’s storytelling over lunch starts Putuguq’s imagination running wild….
After lunch, Putuguq and Kublu decide to act out the story their grandmother has just told. But, for Putuguq, this is no ordinary play. He is determined to prove his fearlessness to an unsuspecting Kublu… with a little help from his stinky socks!
Nothing seems to do the trick! What does dinosaur want to eat? This delightful bilingual picture book is about finding just the right food―and just the right friend.
Ashley meets her great-uncle by the old train tracks near their community in Nova Scotia. Ashley sees his sadness, and Uncle tells her of the day years ago when he and the other children from their community were told to board the train before being taken to residential school where their lives were changed forever. They weren’t allowed to speak Mi’gmaq and were punished if they did. There was no one to give them love and hugs and comfort. Uncle also tells Ashley how happy she and her sister make him. They are what give him hope. Ashley promises to wait with her uncle by the train tracks, in remembrance of what was lost.