Americas

Materials from the Americas

My Cat Isis

Isis was one of 1500 gods and goddesses worshipped by the Ancient Egyptians. My Isis is the one and only cat in our family. Isis wore a beautiful horned headdress to show that cattle were important in Egyptian life. We make my Isis wear a harness and leash because squirrels are important in nature. Through a series of lighthearted comparisons between his beloved pet cat and the Egyptian goddess, a young boy reveals surprising and playful parallels – and differences that are often funnier between their two worlds. The most obvious similarity? Isis that cat might not be a goddess, but her people couldn’t adore her more!

Emily’s Eighteen Aunts

All of Emily’s friends have someone special to take them to the ice cream parlor, or the ballet, or the park. Now that her mother is busy with the new baby, Emily doesn’t have anyone to entertain her — no uncles or big sisters or aunts. Emily sets out to solve her little difficulty and succeeds beyond her wildest dreams. The result is eighteen eager aunts, who cause mayhem wherever they go. If only they weren’t so. . .different. Now Emily has a much bigger problem. How can she stop the aunts from embarrassing her without hurting their feelings? Emily’s Eighteen Aunts is a warm, funny look at what happens when one thing leads to another — and another. And happily, Emily finds out that being different is far more fun than she thought possible.

Ducks Don’t Wear Socks

Emily is a serious girl. She enjoys serious things like bird-watching, math, and playing the cello. But one day while she’s taking a walk, Emily runs into Duck, who is anything but serious and wears socks. Ducks dont wear socks, said Emily. Cold feet! yelled Duck, and off he went. Through a series of humorous run-ins, Duck teaches Emily the importance of laughing especially at oneself.

My Mom Is So Unusual

“My Mom and I live alone. That makes our family different from the families of most of my friends.” A young girl and her unusual mother share affection, humor, sometimes anger, and more humor, and a whole lot of love. And because of her mother’s unusual ways, the youngster is content about their being an unusual family.

Waiting for the Whales

This book tells the simple story of an old man who lives alone in a house overlooking the sea. His life has assumed a cozy regularity to match the seasons: collecting firewood and clams in wintertime; planting his garden in the spring; and, in summer, watching his beloved orca whales swimming by. When his daughter comes to visit one spring with a new infant, the man has someone with whom to share his love of the natural world–especially the whales.

Big Red Lollipop

Having to take her younger sister along the first time she is invited to a birthday party spoils Rubina’s fun, and later when that sister is asked to a party and baby sister wants to come, Rubina must decide whether to help.

Join the discussion of Big Red Lollipop as well as other books centered around relocation on our My Take/Your Take page.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume 3, Issue 4

This book has been included in WOW’s Kids Taking Action Booklist. For our current list, visit our Boolist page under Resources in the green navigation bar.

The Trouble With Tilly Trumble

A sweet, read-aloud story of friendship for dog lovers everywhere in a tale about the relationship between a lonely person and a homeless pet that offers laughs and sincere emotion. Tilly Trumble collects chairs, but she’s still looking for the perfect four-legged, scruffy old thing to fill the space by the fire. When a scruffy dog arrives and doesn’t want to leave, Tilly finds the perfect companion for her chair collecting, sausage eating, and star gazing. Dog owners especially will find warm satisfaction in this story of a pooch who teaches his human friend a lesson in love, loyalty, and furniture arranging.