Materials from United States of America
Vincent, convinced a blood-sucking monster known as el chupacabras is responsible for the rash of dog disappearances in his neighborhood, enlists the help of his cousins Michelle and Bobby to catch the suspected killer.
On Ana’s first day of kindergarten, the slide stood like a mountain.” The other kids in her class encourage her to glide “down, down, down, to the bottom and her new friends. Young readers will relate to these elementary school children playing outside. In first grade, Ana meets Karina, who becomes her best friend. Together, they swing higher and higher as they try to kick the sky! In second grade, Ana and her friends dangle like monkeys, eat pretend bananas and call out, “Ooo, ooo, ooo! Can you do what we do?” As they grow, the kids learn to play new games on the playground: basketball, soccer and even handball. Acclaimed children’s book author James Luna uses short, simple text and active words to depict children at play. They swing and hang, dribble and shoot, pass and kick, laugh and learn. And when they get to sixth grade, they have to say good-bye to their school’s playground. But someday they will return!
A lonely pet fish longs to know what exists in the world beyond her bowl. “I wish I could see over there / Behind the wall, / Behind the chair.” She imagines a giant tree, a wooly goat and a purple sea. She wonders if there could be someone out there who looks like her, so she leans close to the glass and hears some fish-like cries! “Hello? Is someone there?” she hears. “Are you a bird? / Are you a bee? Or are you a fish with fins like me?” She realizes there’s another fish close by and his name is Mike! When Mike asks what her world is like, the amazing watercolor fish has a great idea. “I ll show Mike what I think could be!” Using watercolors, she paints a picture of a world with trees and swirling rainbows. Every day she paints more, “birds that swim, / ships with wings, / and books that do all sorts of things!” Then Mike uses his paint to illustrate more than just the water and the door.
The Amazing Watercolor Fish/El Asombroso Pez Acuarela has been discussed in My Take/Your Take for September 2020.
When a boy visits an art museum and one of the paintings comes to life, he has an afternoon of adventure and discovery [that] changes how he sees the world ever after.
Come join the crowd headed for a summer celebración! Marvel at the people riding motociclos, bicycles, triciclos, and unicycles. Duck out of the way as firefighters spray water everywhere. Clap to the music as people playing clarinetes, saxophones, trompetas, and drums march by. Feast on lemonade, watermelon, tacos, and helado. Take cover when a brief rain shower comes, and then as night falls–big sorpresas. Pop, pop, pop! ¡Bón, bón, bón!
Standing at the door is a hungry skeleton dressed in a mariachi suit who offers to sing Joaquín and his mother a song in exchange for just one itsy bitsy little bite of the sweet bread. It seems like a fair exchange, so they agree to share. But before the skeleton can begin singing, two more knock at the door and offer to play their accordions for just one bite of the bread. And then, three show up and want to play their guitars, four want to play their maracas and five want to dance all for just one itsy bitsy little bite of the Mexican sweet bread!
An illustrated picturebook autobiography in which award-winning author Yuyi Morales tells her own immigration story.
Featured in WOW Review Volume XI, Issue 4.
This book is part of the November 2018 My Take/Your Take‘s theme of Global Perspectives on the Refugee and Immigrant Experience.
This book is part of the May 2019 My Take/Your Take‘s theme of 2019 Pura Belpré award winners and honor books.
Dreamers is on WOW’s Refugee’s Experience in Literature Booklist under “Home as Two Places in the Heart.”
Learn how Dreamers was used as part of a Mobility in Journey text set in WOW Stories, Volume VIII, Issue 2.
Dreams was featured in WOW Currents Rompiendo nuestra burbuja: An International Perspective on Culturally Specific Literature from the United States.
While riding the subway home from the pool with his abuela one day, Julián notices three women spectacularly dressed up. Their hair billows in brilliant hues, their dresses end in fishtails, and their joy fills the train car. When Julián gets home, daydreaming of the magic he’s seen, all he can think about is dressing up just like the ladies in his own fabulous mermaid costume: a butter-yellow curtain for his tail, the fronds of a potted fern for his headdress. But what will Abuela think about the mess he makes — and even more importantly, what will she think about how Julián sees himself? Mesmerizing and full of heart, Jessica Love’s author-illustrator debut is a jubilant picture of self-love and a radiant celebration of individuality.
Featured in WOW Review Volume XII, Issue 2.
Julián is a Mermaid is featured in A Dozen Books Celebrating Children’s Voices and Their Impact.
It’s been five years since the Sweep disappeared. Orphaned and alone, Nan Sparrow had no other choice but to work for a ruthless chimney sweep named Wilkie Crudd. She spends her days sweeping out chimneys. The job is dangerous and thankless, but with her wits and will, Nan has managed to beat the deadly odds time and time again. When Nan gets stuck in a chimney fire, she fears the end has come. Instead, she wakes to find herself unharmed in an abandoned attic. And she is not alone. Huddled in the corner is a mysterious creature—a golem—made from soot and ash. Sweep is the story of a girl and her monster. Together, these two outcasts carve out a new life—saving each other in the process. Lyrically told by one of today’s most powerful storytellers, Sweep is a heartrending adventure about the everlasting gifts of friendship and wonder.
Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, Xiomara Batista has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking. She pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers–especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. Mami is determined to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, and Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself. When she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she can’t stop thinking about performing her poems.