Taro is fascinated by the strange actions of old Jiro-San, who sweeps the sand on the beach while waiting for the arrival of Japanese sea turtles ready to lay their eggs.
Asia
Materials from Asia
Kazunomiya: Prisoner Of Heaven
Princess Kazunomiya, half-sister of the Emperor of Japan, relates in her diary and in poems the confusing events occurring in the Imperial Palace in 1858, including political and romantic intrigue.
Hachiko: The True Story Of A Loyal Dog
Relates the true story of a dog who accompanied his master to and from a Tokyo train station for a year and, after his master died, continued to wait for him there every day for many years.
Bound
In a novel based on Chinese Cinderella tales, fourteen-year-old stepchild Xing-Xing endures a life of neglect and servitude, as her stepmother cruelly mutilates her own child’s feet so that she alone might marry well.
In The Village Of The Elephants
A young boy in India helps his father care for Mudumalai, an elephant who works to help clear forests, and protect croplands from wild elephants.
Teenage Refugees From Cambodia Speak Out
Introduces the history and political situation in Cambodia, and presents a variety of young refugees, who describe the reasons why they had to leave, their travels as refugees, and their experiences adjusting to a new country.
Binya’s Blue Umbrella
Binya, a young girl living in rural India, trades her leopard-claw necklace for a dainty blue umbrella, but the local tea shop proprietor wants the umbrella for himself.
Hello Hello
It used to be, we could only write letters, now we can use the telephone! How will we communicate in the future? Young readers will discover the concept of this great invention along with a quick history of this technological advancement.
The Gold-Threaded Dress
When Oy and her Thai American family move to a new neighborhood, her third-grade classmates tease and exclude her because she is different.
Nine Animals and the Well
A fable about a group of animals that strives to bring the perfect present to the Indian raja-king’s birthday party, and discusses how the numerals we use originated in India.