Asia

Materials from Asia

Snow Leopard

The people who live among the high peaks of the Himalayas tell stories of a mysterious animal called the gray ghost. To see one, you’d have to be very lucky indeed. Join a zoologist in the Himalayan mountains as he searches for the elusive creature. With her pale gold and silver-gray coat painted with black rosettes, she blends so well into the boulders, it’s no wonder she’s thought of as a ghost of the mountains. But the fortunate few who spot her are rewarded with a sight they will never forget. Written by an expert with firsthand experience, beautifully illustrated, and interwoven with fascinating facts, this vicarious look at a breathtaking animal includes an end note suggesting resources to explore.

The Piano Recital

It’s the day of Momo’s first piano recital. As she nervously waits for her turn to play, she tells herself, “I’ll be okay, I’ll be okay” Then she hears a voice nearby, also saying, “I’ll be okay … I’ll be okay …” It’s a mouseling! And the little mouse is nervous about her first performance, too. The mouseling invites Momo through a small door backstage, where Momo is amazed to find a miniature theater filled with an audience of finely dressed mice there to watch singers, dancers and circus performers! When it’s the mouseling’s turn, Momo agrees to accompany her on piano. The mouse audience is so appreciative! But then, as she rises to take her bow, Momo is surprised to discover – it isn’t a mouse audience at all!

The Tale of the Tiger Slippers

A retelling of a folktale about how a pair of magical slippers always find their way back to the tiger whose mother made them for him.

Touch and Feel Mazes: Ten Tactile Labyrinths to Solve with Your Fingertips

Put down the pencil and let your finger do the solving. The ten tactile mazes inside these puzzling pages challenge your sense of touch. Trace your fingertip along the raised dots that make up each labyrinth, and then give yourself a hand when you reach the circle that marks the finish line.

The Red Piano

A beautiful and extraordinary account of international concert pianist Zhu Xiao-Mei’s hardships and triumphs while growing up during China’s Cultural Revolution, Stirring and inspiring, this picture book relates the story of a gifted young girl’s passion for the piano in a time of historic turmoil. During China’s Cultural Revolution a young girl is taken from her family and sent to a far-off labor camp. Forbidden to play the piano, she nevertheless finds a way of smuggling handwritten music into the camp and sneaking away at night to practice a piano in a secret location—until, one night, she is caught. Inspired by the amazing true story of international concert pianist Zhu Xiao-Mei, this acclaimed picture book poetically relates an astonishing story of perseverance set against a cataclysmic period of history.

Let’s Scare Bear

Mouse, Fox, Spider, and Snake all want to scare Bear. But Bear is the bravest animal in the forest–nothing scares Bear. Except, maybe, one thing. Bear says that he’s scared of manju cakes. Armed with that knowledge, the other animals throw their manju cakes at him. . . .only to learn that the only scary thing is how much Bear loves to eat them!

Sumokitty

A stray kitty gets a job in a sumo stable, chasing mice in exchange for food. But when eating like a sumo wrestler slows our feline hero down, he realizes he must train like a wrestler, too. Through hard work and perseverance–and with a little help from a big buddy–SumoKitty is born! A funny and heartwarming story inspired by the Japanese saying “Fall down seven times, stand up eight.”