Materials from Asia
Matilda is a very good cat. She likes to sit quietly and read or water her flowers. Hans is very naughty. He makes too much noise and paints graffiti on the walls. When Hans goes too far and lets the animals out of the zoo, a reward is offered for information about him.
MOONGATES DOTTED THE LANDSCAPE OF OLD CHINA. Ancient Chinese architects had sculpted stone piled on sculpted stone to form round doorways, with the spiritual symbolism of the full moon. To step through one of these doorways was to step into a world of peace and happiness…
And so it was in the 1920s that the Lee King family – father, mother, and six children, aged ten months to seven years – traveled from their home in Canada, across the Pacific Ocean, to inland China. There, they had the opportunity to step beyond the moongate into a land not yet touched by modern warfare or political unrest.
The story of the moongate, tells of the two “golden” years the family spent with Grandmother in a remote village in the south, which hadn’t changed for centuries.
Step inside and live the long lazy days of a China forever gone. The moongate beckons…
On a military base in post-Taliban Afghanistan, American authorities have just imprisoned a teenaged girl found in a bombed-out school. The army major thinks she may be a terrorist working with the Taliban. The girl does not respond to questions in any language and remains silent, even when she is threatened, harassed and mistreated over several days. The only clue to her identity is a tattered shoulder bag containing papers that refer to people named Shauzia, Nooria, Leila, Asif, Hassan — and Parvana. In this long-awaited sequel to The Breadwinner Trilogy, Parvana is now fifteen years old. As she waits for foreign military forces to determine her fate, she remembers the past four years of her life. Reunited with her mother and sisters, she has been living in a village where her mother has finally managed to open a school for girls. But even though the Taliban has been driven from the government, the country is still at war, and many continue to view the education and freedom of girls and women with suspicion and fear.
The water from a magical well in their farmhouse was the reason behind this ‘good fortune’, they said. One day, fifteen-year-old Gurmi sets out to look for the well and what he sees changes everyone’s world forever. The faces of three girls look up at him from the water, and draw him into a world of fun, games and cyber magic -and Gurmi has to face up to an unnerving truth as murky as the surreal well. What terrible crimes have been committed behind the walls of the rambling Diwanchand family home? Will Gurmi and the ghost-girls be able to avenge the evil that has taken place and prevent yet another unspeakable atrocity from occurring? Funny, yet sensitive and immensely powerful, Faces in the Water is the story of lives lost to appease our society’s insatiable hunger for male children, and the price families pay for its sake.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume 5, Issue 3
With hundreds of colorful animals to count and hundreds of hilarious details to hunt, this unconventional counting book guarantees hundreds of hours of fun!
This deceptively simple concept book prompts the reader to compare pairs of objects and then choose which one has a particular attribute. At first the answer seems obvious until the page is turned to reveal a delightful twist! The thoughtful format and witty illustrations give away the answer to the question, Which is a hit book?
When Tai Shan and his father, Baba, are separated during China’s Cultural Revolution, they are able to stay close by greeting one another every day with flying kites until Baba, like the kites, is free. Includes historical note.
Join the discussion of Red Kite, Blue Kite as well as other books centered around relocation on our My Take/Your Take page.
A young girl describes her experiences growing up in China, beginning with the death of Chairman Mao in 1976.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume 8, Issue 2
As Rosalind continues to straddle the proper English world of her family and the culture of 1920s India where they live, her support of Gandhi and his followers in opposing British rule grows and she considers trying to carry the rebels’ message to Edward, Prince of Wales, during his visit.
