Materials from Asia
A young Bangladeshi girl who helps support her family by working in a brickyard finds a way to make her dream of going to school and learning to read a reality.
Click here to read the Worlds of Words review.
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.
Young Nasreen has not spoken a word to anyone since her parents disappeared. In despair, her grandmother risks everything to enroll Nasreen in a secret school for girls. Will a devoted teacher, a new friend, and the worlds she discovers in books be enough to draw Nasreen out of her shell of sadness? Based on a true story from Afghanistan, this inspiring book will touch readers deeply as it affirms both the life-changing power of education and the healing power of love.
A hungry tiger tries to trick a brother and sister into opening their door by pretending to be their absent mother.
Describes the new life of Nary, a Cambodian refugee, in America, as well as his encounters with prejudice. Includes some general history of U.S. immigration.
While her mother is getting her own hair done, Minji tries out every step of the process on the dog, using the articles at hand–including ice cream for hair dye.
A boy and his elephant escape into the jungle when the Viet Cong attack his village immediately after the Vietnam war. Includes a special note from the author.
This engaging series examines places around the globe where life is anything but serene.
Chen’s book tells his story of growing up during the Cultural Revolution (between 1966 and 1976) in China.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume 3, Issue 2
Before coming to Canada, while he was still an art teacher in Beijing, Song Nan Zhang traveled from Inner Mongolia east, south, and north to find and paint unusual scenes of Chinese family life.Here are the children who grow up in the saddle with their nomadic parents or become as agile as the mountain goats they tend. A boy plays chess on the ground with his shepherd grandfather. A teenager tends her father’s pottery shop. At festivals a child plays hide-and-seek, behind yellow parasols, and stilt dancers wait to compete.