Norway

Materials from Norway

Angryman

Boj’s father can be very angry and violent. Boj calls this side of his father’s personality “Angryman.” When Angryman comes no one is safe. Until something powerful happens…Gro Dahle’s astute text and Svein Nyhus’s bold, evocative art capture the full range of emotions that descend upon a small family as they grapple with “Angryman.” With an important message to children who experience the same things as Boj: You are not alone. It’s not your fault. You must tell someone you trust. It doesn’t have to be this way!

Angryman translator, Tara Chace, is featured in WOW’s August 2019 Authors’ Corner.

Paws And Edward

Espen Dekko’s gently heartbreaking and heart-lifting story hits the perfect note as it explores death in an accessible, child-friendly, and nonfrightening way. By writing from the dog’s perspective, Dekko makes it easier for children to understand and accept Paws’s decline and death. Beginning with Paws dreaming of chasing rabbits and ending with Edward dreaming of Paws chasing rabbits, the story has a circular structure that is satisfying and reassuring, as it conveys the boy’s acceptance of the loss of his beloved pet. Richly colored illustrations by Mari Kanstad Johnsen have a simultaneously retro and contemporary feel, perfectly highlighting the joy and love at the heart of this boy-dog relationship. This book is an excellent choice for any children or adults dealing with or talking about loss, or for lessons about the life cycle of living things.

Astrid the Unstoppable

Speed and self-confidence that’s Astrid’s motto, Nicknamed “the little thunderbolt,” she loves to spend her days racing down the hillside on her skis or sled, singing merrily as she goes, and drinking hot chocolate made from real chocolate bars with her grumpy best friend and godfather, Gunnvald. She just wishes there were other children to share in her hair-raising adventures. But her world is about to be turned upside down, first by the arrival of a family with children to her village, and then by a mysterious woman whom everyone but Astrid seems to know.

Almost Autumn

It’s October 1942, in Oslo, Norway. Fifteen-year-old Ilse Stern is waiting to meet boy-next-door Hermann Rod for their first date. She was beginning to think he’d never ask her; she’s had a crush on him for as long as she can remember. But Hermann won’t be able to make it tonight. What Ilse doesn’t know is that Hermann is secretly working in the Resistance, helping Norwegian Jews flee the country to escape the Nazis. The work is exhausting and unpredictable, full of late nights and code words and lies to Hermann’s parents, to his boss… to Ilse.And as life under German occupation becomes even more difficult, particularly for Jewish families like the Sterns, the choices made become more important by the hour. In this internationally acclaimed debut, Marianne Kaurin recreates the atmosphere of secrecy and uncertainty in World War II Norway in a moving story of sorrow, chance, and first love.

William Wenton And The Impossible Puzzle

Twelve-year-old William Wenton is a puzzle-solving genius. He lives with his family in a quiet Norwegian town. They used to live in England, but eight years ago his family suddenly packed up, moved away, and even changed their last name! Neither of his parents will offer an explanation or tell William why he has to keep his talent for solving codes and puzzles a secret. But then a special exhibit comes to the local museum: the Impossible Puzzle. The experts say it is unsolvable, but William’s sure that he can crack it if he gets a chance.