Europe

Materials from Europe

Felix After The Rain

A young man called Felix hides all of his sorrow inside a large black suitcase that he carries with him wherever he goes. One day, a small boy opens the suitcase whilst Felix is sleeping. Felix wakes and the tears that he had been carrying for so long suddenly pour from him. Felix is uplifted, free and his heart is full of joy. Felix embraces the world, and the world embraces him. This book is a wonderful resource for young children to talk about sad feelings and how they might feel better if they confide in another person.

Finding Narnia: The Story Of C. S. Lewis And His Brother Warnie

Before C.S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, he was a young boy named Jack who spent his days dreaming up stories of other worlds filled with knights, castles and talking animals. His brother, Warnie, spent his days imagining worlds filled with trains, boats and technology. One rainy day, they found a wardrobe in a little room next to the attic, and they wondered, “What if the wardrobe had no end?” Years later, Jack began to think about what could be beyond that wardrobe, and about a girl named Lucy and her siblings. This picturebook biography introduces the beloved creator of The Chronicles of Narnia to a new generation of children who see hidden magic in the world around them.

Cherry Blossom And Paper Planes

Adin and Dina are best friends. They live in the beautiful countryside surrounded by cherry trees. Their favorite game is to plant cherry pits around their little village – in the cracks in the sidewalk and in the flowerbeds outside the post office. Then one day Adin and his family move away to the city. Will Adin and Dina’s friendship survive the new distance between them? In this beautifully lyrical book, one story fractures into two when the friends are parted. But their lives continue to be linked as Adin finds a way to feel connected to his friend – throwing paper planes filled with cherry pits from the balcony of his apartment building. Held together by their love of cherry blossom and paper planes, Adin and Dina’s roads finally lead back to one another.

The Snowman

When his snowman comes to life, a little boy invites him into his home and in return is taken on a flight high above the countryside, in a classic wordless story with a new cover.

Child Of St. Kilda

Norman John Gillies was one of the last children ever born on St Kilda, five years before the whole population was evacuated forever to the British mainland. People had lived on these islands for over four thousand years, developing a thriving, tightly-knit society that knew nothing of crime or money, and took care of its weakest members without hesitation. At the mercy of the seasons and the elements, a unique lifestyle evolved, based around resilience, mutual trust and caring.

The Fabled Life Of Aesop: The Extraordinary Journey and Collected Tales Of The World’s Greatest Storyteller

The Tortoise and the Hare. The Boy Who Cried Wolf. The Fox and the Crow. Each of Aesop’s stories has a lesson to tell, but Aesop’s life story is perhaps the most inspiring tale of them all. Gracefully revealing the genesis of his tales, this story of Aesop shows how fables not only liberated him from captivity but spread wisdom over a millennium. This is the only children’s book biography about him. Includes thirteen illustrated fables: The Lion and the Mouse, The Goose and the Golden Egg, The Fox and the Crow, Town Mouse and Country Mouse, The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Dog and the Wolf, The Lion and the Statue, The Tortoise and the Hare, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The North Wind and the Sun, The Fox and the Grapes, The Dog and the Wolf, The Lion and the Boar.

A Bottle of Happiness

There was once a big mountain with two villages on either side. The people on one side were rich and worked only to get richer. The people on the other side of the mountain were poor but had a wealth of stories and laughter. One day, a poor young boy decides to seek a new story and this leads him to the rich people’s marketplace.

Laika

Laika was the abandoned puppy destined to become Earth’s first space traveler. This is her journey. Nick Abadzis masterfully blends fiction and fact in the intertwined stories of three compelling lives. Along with Laika there is Korolev, once a political prisoner and now a driven engineer at the top of the Soviet space program, and Yelena, the lab technician responsible for Laika’s health and life. This intense triangle is rendered with the pitch-perfect emotionality of classics like Because of Winn Dixie, Shiloh, and Old Yeller. Abadzis gives life to a pivotal moment in modern history, casting light on the hidden moments of deep humanity behind history. Laika’s story will speak straight to your heart.