Materials from Oceania
Marcelina’s father comes home from a trip to Manila with beautiful hand-made sleeping mats for each member of his large family, including the three daughters who died when they were very young.
The Mats first appeared as a short story in Philippine Magazine in 1938.
The birds of Australia’s Boonaroo Bay hold a contest to determine which of them has the best beak.
Magic Nights is the story of a cat who finds something that does not belong in his people’s house—something flittery and skittery that turns the rest of the night mysterious and magical. What could it want? Hurricane the cat is going to find out!
A talking chicken! Josh knows it sounds ridiculous, but that’s just what Semolina is. And she’s not just a talking chicken. She’s a spirited, sarcastic, sassytalking chicken. And with Josh’s mom in the hospital about to give birth to his sister, Josh needs Semolina more than ever, even if she will only talk in front of him. But when Semolina tells him that a fox is sneaking into the hen house at night, can Josh get his dad to believe in Semolina before it’s too late? Chicken Feathers introduces one of children’s literature’s most original, endearing new characters to peck her way onto the page.
When thirteen-year-old Pia is sent to Hawaii’s leprosy settlement on Molokai Island in the 1860s, he chooses anger and self-reliance as his means of survival, but the faithful example of other villagers and one remarkable priest threaten to destroy his desire for revenge.
Featured in Volume I, Issue 3 of WOW Review.
As his odd parents fight the regional environmental health officer about their dung-covered house and his melodramatic younger brother demands attention, fourteen-year-old Australian Seth Parrot simply seeks the muscular woman of his dreams.
This time Nim’s the fish-out-of-water as she stows away on a cruise ship to save her kidnapped sea lion friend. Accompanied by her likeable iguana, Fred, the island girl lands with a splash in Manhattan, on the run from a very Bad Guy, and on her way to reunite with her friend, cowardly adventure novelist Alex Rover.
A Moreton Bay Fig tree, planted as a memorial to Australian soldiers killed in World War I, is slated to be cut down by the local council. A young boy tells the moving story of the tree, as related by his great grandfather, grandfather, and father, each of whom has participated in wars over the years. Interweaving themes of war, memory, and conservation, this book blends a sensitive text with brilliantly original collage art by Shaun Tan to bring an important lesson to young readers.
These vividly told tales of plantation life from decades past center around the lives of Marita Kim and her four younger brothers and sisters. The children experience many hardships growing up poor and motherless in a Korean camp in Hawaii, but their stories are full of adventure. In “Joe and the White Dog,” Joe takes Little Sister exploring and loses her… until a mysterious white-haired woman and her friendly dog appear to help. In “The Little People,” fearless six-year-old Puni searches for menehune to grant her wish for a new doll. The stories also provide a poignant look at the family’s daily struggles. In “Plantation Child” we see, through the eyes of Marita, the sacrifices made to pay for a pair of new shoes, the need for thrift and hard work to make ends meet. In “The Pineapple Cannery” we share in Marita’s excitement as she begins a new life working in Honolulu. The last story, “Abuji,” is a tender portrait of the long-widowed father, reminiscing about his youth and his return journey to Korea. Moving from child to child, from story to story, Eve Begley Kiehm brings to life a formative period in the history of Korean Americans in Hawaii.
Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley are the best of friends. But they are different in almost every way.