Culture

Salsa: Un poema para cocinar/A Cooking Poem (Bilingual Cooking Poems)

A young boy and his sister gather the ingredients and grind them up in a molcajete, just like their ancestors used to do, singing and dancing all the while. The children imagine that their ingredients are different parts of an orchestra, the tomatoes are bongos and kettledrums, the onion, a maraca, the cloves of garlic, trumpets and the cilantro, the conductor. They chop and then grind these ingredients in the molcajete, along with red chili peppers for the “hotness” that is so delicious, finally adding a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of salt. When they are finished, their mother warms tortillas and their father lays out plates, as the whole family, including the cat and dog, dance salsa in mouth-watering anticipation.

The Broken Tusk: Stories Of The Hindu God Ganesha

This collection of Hindu folktales for middle readers features stories about the god, Ganesha, who is easily recognized because of his elephant head. Krishnaswami introduces the stories by recalling her own introduction to Ganesha and goes on to offer a mythological context for the tales. Included among the tales are Ganesha’s Head, The Broken Tusk, and ‘Why Ganesha Never Married.

The Smart One: A Grandfather’s Tale

The future is often foretold in stories of the past. As families flee the Debaltseve in Eastern Ukraine in 2015, Ken Goodman’s The Smart One: A Grandfather’s Tale takes us back to families fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe at the turn of the Twentieth Century. It is a compelling story of Jewish migration to America, which begins in Smorgon, now in Belarus, a former Soviet Republic, but at the time Smorgon was in Vilnius, a district of Lithuania, and a part of the Russian Empire.

The House That Jack Built

The familiar cumulative nursery rhyme is illustrated with scenes placing the characters in an Aotearoa, New Zealand, setting during the early 19th century.

The Golden Carp, And Other Tales From Vietnam

A collection of ancient tales of courage, translated faithfully to the Vietnamese oral tradition, features stories of prowling panthers, brocaded mandarins, hawking merchants, and fairy spirits.

Maya’s Children: The Story Of La Llorona

In ancient Mexico, the beautiful and magical grandchildren of the Sun God are endangered by the threat of Seänor Tiempo who, jealous of their immortality, plots to destroy them.

Sense Pass King: A Story From Cameroon

Despite a jealous king’s repeated attempts to get rid of her, Ma’antah continually manages to outwit him and proves herself worthy of the name Sense Pass King.

School Days Around The World

“What is a school? Is it a building with classrooms? Or can it be any place where children learn?” The fascinating stories that follow will expand how young readers think of school, as they learn about the experiences of real children in thirteen different countries around the world.

Kusikiy: A Child from Taquile, Peru

KUSIKIY A CHILD FROM TAQUILE, PERU, by author and illustrator Mercedes Cecilia is a unique story that draws us into the kaleidoscopic and mysterious world of a Peruvian child. KUSIKIY lives in The Andes Mountains of Peru in a small island in Lake Titikaka.