Malaika learns about her father, who came to Canada as a migrant farm worker when she was just a baby and who shared her love of carnival. Malaika dreams about a man with a basket of fruit and guesses that the dream is about her father. Mummy explains that her daddy passed away long ago, and Grandma decides it’s time Malaika knew more about her father’s life. The family drives to a far off farm where they receive a warm welcome and visit the orchard where Malaika’s father picked fruit. The farm workers tell Malaika that her daddy had always dreamed of celebrating carnival there, just like back home. Will Malaika agree to be their Carnival Queen for the harvest festival?
Death of a parent
Calling The Wind: A Story Of Healing And Hope
A Japanese family mourns the loss of a wife and mother by making origami cranes and using the Wind Telephone to communicate their feelings of loss and yearning.
The Blue Bird’s Palace
Natasha lives a simple life with her father, but when she is granted a wish and makes the selfish choice to live in a palace, the guardian of the Blue Forest transforms her into a blue bird and she learns to be grateful and share.
The Phone Booth In Mr. Hirota’s Garden
This gorgeously illustrated picture book tells the story of a young Japanese boy who loses his dad in a tsunami.
All The Ways Home
This is a book about what home means to us―and that there are many different correct answers.
Samurai Rising
When Yoshitsune was just a baby, his father went to war with a rival samurai family and lost. His father was killed, his mother captured, and his surviving half-brother banished. Yoshitsune was sent away to live in a monastery.
Samurai Rising is a WOW Recommends: Book of the Month for February 2017.
Something Very Sorry
During a hospital stay after a serious traffic accident, nine-year-old Rose worries about her own injuries and the condition of her father and younger sister and comes to terms with her mother’s death.