Gift

Yoko’s Show-And-Tell

When Yoko’s grandparents send her a beautfui antique doll all the way from Japan, Yoko couldn’t be happier. She places Miki on a windowsill and brings her candy every day. On Girls’ Festival Day, Yoko wants to show Miki to her class and tell them all about the Japanese holiday. In her Big No voice Mama says, “We don’t trouble trouble or trouble will trouble us.”  But Yoko is so excited about Girls’ Day that she can’t resist taking Miki to school. Mama will never know . . . .   What could possibly go wrong? Rosemary Wells brings the loveable Yoko back in a story that deftly explores cultural differences, bullying at school, and learning to forgive, with her trademark accessibility and elegance.

Happy Birthday, Bertie!

It’s Bertie’s birthday, and he’s going to have a birthday party! There’s a birthday cake to be made, and decorations to be hung, and games to be played, and best of all, presents to be opened. But where is Daddy’s present? Daddy has hidden it so well, he cannot find it himself.

The Birthday Swap

With her teenage sister’s birthday rapidly approaching, five-year-old Lori, a young Mexican-American girl, sets out to find the perfect gift for Cookie, only to end up with special surprise of her very own.

Billy Beg and His Bull

With magical gifts from the bull his mother had given him, the son of an Irish king manages to prove his bravery and win a princess as his wife.

Yoon and the Jade Bracelet

YoonJadeYoon wants a jump rope for her birthday so she can play with the other girls in the school yard. Instead, Yoon’s mother gives her a Korean storybook about a silly girl who is tricked by a tiger. Yoon also receives a jade bracelet that once belonged to her grandmother. The next day at school, a girl offers to teach Yoon how to jump rope, but for a price — she wants to borrow the jade bracelet. When Yoon tries to get her bracelet back, the girl swears it belongs to her. Yoon must use the lessons learned in her storybook and her “Shining Wisdom” to retrieve the precious keepsake.

In this third book featuring Yoon, lush impressionistic dreamscapes evoke a simple and timeless message: it is possible to trick a tiger.

Take a closer look at Yoon and the Jade Bracelet as examined in WOW Review.

Millie in the Snow

Millie’s new job as a mail cow keeps her very busy. Christmastime is especially hectic, and she can barely wait for the milking to be done before she’s out delivering presents. On Christmas Eve, at the end of a long day, the mail carrier sends Millie home with all the presents she’s made for the farmer and the other animals. Only, Millie gets a bit confused by the snow-covered landscape. Suddenly everything looks the same, and the farm is nowhere in sight.

Zarafa: The Giraffe Who Walked to the King

Zarafa is a beautiful and gentle giraffe. The ruler of Egypt offers her as a gift to the king of France. She sails up the Nile by felucca, crosses the sea by brigantine and walks the last five hundred miles to Paris. People love it. And they love her, meeting and greeting her along the way, cheering her on. Afterward, the grateful French king places Zarafa in his own royal garden, where all of Paris comes to visit and love her.

365 Penguins

On the first day of the new year, the mailman brings a surprise—a penguin! One by one, day by day, penguins fill the house. At first they are cute, but with every passing day, the penguins pile up—along with the family’s problems. Feeding, cleaning, and housing the penguins becomes a monumental task.