A definitive guide for children about Black history in Canada, this book is an exploration of the often overlooked contributions and experiences of Black Canadians throughout history beginning with the arrival of the first known African in the country, Mathieu Da Costa, in 1604. Through compelling stories, captivating illustrations, and accessible language, young readers are introduced to key figures and events that have shaped Canada’s Black heritage. From the early struggles for freedom and equality to the ongoing fight against systemic racism, this book sheds light on the resilience, creativity, and resilience of Black Canadians.
History
Wild Bird
In the small colonial community of Victoria in 1861, sixteen-year-old Kate Harding is trying to help her mother as she is about to give premature birth in their home. While mother and daughter make it through the grueling ordeal with the help of a local midwife, the baby does not live. The irony of this tragic event is that Kate’s father is one of the few doctors in the colony, but he was out tending to other patients at the time. Wild Bird takes readers up close as a young girl yearns to find her place through meaningful work, while the author describes the ways in which Indigenous people relate to the recently arrived settlers.
Wild Poppies
Two brothers, Omar and Sufyan, strive to reunite as they endure the turmoil of the Syrian War. With the passing of their father, Omar tries to be the man and head of his family of Syrian refugees, but in his youngest brother’s eyes, he has failed. While Omar waits in line for rations, younger brother, Sufyan, explores nontraditional methods to provide for the family by getting involved with a group that provides large rewards for doing, what seems to be, inconsequential tasks, despite his older brother’s warnings. As Sufyan’s involvement gets more intense, resulting in his separation from the family, it becomes up to bookish Omar to rescue his little brother and reunite them with their family.
Rumi: Poet of Joy and Love
As a child, Rumi was enchanted by books and birds. He went on to become a scholar, but it was the loss of Shams, his best friend, that taught Rumi his most important realization: Love is in us and everywhere. Rumi, Persian mystic and poet, is one of the best known and widely read poets in the world. Renown Iranian-American illustrator, Rashin Kheiriyeh, brings Rumi’s wisdom and warmth to life in this picture book with its strong colors and ornamental details that transports readers to the Persian Empire of the 13th century.
This book is part of the Worlds of Words Global Reading List for 2023/24.
Impossible Escape: A True Story Of Survival And Heroism In Nazi Europe
It is 1944. A teenager named Rudolf (Rudi) Vrba has made up his mind. After barely surviving nearly two years in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, he knows he must escape. Even if death is more likely. Rudi has learned the terrible secret hidden behind the heavily guarded fences of concentration camps across Nazi occupied Europe: the methodical mass killing of Jewish prisoners. As trains full of people arrive daily, Rudi knows that the murders won’t stop until he reveals the truth to the world and that each day that passes means more lives are lost. Lives like Rudi’s schoolmate Gerta Sidonová. Gerta’s family fled from Slovakia to Hungary, where they live under assumed names to hide their Jewish identity. But Hungary is beginning to cave under pressure from German Nazis. Her chances of survival become slimmer by the day. The clock is ticking. As Gerta inches closer to capture, Rudi and his friend Alfred Wetzler begin their crucial steps towards an impossible escape. This is the true story of one of the most famous whistleblowers in the world, and how his death-defying escape helped save over 100,000 lives.
Enlightened
A fictionalized biography of the life of Siddhartha Gautama, better known as the Buddha, the progenitor of Buddhism.
Lasting Echoes
Discusses the history of Native Americans, with a sampling of excerpts from their own accounts of their experiences.
Equality’s Call: The Story Of Voting Rights In America
A powerful look at the evolution of voting rights in the United States, from our nation’s founding to the present day.
Before You Came This Way
Maison Rouge: Memories Of A Childhood In War
“Liliane Leila Juma was 16 years old when her family home in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was destroyed by rebel soldiers. In this gut-wrenching memoir, she gives an account of her life before and after her family was torn apart by the twin nightmares of civil war and invasion. Sincere and revealing, it gives a moving account of a young girl’s journey from a protected and secure family life, through a series of brutal conflicts that saw her father murdered and her former life utterly destroyed. Maison Rouge is a story of war, and unspeakable loss. It is also the story of survival. Eventually, through the United Nations refugee program, Leila and her family were finally able to relocate to Canada.”– Provided by publisher.