journeys

The Poesy Ring

When a young woman with tears in her eyes throws a gold ring into the wind in 1830, the ring settles in a meadow, and there it stays as the seasons pass — and then the years. But the ring’s journey is just beginning, and as more years go by, it moves at the mercy of the natural world: caught in the hoof of a young deer and flung across a meadow, tilled into the field of an unknowing farmer, dropped from the mouth of a magpie into the sea where countless tides wash over it. Will the ring, inscribed with the words love never dies, end its journey at the bottom of the ocean? Or does it have a greater destiny? Ever the master of weaving exquisite stories from the most unexpected threads, Bob Graham gives readers yet another collection of quiet moments that together form a transcendent, heartfelt tale.

The Yellow Balloon

Writer and illustrator Charlotte Dematons brings the same enchanting look to this picture book that made her Worry Bear and Looking for Cinderella so successful. Lovely watercolors portray a great and diverse planet teeming with life at all times of day and night. People and animals of every shape, color, size, and costume are seen, busy at work and play. As the yellow balloon floats through many time periods – ancient, medieval, and contemporary – and realms both natural and supernatural, young readers can also look for the small blue car, the fakir on his flying carpet, and the scoundrel in prison garb. This story will fascinate young readers as they embark on a lively and fun-filled journey around the globe.

Two White Rabbits

They travel mostly on the roof of a train known as The Beast, but the little girl doesn’t know where they are going. She counts the animals by the road, the clouds in the sky, the stars. Sometimes she sees soldiers. She sleeps, dreaming that she is always on the move, although sometimes they are forced to stop and her father has to earn more money before they can continue their journey.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume 8, Issue 3

Soon

The sun is not yet up when a small elephant named Raju embarks with his mother on a special outing. As they meet a slithering snake in the forest, snapping crocodiles in the river, even a tiger in the tall grass, Raju’s mother shoos the scary creatures away and keeps her little one safe. Holding tight to his mother’s tail, Raju follows her up a high mountain and what they find at the top takes his breath away.

Market!

Lewin takes readers on a whirlwind trip around the globe to marvel at the range of goods available for sale in the world’s markets. Woolen sweaters and ponchos in Ecuador; wood carvings, flutes, garlic and ginger in Nepal; Irish horses; Ugandan cows, bananas, and limes; fish in New York City; and dates, pottery and donkeys in Morocco are just a few of the products depicted in the watercolor paintings.

The Amazing Travels of Ibn Battuta

In 1325, when Ibn Battuta was just 21, he bid farewell to his parents in Tangier, Morocco, and embarked on a pilgrimage to Mecca. It was 30 years before he returned home, having seen much of the world. In this book he recalls his amazing journey and the fascinating people, cultures, and places he encountered. He traveled extensively, throughout Islamic lands and beyond — from the Middle East to Africa to Europe to Asia. Ibn Battuta kept a diary of his travels, and even though he lost it many times and had to recall and rewrite what he had seen, he kept a remarkable record of his years away. His meticulous observations, retold here by Fatima Sharafeddine and beautifully illustrated by Intelaq Mohammed Ali, give us a remarkable picture of what it was like to be a traveler nearly 700 years ago.

Secrets at Sea

In 1887, the social-climbing Cranstons voyage from New York to London, where they hope to find a husband for their awkward older daughter, secretly accompanied by Helena and her mouse siblings, for whom the journey is both terrifying and wondrous as they meet an array of titled humans despite their best efforts at remaining hidden.

Parzival: The Quest of the Grail Knight

A retelling of the Arthurian legend in which Parzival, unaware of his noble birth, comes of age through his quest for the Holy Grail.