Books For Children of the World

Presents the life of the founder of the International Youth Library in Munich, Jella Lepman, describing how she was sent by the United States Army to Germany in 1945 to assist German children and decided to build a children’s library.

The King’s Secret: The Legend of King Sejong

Chosun Dynasty had a wise King Sejong. When a humble servant boy tells of his longing to read and write, King Sejong sets out to create a simple yet beautiful way to write the Korean language. The people reject the new way of writing–until the boy gives the king another grand idea.

Running the Road To ABC

Six island children are running at daybreak — over the hills, through the fields, across the city square — to school! Never before has the love of learning (and learning together) been such a joyous time. Denise Lauture’s buoyant, poetic text captures the happiness and youth of energetic children on the way to school; Reynold Ruffins perfectly illustrates the rich beauty of Haiti with the bright-colored vibrance of Haitian folk art.

Once

Once I escaped from an orphanage to find my Mum and Dad. Once I saved a girl called Zelda from a burning house. Once I made a Nazi with toothache laugh. My name is Felix. This is my story.

The Present Tense of Prinny Murphy

An alcoholic mother, a distracted father, a best friend who spends all his time with his new “girlfriend,” and three relentless schoolyard bullies: Prinny Murphy’s past, present, and future certainly are “tense.” Adding to her misery, she still can’t read well enough to escape from remedial lessons with the dour Mrs. Dooks. But when a kindly substitute teacher introduces her to LaVaughn’s inner-city world in the free verse novel, Make Lemonade, Prinny discovers that life can be full of possibilities – and poetry.  

Amadi’s Snowman

As a young Igbo man, Amadi does not understand why his mother insists he learn to read, since he already knows his numbers and will be a businessman one day, but an older boy teaches him the value of learning about the world through books.

Juana Ines/Juana Ines (Cuando los Grandes Eran Pequenos/ When the Grown-Ups Were Children) (Spanish Edition)

Biographical poem about the childhood of poet and nun, Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz.

I Believe In Unicorns

A tale of the transformative power of stories. Eight-year-old Tomas hates reading. He would much rather be clambering around his beloved mountains. But when his mother forces him to visit the library, he can’t help but listen to the enchanting tales the librarian spins as she sits on a lifelike wooden unicorn. When war comes to their village, it is Tomas’s newfound love of books that helps save the library’s holdings from destruction. Set against a backdrop of encroaching war, the book is an eloquent reminder of the power of storytelling to alter our lives.

The Book of Lies

The newest boy at Mrs. Timmins’s Home for Orphans and Foundlings awakes at first light with no name and no memory. But a strange girl who hides among the shadows of the orphanage tells him that a mysterious wizard’s creation, the Book of Lies, holds the answers, and then gives him one clue: “Your name is Marcel.” With that knowledge, and the help of three new friends, Marcel begins a quest to find the truth about his real identity—a truth that is hidden in the Book of Lies. As Marcel learns more about his past, he realizes that truth can change at any moment and can be manipulated by anyone, and he begins to wonder if the old book’s so-called magical truth might be the greatest lie of all.