It seems an impossible coexistence: German Grundlichkeit in one of the Amazonian cityscapes, filled with myths, religions, folk tales, and superstition. Yet, this is exactly what Cramer – scouting locations for a movie – has to grapple with if he is to survive in this personally exotic environment. Already with his first steps out of … Continue reading World Languages Review: Der Mann, der den Regen fotografierte (Germany)
La sonrisa de los peces de piedra (The Smile of the Stone Fish) by Rosa Huertas (Anaya). This book is written in Spanish and set in Spain. In 2017, it won the XIV Premio Anaya de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil (Anaya Children’s and Young Adult Literary Prize). In 2017, it was included on the Lista … Continue reading World Languages Review: La sonrisa de los peces de piedra (Spain)
A postcard from the Amazon When we talk about Brazilian literature, more often than not, we find ourselves talking about works by authors from the São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro regions or, less often still, those related to the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia. There are, of course, exceptions proving that other Brazilian … Continue reading World Languages Review: Jaçanã – poética sobre as águas (Brazil)
I love a sweet first-love story. Here’s one set in Mexico in summer that is bound to charm a middle grader near you. The Wild Book by Juan Villoro, translated by Lawrence Schimel, features a thirteen-year-old boy named Juan whose summer begins in the worst possible way: with news of his parents’ divorce. He learns … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Wild Book
This is a beautiful large-scale nonfiction board book for young children. Each double spread depicts a glorious scene set in a particular season, with individual words picked out on the page. Spring, for example, has a title reading "Im Frühling wird es draussen grün" (In Spring, outside everything turns green) and picks out words like … Continue reading World Languages Review: Alle vier Jahreszeiten by Katrin Wiehle (Germany)
Ruth Wolff-Stirner My mother became sick very quickly. Because of the unhygienic living conditions in Shanghai, her liver became infected and she died at the age of 46. That was in 1954 and I was eight. My father kept me away from her. I didn’t see her anymore after she was taken to the hospital. … Continue reading Excerpt: Going Back by Andrea von Treuenfeld (Germany)
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 