Filled with imaginative illustrations, Thread by Thread is a delightful picture book for readers age 4-7 that is based on a single, wonderfully extended metaphor--knitting. It's also a moving story about a family of refugee mice. When the story begins, the family lives in a lovely, tidy, red knit house: "Toasty warm in my home, … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Thread By Thread
When Banned Book Club, a YA graphic novel-memoir by Kim Hyun Sook, Kp Hyung-Ju, and Ryan Estrada appeared in 2020, it gained widespread attention for its account of a provincial first-year university student in South Korea 1983 who learns about her country’s dictatorship and the freedom struggle when she joins a traditional dance team and its … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: No Rules Tonight
A new year brings a fresh start for the Tanaka family. In All in a Year, a picture book aimed at readers ages 3+, the Tanakas move out of their apartment into a cozy new home. With each new page, readers accompany the family through their daily lives and the changing seasons of the year. … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: All in a Year
Dear Readers, Happy 2025 and Happy Year of the Snake! A new year inspires reflection. I've decided it is time to step down from my role as Executive Director at Global Literature in Libraries Initiative. I have loved advocating for more global literature in libraries during these past nine years of involvement in GLLI. I … Continue reading A New Year brings New Transitions
Geometry, perspective, astronomy, and a healthy dose of curiosity all come together in this book. It tells the story of Usha, who's learning to perform cartwheels, as she has a conversation with her big sister Aarti about a constellation they see in the sky. Aarti explains, from their vantage point lying flat on the ground, … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Usha and the Big Digger
Mika is back! She stars in the award-laden Moonwind Mysteries, a gripping upper MG/YA historical series set in 1880s Sweden. The first two books in the series, The Night Raven and The Queen of Thieves, were filled with suspense, gritty details, fast pacing, and vivid characters, including the city of Stockholm, which becomes a tangible … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Lost Ones
In 1934 the American occupiers have left Haiti, but things are no better for the people ruled by corrupt and brutal section chiefs. When one of them kidnaps 16-year-old Lucille’s best friend and cuts down their favorite mapou tree, Lucille goes down to the police station to inquire. That puts her own family in danger, … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: When the Mapou Sings
Arranged and forced marriages are the reality for many young teenage girls around the world. But does it really have to be this way? This middle grade illustrated novel is based on the true story of Adi, as told to renowned Cameroonian author and poet Alain Serge Dzotap. Adidjatou, or Adi for short, is a … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Adi of Boutanga: A Story from Cameroon
I hope you've enjoyed my advent calendar type selection of "displays" for the month of December with a variety of ways to slice and dice collections and perhaps you've even found a few new or different books to add to your collections. A couple of people have asked me about the how and why and … Continue reading #DecDisplays – Wrap up
In anticipation of the country celebrations in January - here is my Australian poster - being an American school with relatively few Australian students, we don't have a very robust collection of books from Australia. There are all sorts of complications in procuring books from Australia - and as my fellow-librarians who I asked from … Continue reading #DecDisplays – Australian books
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 