It’s not easy moving to a new place away from family and friends and trying to settle into a new home and school. The middle grade graphic novel Ellie in First Position tackles all this, and more. The story opens with 10-year-old Electra, or Ellie for short, relocating to a new city with her mother … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Ellie in First Position
Review by Lyn Miller-Lachmann Having escaped his narrow-minded and isolated village in Palestine, Saeed moves to the city, marries, opens a bookstore, then returns with his pregnant wife. She gives birth to twin girls – Shams and Qamar – but the family is exiled to the village outskirts, accused of bringing a curse. Although they … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Wondrous Journeys in Strange Lands
Looking to dip your toe into the ocean of new graphic novels (in translation) for children and young adults? Reading the Eisners is the perfect approach. The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards are the comic kingdom’s equivalent of the Oscars, with the winners announced annually at San Diego Comic Con. Children’s graphic novels in translation appear in the obvious … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The 2023 Eisner Nominees
Zadie Ma wants a dog more than anything in the world, but her mama seems set against it. Will she achieve her heart’s desire? The overarching theme of Zadie Ma and the Dog Who Chased the Moon is simple, yet readers will soon discover that there is so much more to this middle grade novel. … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Weekend: Zadie Ma and the Dog Who Chased the Moon
A book is a promise. Its pages can offer adventure, an escape into a world from another time or place. The first book in The Moonwind Mysteries, The Night Raven, and its sequel, The Queen of Thieves, are gripping upper MG novels that fulfill this promise—and then some. Set in a gritty, Dickensian version of … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Night Raven
In a Nutshell: Zlata’s Diary is the diary of Zlata Filipović, with entries from September 1991-December 1993, it starts just before her 10th birthday. It is a moving, sometimes funny and very sad account of her experience of the Bosnian war as it hit her home city of Sarajevo. Themes: War, friendship, politics, love, childhood and … Continue reading Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦 : Zlata’s Diary by Zlata Filipović, tr. Christina Pribichevich-Zorić
Many of us adults now look back on our decidedly low-tech childhood pastimes with fondness. I remember playing hopscotch, for example, and partaking in neighborhood baseball games. In my family literacy work, I often encourage parents and caregivers to share their "old-school" games with their children. After all, play is a child's work— and adults … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Let’s Play Gonggi
Originally published in 2018 as part of a Kickstarter campaign and forthcoming to a more global audience this August from Catalyst Press, Kariba is an adventurous fantasy middle grades graphic novel. As the South African-based creators note in an afterword, Kariba "draws heavily upon historical fact," taking its name from the real life Kariba Dam … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Kariba
Catherine's War There’s certainly no shortage of WWII stories available for younger readers, especially stories focusing on the devastating impact and consequences of the Holocaust. And at first blush, Catherine’s War seems like just another entry to the cannon of middle grade Holocaust fiction. But the graphic novel, adapted by Claire Fauvel from Julia Billet’s … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth: Catherine’s War
The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera The Last Cuentista is about the power of stories in our lives. When Halley's Comet goes on a collision course for Earth in the year 2061, Petra Peña, a 13-year-old storyteller -- a cuentista -- along with her younger brother and parents (scientists who specialize in botany), and … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth: The Last Cuentista
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 