#DutchKidLit – Winter in Wartime by Jan Terlouw

Posted on by Kim Tyo-Dickerson

Shortlisted for the 2020 Global Literature in Libraries Initiative Translated YA Book Prize “Don’t be fooled, Michiel, by the romance of war, heroism, sacrifice, excitement, adventure. War means injuries, grief, torture, imprisonment, hunger, hardship, injustice. There’s nothing romantic about it.”- Winter in Wartime This award-winning Dutch children’s classic is a gripping World War II adventure … Continue reading #DutchKidLit – Winter in Wartime by Jan Terlouw

#DutchKidLit and The Canon of the Netherlands, Part 2 – The Subversive Wit of Annie M.G. Schmidt

Posted on by Kim Tyo-Dickerson

"Never do what your mother tells you to do, then everything will be all right,” to quote Annie M.G. Schmidt. Just saying what you want to say, not making a fuss, breaking any rules that don’t make sense, and recalcitrant humour; these are the secrets of her pen [sic]."1911-1995 Annie M.G. Schmidt: Going against the … Continue reading #DutchKidLit and The Canon of the Netherlands, Part 2 – The Subversive Wit of Annie M.G. Schmidt

#DutchKidLit and The Canon of the Netherlands, Part 1 – Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl

Posted on by Kim Tyo-Dickerson

Image: Canonslinger 2020 wall chart. The Canon of the Netherlands is a huge cultural project that tells a story about the historical and cultural development of the Netherlands from ± 5500 BC to present. The Canon was first conceived in 2006 and was recently updated in June 2020. It is now a 50-window timeline using … Continue reading #DutchKidLit and The Canon of the Netherlands, Part 1 – Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl

#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Soul Lanterns

Posted on by Planet Picture Book

August 6, 1945, is a date forever etched into the memories of those who live in Hiroshima. Today, it is marked by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony, where thousands of lanterns are set afloat along the Motoyasu River in memory of those who died in the devastating bombing of the city. Soul Lanterns, a historical … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Soul Lanterns

#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Temple Alley Summer

Posted on by Nanette McGuinness

Written by award-winning Japanese author Sachiko Kashiwaba, Temple Alley Summer* features not one but two ghost stories. The first is the outer shell in this engrossing middle-grade novel and a fully-fleshed narrative; the other is an embedded fairy-tale fantasy with intriguing connections and parallels to the first. In the “outer” ghost story, Kazu, who is … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Temple Alley Summer

#WorldKidLit Weekend: The Story of the Blue Planet

Posted on by Nanette McGuinness

A Roald Dahlian eco-parable for middle grade readers, The Story of the Blue Planet* takes place on a special, beautiful planet strikingly similar to earth and inhabited only by children. These Peter-Pan-esque protagonists never age and come in all shapes and sizes. Some are “even weird like the child you see in the mirror.” They can … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Weekend: The Story of the Blue Planet

#IntlYALitMonth: The Girl and the Ghost

Posted on by Nanette McGuinness

A novel for tweens and young teens, The Girl and the Ghost is based on a Malaysian folk tale. It’s much more than a simple retelling, as author Hanna Alkaf has fleshed out the story with richly drawn characters, creating a marvelous tale about friendship, family, jealousy, and love. As the story goes, there was … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth: The Girl and the Ghost

#BlackIsBeautiful: Genesis Begins Again

Posted on by shaunteebs

Our Blackness is beautiful and diverse, our skin representing a variety of shades and hues, from light to dark and dark to light, a blending of ethnicities and cultures.  And yet there are conflicting ideals of beauty, as society pressures communities of color to conform to their expectations.  It’s taken us awhile to get to … Continue reading #BlackIsBeautiful: Genesis Begins Again

Interview with Rachel Yung-Hsin Wang

Posted on by helenwanglondon

This post is published simultaneously on Chinese Books for Young Readers Kirkus reviewer Rachel Yung-Hsin Wang has lived and worked in many parts of the world, and is something of a polyglot. Earlier this year she completed an MFA in Writing for Children at Simmons University, having won a Lee & Low and Simmons Friends … Continue reading Interview with Rachel Yung-Hsin Wang

#WorldKidLitWednesday: The Casket of Time

Posted on by Nanette McGuinness

What if you could stop time? Would it work? Would it even be a good idea? That is the core dilemma in The Casket of Time, an intricately plotted, carefully wrought, and beautifully translated book for YA readers by Icelandic author, poet and former presidential candidate Andri Snær Magnason. Made up of two interwoven stories … Continue reading #WorldKidLitWednesday: The Casket of Time