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
#WITMonth-that’s a wrap!
It has been a joy and honor to have been the Guest Editor for #WITMonth for the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative blog. I hope you have enjoyed the 26 books I have chosen as much as I have choosing them. I started this my book project two and a half years ago not knowing … Continue reading #WITMonth-that’s a wrap!
Day 26: 🇨🇱 Niños: Poems for the Lost Children of Chile
In a Nutshell: On September 11th, 1973, as a result of a military coup, Chile fell into a 17 year long dictatorship. Many people died and disappeared, among those people were 34 children under 14. Niños: Poems for the Lost Children of Chile is a collection of 34 poems, with each poem a tribute to … Continue reading Day 26: 🇨🇱 Niños: Poems for the Lost Children of Chile
Day 25: 🇨🇫 The Magic Doll
In a Nutshell: I learnt about this book, thanks to Millie Margretta. The book is beautifully illustrated with a great story. The book is narrated by a young girl, Adjoa about her mother’s desire to be pregnant and her journey towards pregnancy and birth, through the support of her husband and her Akua’ba doll. Themes: … Continue reading Day 25: 🇨🇫 The Magic Doll
Day 24: 🇲🇰 A Spare Life
In a Nutshell: A coming-of-age epic from Two Lines Press, a publisher of translations. It is 1984 and twins, Zlata and Srebra, live in communist Yugoslavia, their bodies are conjoined at the head. The novel spans from their impoverished childhood in Skopje to 2012 Skopje with some time spent in London. I completely escaped into … Continue reading Day 24: 🇲🇰 A Spare Life
Day 23: 🇲🇺 Silence of the Chagos
In a Nutshell: What a gem of a book this is. It tells the story of Charlesia and Désiré, both from the island of Diego García. It is also about the plight of the Chagossian people, expelled from their archipelago to enable the United States to build one of their main military bases. The book … Continue reading Day 23: 🇲🇺 Silence of the Chagos
Day 22: 🇨🇴 Holiday Heart
I read this in an evening and a half. What a treat.Robayo’s prose is cutting, sardonic, precise and witty, brilliantly translated by Charlotte Coombe. In a Nutshell: Lucía and Pablo are a married couple, originally from Colombia they now live in the USA with their twins, Rosa and Tomás. We meet the family just as … Continue reading Day 22: 🇨🇴 Holiday Heart
Day 21: 🇨🇮 Akissi: Tales of Mischief
The world of Akissi, beautifully illustrated by M. Sapin. Observations: My lovely friend, Louise introduced me to the wonderful world of graphic novels, specifically in French. We met when we both lived in Chile, she is from Paris and I am from London, but Spanish is our common language. Each time she visited me in … Continue reading Day 21: 🇨🇮 Akissi: Tales of Mischief
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: B is for Baby
What happens when Baby discovers a big basket of bright yellow bananas? She eats them for breakfast, of course, and accidentally begins a bumpy adventure on Brother's bicycle. The beats in his headphones keep him from noticing his baby sister in the back as he rides through the busy village. Brother and Baby pass by … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: B is for Baby
Day 20: 🇦🇹 I belong to Vienna: a Jewish Family’s Story of Exile and Return
In a Nutshell: Part fiction, history, biography and memoir. In 1942, Anna Goldenberg’s maternal great-grandparents and one of their sons are deported to the Thersienstadt concentration camp, a then German-occupied region of the Czech Republic. Goldenburg’s grandfather, Hansi avoids deportation and survives but he will never see his parents and brother again. Using letters, archives … Continue reading Day 20: 🇦🇹 I belong to Vienna: a Jewish Family’s Story of Exile and Return
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 