Regardless of where they are found, mazes are amazing! Visit mazes that can be found around the world in this brief, informative, and intriguing look at these mysterious labyrinths.
Mazes Around the World
This fun, fact-filled glimpse at the states begins with a warning that many of the facts are “wacky and outrageous” but buckle up and join the romp! (Leominster, MA, was the birthplace of the plastic lawn flamingo, for example.) Factoids combine with humorous illustrations to engage travelers on the go!
Go, Go America
As her cat goes out, a girl imagines his world travel: on a gondola in Venice, in Spanish soccer games, and more before he returns to his home and favorite person. The rhyming text combines with richly detail, naive illustrations for a satisfying armchair adventure.
Someday When My Cat Can Talk
Dogs say “bow-wow” in English, “goo-ow” in Spanish, “wah-wah” in French, and “wan-wan” in Japanese. But no matter where the cow lives, it says “moo!” Bright, bold, playful illustrations introduce how animals sound in different languages.
Everywhere the Cow Says “Moo!”
When new neighbors move near Rabbit; he learns from a wise owl to “do unto otters as you would have otters do to you.” That includes saying please and thank you (in several languages), cooperating, and more. The humorous take on manners makes them fun to see in practice, in stylized, engaging illustrations.
Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners
Count people and animals doing what they do on a Caribbean island. From one to ten, the rhyming text combines with brightly colored, child-like illustrations to produce the sense of place and people.
Island Counting 1 2 3
Grandparents and grandchildren share something special everywhere. Here the universal story of a grandmother and her granddaughter is made unique as it reflects their Hawaiian life and style.
Grandma Calls Me Beautiful
Ms. Frizzle, the amazing teacher whose students experience field trips in extraordinary fashion, now moves into history and other social studies areas. In this installment, Ms. Frizzle and her class travel by dragon to 11th century China to experience its history.
Ms. Frizzle’s Adventures: Imperial China
Based on the author’s experience, a child visits the village in Korea where her mother lived before immigrating to America. The simplicity of the text provides rich details of everyday life in the small Korean village, enhanced by realistic illustrations.
The Trip Back Home
The poet celebrates growing up in the Caribbean, in Jamaica. Lively illustrations decorate the lively language used, including some dialect, in this evocative collection.
Nest Full of Stars
The song made famous by Louis Armstrong has been reinterpreted with brilliantly colored illustrations showing a multinational cast of children doing a puppet show. Though most young children will not recognize Armstrong, the optimism of the song is sure to please.
What a Wonderful World
Rhythmic, original poems combine lyrical, evocative language and gentle lessons in this attractively illustrated collection. Each original poem begs to be shared aloud and is sure to delight both reader and listener.
Sing to the Sun
Tales drawn from the oral tradition are retold with verve and musical language certain to delight listeners of all ages. Bryan’s paintings decorate each tale, bringing characters and plot vividly to life.
Ashley Bryan’s African Tales, Uh-huh
Growing up in Soviet-controlled Czechoslovakia, Sis craved Western pop culture, subverted authority in small ways, and maintained a strong fear of the secret police. This title won the Sibert medal for distinctive non-fiction for children.
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain
For many years, Lekuton taught school in the DC area, but before that he grew up in the Kenyan desert. Now, he’s back in Kenya, serving in parliament. This is an autobiography of his Kenyan childhood.
Facing the Lion: Growing up Maasai on the African Savanna
Graciella’s father leaves his family to pick fruit far away, but calls every Sunday. The surprise he sends for Graciella’s seventh birthday is lost as is the child’s hope of seeing Papi — at least temporarily. This realistic, universally appealing story told from the child’s point of view is gently illustrated.
Papi’s Gift
Coyote howls at the moon because of a small, smart, and very tricky rabbit. This lively retelling of an Oaxacan (Mexico) tale has familiar elements like rabbit becoming stuck on a farmer made of sticky beeswax. The energetic tale is complemented by illustrations reminiscent of folk art.
The Tale of Rabbit and Coyote
A collection of trickster stories — from the Brer Rabbit found in the American South to East Africa’s Anansi — are presented from a master storyteller. Watercolor illustrations add humor and verve to each of these outrageous and often funny characters.
A Ring of Tricksters: Animal Tales from America, the West Indies, and Africa
Sungura, a resourceful hare, and grouchy Leopard decide to build their homes in the same spot. How Sungura outwits Leopard to get him out is told in lively language with boldly lined illustrations that suggest the place in which the animals live and work.
Sungura and Leopard: A Swahili Trickster Tale
Anansi is a known charlatan, so he gets little sympathy when Turtle eats all of the fish that Anansi has learned to catch. But the reader knows that the trickster has not really learned a lesson! Sly humor abounds in both text and image in this lively retelling.
Anansi Goes Fishing
Join a boy as he takes you uptown to introduce his Harlem home, filled with excitement, sounds, and verve. Illustrations use watercolor and collage to present a vibrant, music-filled place sure to please.
Uptown
How did the world come to have stories? It’s all because Ananse the Spider Man was able to perform three amazing feats — and send stories from Nyame throughout the world of people. Strong woodcuts illustrate this traditional African tale which explains how stories came to earth.
A Story, A Story
In this retelling of a beloved Mexican folktale, Tomie dePaola presents Lucinda, a young girl who is helping her mother weave a new blanket for Baby Jesus to be used in the Christmas procession to the church. When her mother falls ill, however, Lucinda tries to continue weaving and is distraught when the blanket’s threads get tangled. She is sure that she has ruined the celebration — until a Christmas miracle brings forth the flaming red-star flowers that we still enjoy each December. Beautiful artwork will enthrall readers.
The Legend of the Poinsettia
When young Iqbal is sold into slavery at a carpet factory, his arrival changes everything for the other overworked and abused chidren there. It is Iqbal who explains to them that despite their master’s promises, he plans on keeping them as his slaves indefinetely. But it is also Iqbal who inspires the other children to look to a future free from toil…and is brave enough to show them how to get there.
This moving fictionalized account of the real Iqbal Masih is told through the voice of Fatima, a young Pakistani girl whose life is changed by Iqbal’s courage.