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Clover’s excited to share her newest picks, books that celebrate “Friends the World Over.” Though we’re familiar with our buddies in the hive, sake’s alive let’s expand our horizons and learn about people in faraway places who have unique histories, customs, languages and lifestyles.
Young readers will be fascinated with the characters they’ll meet this month—kids from India and Ukraine who might appear different than we are on the surface, but deep down have hearts that feel love, close family bonds and unique ways of living their day-to-day lives.
Clover’s all over these must-reads, touching stories that provide us with a rich mosaic of cultures.
Page On!
The Community Literacy Foundation, in partnership with Neighborhood Reads and with support from its sponsors, provides these books to 40 school and public libraries in Washington, Union, Pacific, St. Clair and surrounding communities.
Learn more at CommunityLiteracyFoundation.org.
Youngest Read
The blessing of speaking different languages is at the core of “My Mother’s Tongues: A Weaving of Languages,” by Uma Menon.
The story begins in a grocery store where a little girl, originally from Kerala, in India, has gone with her mother and grandmother.
The child is amazed at how her mother moves from using her first language, Malayalam, to English. Back and forth the mother switches languages, addressing the grocery attendant in English and responding to the girl’s grandmother in Malayalam. It’s like her mother has “… two tongues … now woven together like fine cloth,” the child remarks.
It wasn’t always this way, the girl continues, explaining her mother was born in Kerala and started learning English at 12, “The new tongue grew quickly.” Though her mother had some understanding of English when she moved to America, she found people talked fast and she had to work hard at understanding conversations. She practiced and practiced speaking English.
The child’s mother was a wise model for her daughter, who was born in America but learned to speak Malayalam first, because that was the language spoken in their home. Like her mother, the girl learned English once she started school.
This powerful book, beautifully illustrated by Rahele Jomepour Bell, details the beauty of being able to converse with people in their native tongues and the challenges learning a new language presents.
Middle Read
Ukraine continues to be in the news as the country fights to remain independent from Russia. In “Threads: Zlata’s Ukrainian Shirt,” by Lina Maslo, the author tells the intimate story of a Ukrainian girl and her family, illustrating what life was like for them when the Communists began invading Ukraine in 1932.
Zlata relates the tale, a young happy girl with golden hair, that Mama says is “… like the wheat fields that stretched across Ukraine.” Zlata was carefree, but that changed when the communists came. Overnight citizens had to turn over their food and belongings and live in fear of what would happen next.
In an attempt to give Zlata something special for her 8th birthday, her mother embroiders her an intricately stitched blouse, in the traditional Ukrainian colors of black and red, “Red for love, and black for sadness.” Papa says, reminding her that “Life has good times and hard times.”
A terribly hard time comes for Zlata, a conflict between her dear friend arises—a friend whose father agrees with the Communists and plunders her family’s possessions. Zlata’s cherished blouse is confiscated and her father is stolen away.
Heartbreak and starvation replace joy in the family home, until eventually a shift occurs with Zlata’s friend, and Zlata’s symbol of hope is returned to her. Simple yet profound illustrations tell the story of Zlata’s struggle, and offer a glimpse into history between Ukraine and Russia.
Oldest Read
In 1948, India broke into two countries, India and Pakistan and declared its freedom from Great Britain. It was a time of upheaval, danger and sacrifice, the conflict arising because of differences in religion.
The 12-year-old boy in “Amil and the After,” by Veera Hiranandani, must adjust to his new life in the city of Bombay, after a perilous journey across the desert with his family, which includes his twin sister, Nisha.
While Nisha has a passion for reading and books, Amil spends his time drawing, when he should be doing schoolwork—which is difficult for him. Amil lives with his father, a doctor, his twin sister, their grandmother and the family’s longtime servant in a city he’s unfamiliar with. Many days he longs for his old life from “before.” More than anything, Amil wants a bike, believing it will provide the happiness he seeks.
Amil has a good heart, and wants to help people. He gets that opportunity when he meets a needy boy who also has fled his previous home—but this boy wasn’t as fortunate as Amil. He has no family, little food and lives in a refugee camp. Their budding friendship changes Amil in positive ways, making Amil realize that though his mother died in childbirth he is blessed with other family who care for him. He belongs.
There is much to be learned from “Amil and the After,” the engaging story of a boy whose name means hope—an essential state of mind that helps us survive the most difficult of times. To learn more about Amil’s history, read the companion book, “The Night Diary,” told from his twin sister Nisha’s point of view.
Written by Chris Stuckenschneider.
Copyright 2024, Community Literacy Foundation.
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