Archive for November, 2016

“…This is a book that has been on my shelf for far too long. Today, I will remedy that by telling you about it. It is a story of Germany at the end of World War II. Based on her mother’s memories of that time in her life, Michelle Barker chooses to tell it in […]

We are thrilled to extend our congratulations to Karen Bass, author of Uncertain Soldier. This suspenseful YA novel, set in northern Alberta during World War II, has won the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People. This is Bass’ second Geoffrey Bilson Award win, and this is Pajama Press’ third year in a row […]

“…The illustrations in this book, full color paintings, are absolutely stunning. Canadian illustrator, Brian Deines, has outdone himself in two-page spreads that bring this refugee story to life. The story itself, a slice of life, begins abruptly without any explanation as to why the family must leave Vietnam. Nor does the main part of the text explain […]

“Format: Hardcover Rating: (1-5 5 is a starred review) 4 Genre:  Picture book What did you like about the book? Originally written in French, this book was first published in Canada with the support of the Canadian council for the arts. It is a story of a little fox who has gone for a walk […]

“Moving to the US wasn’t as big of a culture shock as we expected. Well, at least not until the results of the presidential election came in… We live in the liberal Pacific Northwest, so life is not so different from rainy Germany. After Finja was born I realized that education and upbringing in the […]

“Fullerton’s (In a Cloud of Dust) tale starts out as a thoughtful account of a child’s daily life in Sri Lanka: ‘[Malini] watches the load of rice seedlings swish back and forth on the cart as it bumps over the road toward her. Today she will learn to plant those seedlings…. But what if she […]

“We rated this book: 4.5/5 At school, people make fun of Phoebe for her skin color, which is medium brown, and they call her ‘French toast.’ When she and her grandmother are taking a walk in the park, they walk past her school and the kids yell at her and laugh. Her grandmother doesn’t know […]

*** /4 …With When the Rain Comes, Fullerton introduces children to a culture different from their own in a way that is engaging and full of relatable emotions. Malini is Sri Lankan, and, although her experience is in many ways very different from that of a Canadian child, some feelings and encounters transcend borders. Here, readers […]

“Content rating: G Little Fox and his mother come out of their den to go out for a walk on a sunny day after it had snowed all morning. Right from the beginning the setting in this book is perfect. A beautiful wintry day to explore the outdoors is what we as Canadians look forward […]

“Content: G ‘Even though Nan-ma’s blind, she sees things others do not.’ And so begins this book whose message to be proud of one’s culture and nationality shines through. Phoebe has a good relationship with her grandmother who is blind. On weekends she is her neighborhood guide. As a mother, I liked that this story […]