ZOMO The Rabbit

ZOMO The Rabbit

A Trickster Tale from West Africa

told and illustrated by
Gerald McDermott

Zomo is fast, Zomo is clever, but he also wants to be wise.  He asks the Sky-God to grant him his wish.  But Nyame has tree impossible tasks for Zomo: he wants Zomo to bring to him scales of a Big Fish, milk of a Wild Cow, and a tooth of a Leopard.  Is Zomo able to accomplish the three tasks and get the wisdom?  Well...... that you will have to find out for yourself, reading the book.
Beautiful, and vivid illustrations, and fun story to read.
Enjoy!

Chopsticks

Chopsticks
by Jon Berkeley

In a floating restaurant in Hong Kong lives a little, grey mouse called Chopsticks.  On the full moon of the Chinese New Year, Chopsticks befriends a wooden dragon, which coils around one of the entrance pillars.  The dragon dreams of flying, but the only person who can grant his wish is an old woodcarver Fu.  Chopsticks finds Old Fu, who teaches him a tune on a whistle, which on the full moon allows the Dragon and Chopsticks to fly over lands that you can only dream of.

Very nice story and beautiful illustrations.
Ages 4 - 8

This year Chinese New Year will start February 19th.  The year of the goat.

Sylvie

Sylvie by Jennifer Sattler

Sylvie is a little, adorable flamingo, who is curious why flamingos are pink.  Her mom explains: "Well, dear, we're pink because the little shrimp we eat are pink."  This gives Sylvie an amazing idea, what if she eats a green leaf, would she become green? Or if she eats grapes or other colourful things, would she turn that colour?  

Shrimp contain beta carotene, that has an orange-pink pigment, so it is true that the real flamingos are pink because they eat shrimp, but they would certainly not turn green by eating a green leaf.

What about Sylvie in the story?  Well that you have to find out by reading the book.  I will just say: it is DELIGHTFUL, and all little kids will enjoy it.
You can quiz them about colours while reading the book.

The Skeleton in the Closet

The Skeleton in the Closet

by Alice Schertle

illustrated by Curtis Jobling

Adorable Halloween book which will appeal to young and older children.  

A little boy is woken up by a knock at the door and when he peeks through the window, he is scared by a little skeleton looking for his skin.  He runs upstairs to hide in his room, the skeleton follows him and helps himself to "whatever he finds on the underwear shelf...". Dressed skeleton leaves, wearing the boys bedroom slipper bears.

Great rhyming text, full of humour and delightful pictures.

Fun to read.

CDC? by William Steig

Can you solve the following phrase:  V  F  E-10  D  L-F-N

How about a picture clue?

Can you solve it now?

Check the solution.

Would you like to try more puzzles like the one above?

CDC? by William Steig is full of them.

A book full of letters and numbers put together to form funny messages.
Just sound them out and listen for the words and phrases.  Each  expression has a picture to help you figure out the meaning.

The Dragon's Scales

Great story by Sarah Albee, about a dragon who does not want to share, a little girl who saves a day, and a set of scales.

Holly outsmarts the dragon with three tests: would two things weigh more than one thing?  Is it always the case that the bigger thing weighs more than the smaller thing?  Do two things that are the same in size must weigh the same?

Check out the story it is fun to read and kids will enjoy solving the tests.

June: Aboriginal History Month

Raven Brings the Light 

by Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Budd

A Northwest Coast Legend

In times when people live in darkness, unusual boy is born to a couple.  The Chiefs provide him with a raven skin to fly to the Chief of the Heavens to steal the Sun.

To see wonderful prints and more books by Roy Henry Vickers visit his website:

http://www.royhenryvickers.com/

Raven: A Trickster tale From The Pacific Northwest

by Gerald McDermott

The same legend, beautifully illustrated and told in a simple language, that is appealing to younger audience.