Japan - TIE BLOG : Teaching Your Way Around the World

This time I’d like to share with you some wonderful multi cultural picturebooks for all ages. These inside glances at different customs and beliefs will enrich any classroom or school library.

Awe-Samosas! is written by Marzieh Abbas and illustrated by Bhagya Madanasinghe. The Pakistani author shares her knowledge of making samosas in this colourful celebration of traditional food. Noor wants to make her favourite snack for her friends. But grandma, Dadijaan, is far away. So her father, Abbu, helps her to gather ingredients and together they experience in mixing, folding and baking samosas with many different fillings. The back pages offer a recipe to try making samosas yourself, as well as a helpful glossary of Urdu terms. A wonderful picturebook to use when looking at different customs and dishes. The story will appeal to children from different cultures whose grandparents also live far away.

ISBN 978-0-06-325727-6, Harper Collins Childrens

How We Say I Love You by Nicole Chen is a multicultural story of a Taiwanese family and how they express their love for one another. They don’t even need to say the words; they show love in their every day interactions. Grandfather, Ah Gong, shows his love when he walks Hana to school. Her father shows his love by cheering her on during a soccer game, even if she doesn’t score a goal. And Hanna already shows her love to a soon-to-arrive sibling by telling it stories. A nice story to share and discuss how we can express love to our family and friends. I read the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library version of this book which gives suggestions for sharing and discussions with young readers. A glossary of both Mandarin and Taiwanese words is included.

ISBN 978-0-593-70273-4, Random House Kids

Kimiko Murakami by Haley Healey is the biography of a Japanese Canadian pioneer. Born and raised in BC, Canada, Kimiko was part of a Japanese-Canadian family, many of whom who made their living fishing and farming. During the Second World War, she was among the 22,000 Japanese Canadians who were sent to live in internment camps because they were seen as “enemy aliens.” The camp’s living conditions were dirty and crowded and robbed people of Japanese decent of their basic rights and freedoms. Following the war, Kimiko and her family were allowed to return to Salt Spring Island, BC but had to rebuild their farm and their life from scratch. Through it all, Kimiko and her family – pioneers and survivors – never lost hope. This book celebrates her achievements, courage, and spirit through vivid illustrations and an informative, inspiring narrative. It is also an important story about a dark part of Canadian/Japanese history as well as a story of forgiveness.

ISBN 978-1772034677, Heritage House

It’s Powwow Time!, written by Martha Troian and illustrated by Hawlii Pichette is a beautiful story that celebrates both American and Canadian First Nations’ celebrations. A young boy wakes up to rhymes and beats as he travels to a powwow – time to dance. The glorious illustrations have a special indigenous touch, their colours dancing off the pages. Eagles circle as moccasins dance and drums beat. This is a long overdue picture book to celebrate indigenous culture. The book offers a chance to dance and discuss other celebrations in the classroom.

ISBN 978-0-06-311666-5, Greenwillow Books

Margriet Ruurs writes books for children and conducts author presentations at International Schools.

www.margrietruurs.com

Stories reflect our history and show us who we are. Stories help us to understand others and share our own cultures. Here are voices from other places, stories worth sharing from around the world in picturebooks, in poetry and in nonfiction.

Thao by Thao Lam is an autobiographical story by an illustrator. Her name was common in Vietnam but once she and her family came to live in Canada, she did not like having a name that no one could pronounce or spell properly. Why could her name not be Jennifer? But only Thao could eat yummy Vietnamese food…. The book is exquisitely illustrated in paper collage. A wonderful story to share with children who also have hard to pronounce names! ISBN 978-1-77147-4320-0, Owl Books

Burying The Moon by Andrée Poulin, with beautiful art by Sonali Zohra is the touching story of a 12 year old girl in India. The women in Latika’s village can only do their daily ‘business’ at night in a nearby field. Once girls reach puberty they can no longer go to school because the school nor the village have toilets. Latika is angry that boys don’t have these problems. Education doesn’t even seem important to them. Latika gathers her courage to speak out and make a change for all women in her village. A heartbreaking story, written in free verse, that sheds light on a huge problem around the world. I had no idea that half the world’s population has no access to flush toilets. If, after reading this book, you want to make a difference, check out this website: https://water.org/donate/ ISBN 978-1-77306-604-2, Groundwood Books

Ho’Onani, Hula Warrior is a unique picture book about Hawaiian culture. Traditionally, boys can lead a Hula group. But why not a girl who loves to sing and dance? Ho’onani does not think of herself as ‘just a girl’ or ‘just a boy’. She is Ho’onani – strong, sure and steady. Through hard work and courage she achieves her dream and make her family and village proud of their heritage. ISBN 978-0-7352-6449-6, Tundra

Natsumi! by Susan Lendroth and Priscilla Burris is the story of Natsumi, who may be a Japanese girl but is not dainty nor quiet like other girls in her village. Everything Natsumi does, she does in a big way. Her family tells her that she is too fast, too loud. Discouraged, Natsumi’s grandfather knows what his granddaughter will be good at. On the day of the annual traditional Festival, dainty dancers perform, tea is served carefully and finally Natsumi can show her true self by being a powerful, traditional taiko drummer! ISBN 978-0-399-17090-4, G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Part of a picture books series based on the UN Convention on the rights of the child, I Have The Right to Culture, by Alain Serres and Aurélia Fronty, the book celebrates all things art. From dance to film, from poetry to paintings, the book shows how cultures preserve and protect their heritage and how each person has the right to learn about the art from their country because ‘A child who never knew about.. sculptures or paintings… would as as sad as a thousand birds who never learned how to fly.’ Highly recommended especially for schools with diverse populations. ISBN 978-1-77306-490-1, Groundwood Books.

A sad but beautiful, and important, story is I Lost My Talk by Rita Joe, art by Pauline Young. It is the story of a child in residential school, forced to adopt a new language and new customs. As the child grows older and darkness folds away, colour returns to the pages as she slowly discovers the power of her own culture and extends a hand of friendship to others to help them understand. A beautifully executed picture book that works on many levels, for many ages. ISBN 978-1-77108-810-7, Nimbus Publishing

So what if you have a common name and no special skills? Well… You Might Be Special by Kerri Kokias, illustrated by Marcus Cutler, puts you to the test. If you feel different from others you can take a quiz to make sure you are not a unicorn, or a dragon. And if you are none of these… then you are special because you are you! A fun book to share out loud with young readers who are special. ISBN 978-1-5253-0333-3, Kids Can Press

Margriet Ruurs is a Canadian author of over 40 books for children. She conducts author presentations at international schools and shares her travel stories here: www.globetrottingbooklovers.com

TIE BLOG : Teaching Your Way Around the World

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