The Day of Ahmed's Secret by Florence Parry Heide illustrated by Ted Lewin

Image from this video (well worth watching)

"Today I have a secret, and all day long my secret will be like a friend to me. Tonight I will tell it to my family, but now I have work to do in the city."

Ahmed rides on his small cart pulled by his donkey. The city of Cairo is noisy and filled with people trading and shopping. Ahmed notices the sounds and the colours. He enjoys a quick meal of beans and noodles, but he cannot pause for long because he has deliveries to make - heavy bottles of fuel. 

With older students I would like this book with the UNICEF Rights of the Child:

28. Education: Every child has the right to an education. Primary education should be free. Secondary and higher education should be available to every child. Children should be encouraged to go to school to the highest level possible.

32. Protection from harmful work: Children have the right to be protected from doing work that is dangerous or bad for their education, health or development. If children work, they have the right to be safe and paid fairly.

When I spied this book at a recent charity book sale I knew it would be a terrific choice. As is often the way with books I pick up at the fair, I do wonder how this book came to be here in Australia. Someone has inscribed it "to Leo happy reading love Grandma Bea". I wonder if Leo read his gift. I wonder if Bea knew the author or illustrator or if she realised this book (published in 1990) contains an important story about the power of education and literacy? 

Publisher blurb (spoiler included): Ahmed drives his donkey cart through the streets of Cairo, delivering butane gas cylinders to his father's customers. He knows everyone and has a part to play in the life of the city. He is proud to be strong enough to help his family, but most of all he is proud of his precious secret, a secret that he keeps until the end of the day. The book reveals a lot about Ahmed's life, and finally his secret - that he can write his name.

Florence Parry Heide died in 2011. She wrote over 100 books including the famous series about Treehorn. The co-author of this book Judith Heide Gilland is her daughter. Ted Lewin died in 2021. He illustrated over 200 books. (Kirkus have talked about lots of them). I have already talked about his book about puffins! Here are two others:

Read about Eve Bunting here

Mirror by Jeannie Baker

A picture book is text, illustrations, total design; an item of manufacture 

and a commercial product; 

a social, cultural, historical document; and foremost an experience for a child. 

As an art form it hinges on the interdependence of pictures and words, 

on the simultaneous display of two facing pages, 

and on the drama of the turning page. 

Bader, B. American Picturebooks from Noah’s Ark to the Beast Within.1976.

Think about the words - simultaneous display of two facing pages - Mirror by Jeannie Baker goes even further - it feels as though you are reading two books side by side.

To pick up a copy of Mirror was to experience something quite at odds with the whole tendency of books to enter the e-world, the virtual and slippery place where textbooks and novels cluster, waiting for the click of a button to whisk them into existence. Those experienced in handling picture books instinctively opened the cover to full width, to reveal two equivalent scenes, each one showing a boy looking out at the night sky from an upstairs window. One scene is of a building with lacy decoration, against a pink and green landscape of cultivated farmland; the other shows an urban skyline, with tall buildings many Australian readers would recognise as those of Sydney. Dr Robin Morrow

I have mentioned Mirror (2010) in several previous posts but I wanted to do a deeper dive into this innovative and important book especially after reading this essay from Reading Australia by Dr Robin Morrow. When Mirror was published I knew this was a book that readers in my library would need to experience closely and flat on a table for ease of opening SO I immediately purchased ten copies. Perhaps this was extravagant but in those days I had a very supportive Principal who allocated a generous budget to our school library. 

Mirror is one of those books that is sure to be found in every Australian school and public library and it is a book you should treasure in your own collection. Mirror is still available so it might be time to update your copy. Here are the teachers notes from the publisher Walker Books. You should also take a look at the NCACL Picture Books for Older Readers Database. 

The dual-book format illustrates the two disparate worlds, but also highlights the universal themes of family, community and home. Baker’s intricate collages are truly amazing, but the cultural respect and humanity in this book make it shine. Readings Melbourne

Here is the full Kirkus Star review:

This entirely original book is a strong contender to bring to a desert island, especially as it’s two books in one. Open the “books” simultaneously, in English from left to right and in Arabic from right to left. Scan the pictures and compare family life and global interdependence as the panorama of urban and rural scenes from two very different countries unfolds. Wordless, except for an introduction and an illustrator’s afterword in English and Arabic, the pictures allow readers to meet an Australian boy and a Moroccan boy whose lives become interconnected. The Moroccan boy and his father sell a rug woven in their rural home, and it ends up in Sydney, in a small house that is being renovated by an Australian family. As the boy in Australia draws a picture of his new “flying carpet,” the Moroccan boy sets up his computer, bought with profits from the rug. Baker’s entrancing collages, packed with visual information and created with fabric, sand, vegetation and other unusual materials, have the power to bring back child and adult viewers for infinite “readings.” Perfectly spectacular.

Mirror is a book to be treasured, to be read and re-read with children who will spot new details each time they look through the pages. The book stirs the imagination and creates countless opportunities to talk about our own culture and everyday life as well as exploring the culture of the people of Morocco in a way that children (and adults) will find relatable and personal. Kids' Book Review

Awards:

• British Book Design and Production Awards (2011) – Winner
• English 4-11 Book Awards Leicester (2011) – Winner
• Indie Book Awards – Children’s Category (2011) – Winner
• Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, Gold Award (2010) – Winner
• Australian Book Industry Awards, Book of the Year for Younger Children (2011) – Short-listed
• NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature (2011) – Short-listed
• West Australian Young Readers’ Book Award – Picture Book (2011) – Short-listed
• Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards, Children’s Books (2010) – Short-listed
•  Joint Winner CBCA Picture Book of the Year 2011
• Australian Indie Award Best Children’s Book 2011
• An International Youth Library White Ravens Award 2011

The Apprentice Witnesser by Bren McDibble

Once again Bren MacDibble takes us to a dystopian future world - this time set in Queensland. We have wrecked the world. There is no electricity and no cars and worse there are now diseases. Blame comes from both sides - the sides in this book are women versus men. This disease seems to affect men more than women so in this divided world women live a subsistence life in make-shift villages and men have been sent into the mountains. If baby boys are born, they are dressed up as girls so they can stay in the community. Bastienne, a young girl, has been rescued by Lodyma. Lodyma's own son has been banished from the community following the death of her older son and husband. 

"Both Lodyma's own kids were boys. When the sickness spreads it always takes the men. Lodyma says women and girls got different immune systems better able to put up with the sickness .. "

Bastienne Scull is nearly twelve years old, and she lives a simple life as an apprentice to the Witnesser of Miracles in a small village mostly populated by women and girls. Basti knows that miracle-hunting is a lot like mystery-solving, and her little world is full of wonder and intrigue and unexpected adventure. Lodyma is a witnesser. 

"She's witnesser of miracles. People want to think she's special. ...  We have markets here three nights a week. That's a lot of miracles we gotta hunt down on the other four days. Lodyma's been witness to more that a hundred miracles, so she can get through them over and over."

The 'miracles' are not really miracles, but Lodyma is a brilliant storyteller and so people 'pay' for her performances with produce and occasional coins. Basti keeps the crowd together and she sells peanuts from a local farm, and these also bring a few coins. Lodyma 'proves' her miracles with photographic evidence. I enjoyed the references to 'old tech' in this story. Lodyma has an instamatic camera. She has a limited amount of 'film' but Basti has the task of recording any 'miracles' they encounter. Basti is a very observant girl, so even though she should not waste this precious resource, she takes other photos too - photos of precious interactions between people - photos that show love. 

"I don't say nothing about the other photos tucked away in my bag. The one where the fruit vendor gave those two little kids a memory they'll keep in their hearts forever, and hopefully the one of Lodyma in the shade, along with some other special photos I've taken."

Here are descriptions of the landscape:

"Far as I can tell, the collapse was when the climate got hotter, the cities washed into the sea and pollution and diseases took out most of the people."

"Over the hills, the streets are a mess. Abandoned trucks, dumped tyres, wire fences fallen down, warehouses torn open and bits and pieces pulled out and scattered everywhere. Rusty hunks of machinery things, I dunno what. Plastic contains that's cracked and faded, bits of piping and taps and sinks and old cupboards left out in the weather to swell and collapse."

Someone is selling plastic shoes at the market and then two young boys arrive and summon Lodyma to another distant settlement. Lodyma and Basti make an amazing discovery about the factory that makes the shoes but more importantly, in the monastery at Ravenshoe, they find a young wild girl. Her eyes match the strange pattern of Lodyma's - is it possible that she is the daughter of her lost son? 

So now we have a group of three and Basti is no longer sure of her place - will Lodyma really want an apprentice? Perhaps Basti will need to resign herself to tedious work at the peanut farm. She becomes deeply unhappy and angry (but she holds her anger inside). Meanwhile caring for little Raveena is a full-time job. This little girl, aged five or six, is such a wild spirit and her life story is a mystery which Basti is determined to solve. As it says in the blurb below - finding this little girl will change all their lives. Is she the real miracle?

Publisher blurb: Bastienne Scull is a young orphan who lives with the local Witnesser of Miracles, Lodyma Darsey, who investigates 'miraculous events' and spins them into stories she tells at the night markets. After Lodyma's husband and elder son died of a sickness that continues to sweep the land, she sent her teenage son Osmin into the hills to live with the mountain men. That was ten years ago, and Lodyma doesn't know if he's alive or dead. And she's taken Bastienne as an apprentice to fill the void of her lost family. One day, two young boys arrive in town asking Lodyma to go on a mysterious mission to a monastery. And when Lodyma and Bastienne arrive, what they discover will change their lives.

I do enjoy books where the author makes you work hard to fill in the gaps and also books where at the end things come together - not in a saccharine, we all live happily ever after way, but in a very satisfying way, allowing a character whom you have come to care deeply about to have the promise of a better life. And I did care very deeply about Basti. The final chapters of this book are especially wonderful. If I was 'hand selling' this book to a reader in my library (or even in a bookshop) I would explain that readers do need to stick with this story because the ending will make your heart melt with happiness. I recommend this book for all fans of Bren MacDibble aged 11+. Congratulations to the publisher Allen and Unwin and the cover designer/artist Julie Hunt - this book has such an arresting cover which is sure to grab the attention of readers. Take a look at the labels I have assigned to this post - suspicion, survival, and belonging. There is also the issue of the best ways to express love in a family. There are tiny moments in this story when you deeply feel the way Basti just longs to be loved by Lodyma. 

Huge thanks to Three Sparrows Bookshop who let me read the advance reader copy of The Apprentice Witnesser. It will be published on 30th April 2024.

Here is an audio book review from New Zealand. 

How to Bee

The Dog Runner

The Raven's Song

Across the Risen Sea

Market Day by Carrie Gallasch illustrated by Hannah Sommerville

 

"Dad gives me a coin, it's for anything that I choose. I put it in my pocket and keep it safe with my fingers."

There are so many tempting things to buy in the market. The setting for this book is the famous Melbourne market but really it could be any market in a city. The family have arrived late in the day and as the walk around we see night begin to fall and lights turning on. Make sure you compare the front and back end-papers. The family buy tomatoes, avocados, dumplings, mangoes, olives, cheese, croissants, dolmades, oysters, dates and grapes. Then they eat some dinner while a young musician plays his guitar to entertain the crowd. He is a busker, and his music inspires people in the market to dance.

"The music gets faster and so do our feet! We wiz and swing and stomp."

Eventually it is time to go home. 

"But the coin is still in my pocket."

Can you guess what happens next?

Market Day was shortlisted for our CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Early Childhood picture book award in 2023. Here are a set of teachers notes. And here are comments and responses by the 2023 shadow judges. 

St Francis Xavier PS Box Hill

Here are the Early Childhood judges' comments:

Market Day narrates the story of a little girl that arrives at a market with one coin she can spend in any way. Several themes are explored, including community, generosity, the power of music, kindness, transience and appreciation. The evocative, detailed digital illustrations depict a bustling produce market and invite further investigation on each read. The language is simple as the girl narrates, yet also, at times, quite beautiful, matching the mood of the outing. It is punctuated by metaphor, analogy, alliteration and an interesting range of verbs. A busker is seen intermittently, and he turns out to be the girl's most interesting and worthwhile encounter at the market.

I love the potential this book affords for such a meaningful discussion with a group of children - How would you spend the coin? Is there a right way to spend money? How do you feel about the way the girl spent her coin? What impact will this have? What do you think her family will say when they arrive home? What might happen on their next visit to the market? What ideas do you think the author wanted readers to consider?

Here are two other books by Carrie Callasch:

Hannah Sommerville has a new book due in November - In the Rockpool. Here are three other books illustrated by Hannah Sommerville:

Anisa's Alphabet

Finding You

Girl of the Southern Sea by Michelle Kadarusman

"All you see is a poor girl ... A girl without power of choices. But you are wrong. 

I am here to live a different story. I am here to write my own story."

Nia has lost her mother and her father has begun drinking heavily to ease his grief. Nia, young brother Rudi and her father live in poverty. Each week it is a desperate struggle to find enough money for their rent payment and food. Nia's father has a small food cart from which he makes fried bananas to sell near the busy railway station. 

Nia is a clever girl. She longs to continue her education and move onto High School but this costs money and now that her father has stopped earning money due to an accident she has to leave school and attend to the food cart. 

Nia loves to tell stories and these are woven into this book. Her stories are about Dewi Kadita, Princess of the Southern Sea and are based on Javanese folktales.

Her life takes a strange turn when Nia is involved in a mini bus accident. While others are badly hurt and one boy is killed, Nia walks away uninjured. A witness to this incident - Mr Oskar a local tailor - declares Nia is now a special girl and that buying her fried bananas will bring good luck. Long queues form as people jostle to buy from her stall. Some what unwisely Nia increases her price and money begins to flow in but it is very clear this enterprise is doomed. Meanwhile her father has disappeared and Nia and her brother are struggling. Oskar, who keeps hanging around, also has his own, shocking reasons, for wanting to befriend Nia. 

It is a sharp and politically attuned work that will give readers further appreciation for the value of access to education, health care, and justice. Quill and Quire

A thought-provoking peek into a culture ... Kirkus

Here is an alternate cover. Which do you like best?

I have had such a feast of wonderful reading this week - Talking to Alaska by Anna Wolta (due out in July); Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim; Beyond Belief by Dee White; and Haywire by Claire Saxby and now I add Girl of the Southern Sea to this list.

I do need to give a violence warning for The Girl of the Southern Sea. The publisher lists this book as suitable for ages 9-13. Once again, as I often seem to do lately, I disagree. In my view this is a book for mature readers aged 11+. There is a horrific scene in this book when the crowd discover Nia is not "a lucky charm" as they had been led to believe. The mob hurl stones at her and then she is doused in kerosene. Nia survives but the horror and raw hatred of this scene lingers with me (an adult reader) many days later. 

Michelle Kadarusman lives in Canada but she was born in Melbourne. She is the author of The Theory of Hummingbirds.

Companion reads:

The Paper House

Amal Unbound

Homeless Bird

The most beautiful village in the world by Yutaka Kobayashi translated by Mariko Shii Gharbi

The village people of Paghman in Afghanistan grow beautiful produce - plums, pears, pistachios, and cherries. In summer after the harvest Yamo's father takes his sweet fruit to the market. Usually it is older brother Haroon who accompanies his father but this year Haroon is not here.

"There is a war in Yamo's country. And his brother is a soldier."

When Yamo, his father and Pompa the donkey arrive at the market they set up a stall. His father will sell the plums and he tells Yamo to walk around the town to sell the cherries.  Yamo has been practising his call "Cherries here! Sweet little suns! Cherries from Paghman!" At first no one seem interested but finally a little girl buys some and from then on the cherries sell quickly. When all of the cherries are sold. Yamo races back to tell his father. They enjoy a bite of lunch and then work hard to sell the rest of the plums. On the way home his father tells Yamo he has a surprise gift. It is a pure white lamb.

"It will be the first sheep his family has ever owned."

So far this sounds like a book you could share with a younger child aged 7+ but the words on the next page suggest this book is better suited to an older primary group:

"In the winter, the village was destroyed in the war. It no longer exists."

The most beautiful village in the world is the first book in a series of three - the series is called Yamo's Village. 

This unusual picture book gives child readers a glimpse into life in Afghanistan, specifically the village of Paghman. Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

I suggest trying to find all three books. Here is the Kirkus Star review of Return to the most beautiful village in the world.

Yutaka Kobayashi from Japan is a "frequent visitor to the Islamic countries of Asia and the Middle East ... and the main themes of his words reflect these visits."  Dust jacket burb.

The most beautiful village in the world is a truly international book - Japanese author, set in Afghanistan, and the English edition is published in New York.

Here is the Japanese title:   せかいいちうつくしいぼくの村

Red Wagon by Renata Liwska

"A winner" Kirkus Star review

A small wagon can be a wagon travelling to the wild west; or a small caravan; or a boat to ride the wild seas; or the carriage on a steam train; or even a space rocket! It's a long way to the market. Lucy has an errand to complete for her mother but along the way she sure has fun with all her friends. 

I went looking for books illustrated by Renata Liwska last week. I love her soft illustrations of toy-like animals such as the fox, hedgehog, squirrel, rabbit and raccoon.  I first saw her work in the book series The Quiet Book; The Loud Book and Once upon a memory.

The bonus with my discovery of Red Wagon is finding another delightful book for very young children about the power of imaginative play. I was also delighted to discover Renata lives in Canada - in Calgary. She was born in Poland. Here are some of her illustrations. In this interview she talks about her technique. One more thing - the last Wednesday in March is National Red Wagon Day! In 2021 the date will be 31st March.  I need to find some more books about little red wagons and imaginative play. You can read about their history here.

I discovered some other titles illustrated by Renata Liwska:

My rows and piles of coins by Tololwa M Mollel illustrated by EB Lewis

This is one of the most important award stickers you will ever see on a book.  It is awarded for books that continue the messages of Martin Luther King Jr.  My rows and piles of coins was published in 1999 and received an Honor award.

My friend at Kinderbooks and I were talking about books to read when we share the CBCA short listed title The Patchwork Bike later this term.  I am so glad my friend mentioned this book.

"By the dim light of a lantern, I feasted my eyes on the money. I couldn't believe it was all mine. I emptied the box, arranged all the coins in piles and the piles in rows. Then I counted the coins and thought about the bicycle I longed to buy."

Saruni longs for a bike.  Not just so he can enjoy riding but so he can help his mother on market days. His kindness is inspirational as is the generosity of the person who eventually makes sure this young boy does get a bike of his own.

Here is a review which will give you more detailed of the plot. You can see a video of the whole book here.  There are a lot of sets of teaching notes available for this book.  The author Tolowa M Mollel was born in Tanzania (the setting for this story) and now lives in Edmonton in Canada. He has written 16 books so I need to investigate them and add some more to our library.  I was also excited to see EB Lewis has done a new cover for Because of Winn Dixie.