Stereotypes: Myths & Reality

After helping Strega Nona plant her vegetable garden and learning the secrets of her success, Big Anthony plants his own small garden on the sly. When his harvest far exceeds his desire to cook and store the vegetables, he secretly leaves them for Strega Nona, who prepares a feast for the nearby villagers. With echoes of the first book in the series, the pleasant story is simply told and satisfying.

Alia Muhammad Baker is a librarian in Basra, Iraq. For fourteen years, her library has been a meeting place for those who love books. Until now. Now war has come, and Alia fears that the library--along with the thirty thousand books within it--will be destroyed forever. In a war-stricken country where civilians--especially women--have little power, this true story about a librarian's struggle to save her community's priceless collection of books reminds us all how, throughout the world, the love of literature and the respect for knowledge know no boundaries.

Aneesa, apparently living in the U.S., misses her parents, who are in Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage hajj, but she enjoys celebrating Eid al-Adha, the end of the hajj, with her grandmother. They go to the prayer hallto hear a sermon. Afterwards, over doughnuts, she befriends two girls and learns that they have escaped from a war-torn country. Later, Aneesa talks with her grandmother about refugees and gains an ally in her plan to help her new friends, who appear to be poor and hungry.

For 12 months, Barnabas and Anabel traveled around the world, meeting children and talking to them about the celebrations and festivals they enjoy. The children's stories were recorded in this beautiful book, published in association with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Original photography and the children's own words bring to life many of the world's major religious and local celebrations from around the world.

Set in Africa during the Christmas season, this is the story of a village preparing for a celebration - the birth of a child. The story is told in verse inspired by the traditional carol The Twelve Days of Christmas, but in this version by the author Catherine House the gifts are: 1 stork in a baobab tree, 2 thatched huts, 3 woven baskets, 4 market traders, 5 bright khangas, 6 women pounding, 7 children playing, 8 wooden carvings, 9 grazing goats, 10 drummers drumming, 11 dancers dancing and 12 storytellers. This is a Christmas steeped in the atmosphere of African village life, including descriptions of the objects and activities mentioned in the text.

As a young girl growing up in Kenya, Wangari was surrounded by trees. But years later when she returns home, she is shocked to see whole forests being cut down, and she knows that soon all the trees will be destroyed. So Wangari decides to do something--and starts by planting nine seedlings in her own backyard. And as they grow, so do her plans. . . . This true story of Wangari Maathai, environmentalist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is a shining example of how one woman's passion, vision, and determination inspired great change.

When Strega Nona leaves him alone with her magic pasta pot, Big Anthony is determined to show the townspeople how it works in this classic Caldecott Honor book from Tomie dePaola. Strega Nona--"Grandma Witch"--is the source for potions, cures, magic, and comfort in her Calabrian town. Her magical everfull pasta pot is especially intriguing to hungry Big Anthony. He is supposed to look after her house and tend her garden but one day, when she goes over the mountain to visit Strega Amelia, Big Anthony recites the magic verse over the pasta pot, with disastrous results. In this retelling of an old tale, author-illustrator Tomie dePaola combines humor in the writing and warmth in the paintings as he builds the story to its hilarious climax.