LibGuides: Stereotypes: Myths and Reality: Project: Reading Children's Booksfrom other cultures

Children's Books from other cultures

Check the following subject headings in the Library Catalog of STLCC Libraries to find children's stories from other cultures.

The following select titles are under different subject headings, so are listed individually:

Celebrations! A book of celebrations which describes holidays and festivals of all major religions and cultures from around the world.

A stork in a baobab tree: An African twelve days of Christmas

Wangari's trees of peace: A true story from Africa

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.

Strega Nona: An original tale / Tomie dePaola.

In this charming Italian variant of ""The Wonderful Porridge Pot,"" a witch's helper named Big Anthony shows off to the villagers by commanding his absent mistress' magic kettle to produce pasta. But, as in other versions, Big Anthony hasn't learned the whole formula for turning the pot off, and the town is almost buried in pasta by the time the witch Strega Nons returns. When the men shout ""String him Up!"" Strega Nons has a better idea: ""The punishment must fit the crime. . . . Start eating!"" And so poor disheveled Big Anthony does, consuming all those rolling waves of spaghetti.

Select titles from STLCC Library Catalog:

Strega Nona's Harvest by Tomie dePaola.
Call Number: F D419s5, FP. FV, MC-Children's Books
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.
The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq
Call Number: 020.92 W785L , FP,FV, M-Children's Books
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.
The Best Eid Ever by Asma Mobin-Uddin; illustrated by Laura Jacobsen
Call Number: F M6878b, FV-Children's Books
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.