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Read Around the World Challenge

February Link-Up

Sorry for posting this so late in the month. I forgot all about the link up portion of the challenge. Ugh, what a rookie!

The Details:

• Make sure that before you link-up your reviews, you sign up for the challenge on the challenge post.
• Anyone, even non-bloggers can participate. Open worldwide. If you don’t have a blog, just link to your Amazon, Good Reads or other review posting.
• Link as many reviews as you’d like throughout the month. Each link to an actual review will earn you an entry in the drawing.
• This month’s prize drawing will be down at 11:59 pm EST on February 28th so you have until that time to make entry/reviews counting for February’s drawing.
• February’s prize in celebration of Black History Month: All Aboard: Elijah McCoy’s Steam Engine by Monica Kulling

Head, Body, Legs: A Story from Liberia by Won-Ldy Paye  & Margaret Lippert (Illustrated by: Julie Paschkis)

Reviewed by: Chris Singer

About the authors:

Won-Ldy Paye is a multi-talented artist from the Dan people of northeastern Liberia, West Africa. He is a member of the Tlo Ker Mehn, the class of professional Dan entertainers who are keepers of the oral tradition. He was trained by his grandmother-Gowo to remember and retell the stories of the Dan people.  Some of the published credits of Won-Ldy Paye include The Talking Vegetables, Head, Body, Legs: A Story from Liberia, Why Leopard Has Spots: Dan Stories from Liberia.

Margaret Lippert is the author of 22 books, including 9 anthologies and 13 books for children and young adults. Much of Lippert’s body of work draws from the storytelling and folklore traditions of Africa, Latin America, and Asia. After moving from New York to the Seattle area in 1990, she began a collaboration with Won-Ldy Paye, a Liberian storyteller from the Dan tribe tradition. Her most recent books have grown out of this partnership, and are co-authored by Paye. She lives on Mercer Island, Washington.

About the illustrator:

Julie Paschkis is a painter and illustrator, specializing in children’s books and posters. She was inspired by the Asafo flags of the Fante people from coastal Ghana while illustrating this book. Julie lives in Seattle, Washington.

About the book:

Head is all alone. Body bounces along, Arms swing about, and Legs stand around. They can’t do much by themselves, so they try to join together. But how? Should Head attach to the belly button? Should Legs stand on Arms? If only they can work together, everything will be perfect. Straight from the oral tradition comes this magical retelling of a creation story from Liberia.

My take on the book:

Head, Body, Legs is the wonderful retelling of a Liberian creation folktale and a terrific example of the oral storytelling tradition. I am also very pleased that it is my first book completed for my Read Around the World Challenge!

Young children are going to love this beautifully illustrated story of how head, arms, body and legs met and worked together to become one complete body. Although perhaps a little young for this story, my daughter really enjoyed pointing at the body parts she knew! Readers will undoubtedly giggle at the difficulty the body parts have upon coming together, such as when head becomes attached to belly button and arms get attached to legs. The lesson for children to take from this story is that the reason the body parts are able to eventually fit together pr

One of the things I love so much about children’s books is how they help children (and adults!) learn how to experience the world through the perspectives of others. With that in mind, one of my goals for Book Dads this year was to review more multicultural and ethnically diverse books. To help achieve this (and because I couldn’t find a current challenge elsewhere), I’ve decided to create the Read Around the World Challenge.

THE BASICS:

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
* Decide which challenge level you’ll be taking on (see below).
* Make sure you grab the button above (right click to save it to your computer)
* Write a post to let all your readers know you’re taking part in the challenge and at what level. Make sure to link back to this page with the button and/or text link.
* If you have a blog, please use the Mr. Linky form below to enter into the challenge by entering the direct url/link to your challenge post url and either your name, blog name, or both in the form. Please only use the comment section to participate if you do not have a blog.
* Submit your reviews as you complete them on the designated monthly post (Generally will be on the first Sunday of each month).

CHALLENGE LEVELS:
The Passport Reading Challenge — Read to or with your child a picture book, chapter book and/or YA lit book by an author from another country (Exclude your own of course).

- Set a goal according to these levels:
* Intercontinental Level — Read 10 or more books by authors from countries on 2 or more different continents
* Savvy Traveler Level — Read 20 or more books by authors from countries on 3 or more different continents
* Marco Polo Level — Read 35 or more books by authors from countries on 4 or more different continents
* National Geographic Level — Read 50 or more books by authors count

Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Doreen Rappaport (Illustrated by Bryan Collier)

Reviewed by: Chris Singer

About the author:

Doreen Rappaport is known for her ground-breaking approach to multicultural history and stories for young readers. In her many award-winning books, she brings attention to not-yet-celebrated Americans, along with well-known figures.

A former teacher of music and reading, Doreen knows how to capture children’s attention. Her dynamic formats engage even the most reluctant readers.

Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is an Orbis Pictus Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Honor Book, Caldecott Honor Book for Illustration, ALA Notable Book, and is on the Blue Ribbon list of the Bulletin Center for Children’s Books.

We Are The Many: A Picture Book of American Indians, introduces the accomplishments of sixteen distinguished American Indians.

Her classic Escape From Slavery presents the history of the Underground Railroad through adventure stories.

The Boston Coffee Party introduces children to a neglected event in history books and shows the active roles played by women during the Revolutionary War.

About the illustrator:

Bryan Collier, award-winning author and illustrator, has illustrated numerous children’s books, including Rosa by Nikki Giovanni which was awarded a Coretta Scott King Award and a Caldecott Honor. He also won a Coretta Scott King Award for Uptown, his first attempt at both writing and illustrating. Collier’s latest book he illustrated, Dave The Potter, was just awarded a Caldecott Honor as well.

About the book:

Martin Luther King, Jr., grew up in a place where people used words that made him feel bad. This beautifully illustrated, award-winning book shows how Martin used words to fight for equal rights for black people.

When Martin was growing up, he saw the words “Whites Only” all over town. But he remembered the words of his mother, “You are as good as anyone.”

Doreen Rappaport has taken the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. and woven in her own to create a captivating yet completely accessible book for young readers.

This definitive picture book biography of Dr. Martin L

Biblioburro: A True Story from Columbia by Jeanette Winter

Review by: Chris Singer

About the author:

Jeanette Winter is the acclaimed author/illustrator of many highly-regarded picture books, including Bibloburro, Nasreen’s Secret School, The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq; Mama: A True Story in which a Baby Hippo Loses his Mama During a Tsunami, but Finds a New Home, and a New Mama; and Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa. She lives with her husband, artist Roger Winter, in New York.

About the book:

Luis loves to read, but soon his house in Colombia is so full of books there’s barely room for the family. What to do? Then he comes up with the perfect solution–a traveling library! He buys two donkeys–Alfa and Beto–and travels with them throughout the land, bringing books and reading to the children in faraway villages.

My take on the book:

This is such an inspiring and beautiful book about sharing one’s passions and joys with others who have never had the opportunity to experience such a thing. Luis loves his books so much that soon is house is filled with them. His wife, Diana, grumbles about this and asks if they are to eat books with their rice. Luis gets the idea to load his burros with books so he can share them with those who have none.

I love how simple and easy flowing the story is. It’s perfect for a read aloud and I think the book’s message that not all children have the same access to books will be accessible to even younger, preschool-age children. The illustrations are bright and colorful and remind me of the artwork you see in folktales.

I fell in love with this book as it reminded me of my times in Uganda where I passed out books to orphan children in a remote village. It’s a very powerful feeling to share something you are passionate about with others who have never had such an opportunity. The kids I met had few possessions except for some clothes, a school uniform and maybe a few photos or drawings. I can still picture the faces of excitement and joy at receiving their books. I imagine that is the feeling Luis gets every time he travels with his biblioburro to the villages in the hills of Columbia.

This is based on a true story. See below to learn more about Luis Soriana and his “Biblioburro.”

More about Luis Soriana:

This is based on the true story of Luis Soriana, who started the “biblioburro” in 2000. He traveled to villages near his home in La Gloria, Columbia, with a collection of 70 books. That collection has grown to over 4,800 books. Every weekend, at least 300 people look forward to Luis’ biblioburro.