LEE & LOW BOOKS celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and to recognize how far the company has come, we are featuring one title a week to see how it is being used across the country in classrooms and libraries today.
Today we are featuring one of our most poignant and moving titles: Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan. This powerful story of young refugees fleeing war in Sudan was published in 2005 but remains extremely topical today, more than ten years later.
Featured title: Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan
Author: Mary Williams
Illustrator: R. Gregory Christie
About the book: Eight-year-old Garang is tending cattle far from his
family’s home in southern Sudan when war comes to his village. Frightened but unharmed, he returns to find everything has been destroyed.
Soon Garang meets other boys whose villages have been attacked. Before long they become a moving band of thousands, walking hundreds of miles seeking safety — first in Ethiopia and then in Kenya. The boys face numerous hardships and dangers along the way, but their faith and mutual support help keep the hope of finding a new home alive in their hearts.
Based on heartbreaking yet inspirational true events in the lives of the Lost Boys of Sudan, Brothers in Hope is a story of remarkable and enduring courage, and an amazing testament to the unyielding power of the human spirit.
Awards and Honors:
- Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Honor, American Library Association
- Notable Children’s Book, American Library Association
- Best Children’s Books of the Year: Outstanding Merit, Bank Street College of Education
- Notable Books for a Global Society, International Literacy Association
- Children’s Book Award Notable, International Literacy Association
- Children’s Picks List, Booksense
Author Mary Williams is the founder of the Lost Boys Foundation, whose mission is to assist Sudan’s Lost Boys in attaining a college education. Of the Lost Boys she has met, Williams writes, “They have been neglected and endured severe hardship. Some of them saw their family and friends killed in front of them. They could be the most angry, bitter people you ever saw. But they aren’t. They are so motivated and eager to get jobs and go to school. I just knew I had to help them.”
Resources for Teaching With Brothers in Hope:
Explore Other Books About War and Refugees:
When the Horses Ride By: Children in the Times of War
by Eloise Greenfield, illus. by Jan Spivey Gilchrist
A Song for Cambodia
by Michelle Lord, illus. by Shino Arihara
The Three Lucys
by Hayan Charara, illus. by Sara Kahn
Calling the Water Drum
by LaTisha Redding, illus. by Aaron Boyd
Have you used Brothers in Hope? Let us know!
Celebrate with us! Check out our 25 Years Anniversary Collection.
LEE & LOW BOOKS celebrates its 25th anniversary this year! To recognize how far the company has come, we are featuring one title a week to see how it is being used in classrooms today and hear from the authors and illustrators.
Today, we are celebrating First Day in Grapes, an inspirational story for children of all backgrounds. Chico’s story of personal triumph and bravery in the face of bullying is a testament to the inner strength in us all.
Featured title: First Day in Grapes
Author: L. King Perez
Illustrator: Robert Casilla
Synopsis: All year long Chico and his family move up and down the state of California picking fruits and vegetables. Every September they pick grapes and Chico starts at a new school again. Often other children pick on him — maybe because he is always new or maybe because he speaks Spanish sometimes.
Chico’s first day in third grade turns out to be different. His teacher likes him right away, and she and his classmates are quick to recognize his excellent math skills. He may even get to go to the math fair! When the fourth-grade bullies confront Chico in the lunchroom, he responds wisely with strengths of his own.
Awards and Honors:
- Pura Belpré Illustrator Award Honor, ALSC/REFORMA
- Notable Children’s Book, Smithsonian
- Choices, Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC)
From the Illustrator:
“Stories that help kids become familiar with kids of other cultures or others in different situations are books that I like to illustrate. I appreciate the way the author put the main character in situations that kids deal with daily in real life and how the boy used his wits to get out of tough situations.
I related to the kid in this story in a wacky way when it came to avoiding bullies. When I was about nine years old there was a boy who picked on me daily, until one day I came up with an idea. I thought that if I walked by him making a face that he wouldn’t recognize me and leave me alone. The plan worked, but now that I think of it, I doubt it was because he didn’t recognize me.”
Purchase a copy of First Day in Grapes here.
Other Editions: Did you know that First Day in Grapes also comes in a Spanish edition?
Primer día en las uvas
Resources for teaching with First Day in Grapes: First Day in Grapes Teacher’s Guide
For more titles about different experiences with bullying and peer pressure, check out our Bullying/Anti-Bullying Collection here.
Have you used First Day in Grapes? Let us know!
Celebrate with us! Check out our 25 Years Anniversary Collection.
LEE & LOW BOOKS celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and to recognize how far the company has come, we are featuring one title a week to see how it is being used in classrooms today!
Today we’re featuring Grandfather Counts by Andrea Cheng and illustrated by Ange Zheng, released in 2003 by LEE & LOW BOOKS:
About the Book: Grandfather Counts is a moving intergenerational story about the universal love between grandparent and grandchild, a love that bridges linguistic and cultural differences. In Grandfather Counts, Helen is excited to welcome her Gong Gong (grandfather), who comes from China to live with her family. But when she realizes that Gong Gong speaks only Chinese, Helen finds a special way to communicate.
Awards and Honors:
- Reading Rainbow Selection, PBS Kids
- Choices, Cooperative Children’s Book Center
- Honor Book Award, Society ofSchool Librarians International
- Parents’ Choice Noteworthy Product, Parents’ Choice Foundation
In the Author’s Own Words:
“Intergenerational stories come easily to me. When I was a child, three of my grandparents lived either in our house or within walking distance. I spent a lot of time with my paternal grandmother, and I think she is the model for many of the grandmothers in my stories. When my husband and I had children, I could not imagine raising them far from their grandparents, so we moved from Ithaca, New York to Cincinnati where my parents were living. My father died in 1997, but our children see my mother almost every day, and they spent a lot of time running back and forth between her house and ours when they were younger. Contact between generations is very important to me and seems to find its way into most of my stories.”
–(from an interview with Paper Tigers)
Note: Andrea Cheng passed away in late 2015. We remember her here.
Resources for Teaching With Grandfather Counts:
Book Activity:
Use Grandfather Counts as an opportunity to celebrate the range of languages that students may speak at home. Ask students who are fluent in other languages to share with the class how to count in their languages.
Encourage older students to gather oral histories from grandparents or other relatives for an oral history project.
Did you know?
If you look at the illustrations, you’ll notice that Grandfather Counts features a biracial main character. See all of our books featuring biracial and multiracial main characters.
Purchase Grandfather Counts here.
Other Recommended Picture Books Celebrating Grandparents:
A Morning with Grandpa by Sylvia Liu, illus. by Christina Forshay
Seaside Dream by Janet Costa Bates, illus. by Lambert Davis
Sunday Shopping by Sally Derby, illus. by Shadra Strickland
Have you used Grandfather Counts? Let us know!
Celebrate with us! Check out our 25 Years Anniversary Collection.
