Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri (Levine Querido, 2023) is a fresh and unique historical fiction novel about life along the Silk Road of the medieval era. It is certainly not a straight-forward historical fiction, however. The delightful and unreliable narrator of the tale has his own motives for
Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin (Sourcebooks, 2018) is a graphic novel that illustrates the fictional story of two orphaned brothers traveling illegally from their home in Ghana to Europe, hoping to reunite with their sister, who illegally traveled the same route years before. On their journey, they face robbers and homelessness as they
Meerkat Moves Out of the Desert by Nikki Potts, illustrated by Maarten Lenoir (Picture Window Books, 2020), gives a specific animal a dilemma: she’s tired of her habitat and would like to try something new. With a cartoon meerkat layered on top of photographic textures and scenes, this book provides an interesting contrast between Meerkat’s
Solito by Javier Zamora (Hogarth, 2022) is the stark memoir of the adventure of one nine-year-old as he traveled from his small town in El Salvador to join his parents in the U.S. in 1999. During his ordeal, Javier was abandoned by his “coyote” (the paid smuggler). He wasn’t truly alone (or, solito) as he
Nomads: Life on the Move by Kinchoi Lam (Cicada Books, May 2023) is a middle-grade-level nonfiction picture book that illustrates the lives of those living today with a nomadic lifestyle. With eight pages (four two-page spreads) dedicated to each of seven unique nomadic cultures, Nomads teaches about the home structure, family cultures, and traditional food and
It is not often that I find a book that takes place in the Middle East, let alone a children’s book. The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye (Greenwillow, 2014) is a unique look into not just the culture and traditions of living in a different country but also the sweet geographic feature and
Our study of the continent of Africa for our homeschool focused on learning the basic geography of the continent as well as general habitats (i.e., dry desert, Savannahs, and rain forests) and the animals in each habitat. My son (age 4) is well into early readers these days (more about his favorite fiction in the
Our homeschool studies took us to Australia this month! One picture book we enjoyed helped us appreciate the size of Australia and the various scenery. Are We There Yet? by Alison Lester was a child’s perspective of a month-long road trip around Australia. My four-year-old son enjoyed learning about the various landmarks and began to
My son has been quite interested in maps and geography, so (even with the arrival of my newborn five weeks ago) we began a project of studying the continents, starting with Antarctica. Learning about the continent with a four-year-old prompted me to learn more myself: a few months ago, I posted about a Sally Walker
Dune by Frank Herbert is a story of a boy searching for himself, and what Paul Atreides discovers about himself is beyond his expectations. Dune is a story of realization. Paul must face his fear, and Jessica, his mother, must face hers as well. For me, Dune was a reminder that it is better not
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