For most of the last hour (of 10+ hours) of listening to an effusive, lilting Chike Johnson read to me William Kamkwamba's phenomenal life story, I wore the goofiest grin on my face. Surely fellow drivers passing me by wondered what sort of gleeful idiot...
Four years ago (could say five, actually, as we just entered 2010 – already!), University of Chicago economics professor Steven Levitt and noted journalist Stephen Dubner debuted with Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. That first duo-effort quickly became a mega-bestseller...
Three weeks after 9/11, University of Arizona professor Adele Barker arrived in Sri Lanka as a senior Fulbright Scholar to teach Russian literature, feminist literary theory, and American literature to select students at the University of Peradeniya. But her own education about the history and...
Here's the assertion: "Human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals." In a 2006 poll given to adults in 32 countries, the resulting U.S. statistics were just plain staggering to me ...
The chapter titles of this splendiferous collection of images of people around the globe read like a poem: Touch / Feel / Love / Hope / Laugh / Hurt / Fear / Believe / Try / Play / Rest / Need ...
Here's a joyful little gift to share with your children over the long weekend ...
First a little note about the creators: Meomi is a dynamic design duo made up of Vicki Wong, based in Vancouver, and Michael Murphy, who calls Los Angeles home. Together, they also happen to write adorable, colorful kiddie books ...
Out on the Kenyan grasslands, millions of animals will take turns grazing on the lush greenery after the rainy season during their great migration from neighboring Tanzania. First the zebra will eat only the very top of the grass, followed by the wildebeest who will...
Ruka, a star handball player, gets a little too rough and ends up kicked off the team. Frustrated, she heads to big city Tokyo where she thinks she might find the sea, and instead meets a mysterious young boy named Umi (whose name happens to...
Even prison did not stop William Smith from his tenacious decades-long journey to create a map that clearly captured in one colorful creation what was buried under England's rolling hills and valleys. Prison is where Simon Winchester, a remarkable chronicler of obscure and near-forgotten but terribly important lives...
“A beautiful blue stone lies peacefully in the heart of a forest” for thousands of years until someone decides he wants it, splits it in two and takes half away. The separated half will travel...
The perfect companion piece to Fast Food Nation, with even gorier details of death and destruction, as well as the most enlightening look at where, when, and how our food gets processed in our overindustrialized food...
Winner of the 2007 Caldecott Medal (and oh so very well-deserved!), Wiesner creates yet another masterpiece of gorgeous wonder – without a single word!
A young boy out for a day on the beach discovers...
A gorgeous, unique book – it flips up and has gradated pages! – from Caldecott Medal-winner Ed Young which invokes inspiring images of his native China.
Review: <a href="http://bookdragonreviews.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/asianweek-2005-11-03-new-and-notable.pdf"...
In a small Hong Kong village, Ming and his beloved grandmother share an annual visit to the magical Wishing Tree. Even when Ming’s most wishful wish goes unanswered, he still learns the true meaning...
As her husband recovered from cancer treatments, Grace Lin wrote Robert’s Snow, the delightful adventures of a tiny mouse, to celebrate their good fortune. But just months later, Lin and her husband – also...
Nineteen years after her twin’s unsolved disappearance, Mara Dunn finds her sister’s camera in a junk sale. Its final roll of film – of rare orchids – offers a definitive path of clues. With...
Uh-oh! Every time this energetic little girl is ready to go out, the weather changes, but nothing deters her delightful determination to have a great day.
Review: "New and Notable Books," AsianWeek, June...
A delighful underwater pop-up journey with Samantha Squid as she introduces all her favorite sea friends.
Review: "New and Notable Books," AsianWeek, June 30, 2005
Readers: Children
Published: 2005...
From one of my favorite writers comes a highly readable memoir of a seed-collecting trek through eastern Nepal with three botanist friends. As always, Kincaid is blunt, honest, and highly observant, never overlooking her...
