New Books from Kids Can Press

Kids Can Press is the largest Canadian-owned children’s publisher in the world and publishes a diverse catalog of books, many of which focus on international or worldwide stories. They have many interesting new titles coming out today, and this post provides quick introduction of some of them.

 

My Family Tree and Me (April 1, 2015) by Dušan Petričić (ARC provided via Net Galley).

This is a great concept book on genealogy and the family tree. The book reads from both sides, with one side, front-to-middle, telling the story of the boy's father's family, while the other side, back-to-middle, telling the story of the boy's mother's family. There is also a clever conceit of each pair of parents having a picture hanging up of the previous generation. The text itself is completely generic (with the exception of the fact that the boy has aunts and uncles on both sides) and could be used with kids to put together their own versions. I also appreciate how this book celebrates multiracial and diverse families.

Me, Too! (April 1, 2015) by Annika Dunklee and illustrated by Lori Joy Smith (ARC provided via Net Galley).

This friendship tale addresses a classic problem: two great friends and the uncomfortable arrival of a third. The unique appeal of this book is in its embrace of diverse characters: Lillemor is from Sweden and speaks English and Swedish, while Annie speaks English and Oinky Boinky (her own invented language). Both enjoy learning about each other's backgrounds and differences. But when new girl Lilianne arrives from France, Annie immediately goes on high alert. Will her friendship with Lillemor survive?

Look Where We Live! A first book of community building (April 1, 2015) by Scot Ritchie (ARC provided via Net Galley).

This charming little book highlights the different people, buildings, and structures that make a community. The overall story is about a community fundraiser for the library. Geared towards younger students, perhaps K or first grade, each two-page spread provides about two paragraphs about different locations around the community, as well as an additional paragraph with another fact or aside. This book is very simple, but it would be a great book for introducing kids to the different roles that people play within a community or for starting a longer conversation about communities.

School Days Around the World (April 1, 2015) by Margriet Ruurs and illustrated by Alice Feagan (ARC provided via Net Galley).

Margriet Ruurs continues her around the world series with School Days Around the World . (Read my review of Families Around the World here.) The book profiles 14 different children from 13 different countries across 6 continents. Each two-page spread describes a different school from the point-of-view of the student, often focusing on an interesting activity as well as overall subjects.

This book gives kids a brief peek into schools and countries different from their own and provides a great foundation for comparing and contrasting. My main issue with the book is how abbreviated the descriptions are and how little actual information is presented about each school. This would be a great book to raise a lot of questions about schools around the world, but it is not necessarily the book to answer them.