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Yasmin's Hammer

Written by Ann Malaspina
Lee and Low Books

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In the noisy streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Yasmin rides to work in her father’s rattling rickshaw. Yasmin longs to go to school so she can learn to read, but her family needs the money she and her sister earn at the brickyard to help keep the rice bag full and the roof repaired. With hard work and persistence, Yasmin finds a way to bring her closer to fulfilling her dream of a better future.

The Secret Shofar
of Barcelona

Written by Jacqueline Dembar Greene
Kar-Ben Publishing

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Symphony conductor Don Fernando longs to hear the sounds of the shofar. Like other converses during the Spanish Inquisition, he must hide his Jewish religion and pretend to follow the teachings of the church. When asked to perform a concert, he and his son, Raphael, devise a clever plan to celebrate the Jewish New Year in plain sight of the Spanish nobility.

Four Feet,
Two Sandals

Written by Karen Lynn Williams
& Khadra Mohammed
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

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Illustrated with warm colors and sensitive brush strokes, Four Feet, Two Sandals portrays the strength, courage, and hope of refugees around the world, whose daily lives are marked by uncertainty and fear. This story was inspired by a refugee girl who asked the authors why there were no books about children like her.

The Pink House at the Seashore

Written by Deborah Blumenthal
Clarion Books

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"After a storm destroys her family's summer cabin at the beach, a girl tells of driving back there with her parents and her brother. Simple, evocative words and expressive gouache pictures show the destruction they find." - Booklist

"Chayka's broadly executed, colorful gouache illustrations effectively express the poignant mood of this lovingly told story that will resonate for anyone who has suffered a life-transforming loss." - Kirkus Reviews

Beekeepers

Written by Linda Oatman High
Boyds Mills Press

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"Honey-colored light pours down upon a young narrator and her grandfather as they climb into their heavy coveralls and walk during a spring morning to the bee yard. An idyllic episode, as comforting as the bee's sweet product." - Kirkus Reviews

"The story is simple and the illustrations glow, leaving readers with a warm feeling of a shared experience." - School Library Journal

Yanni Rubish

Written by Shulamith Levey Openheim
Boyds Mills Press

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"The impressionistic oil paintings in predominantly tans, blues, browns, and creams are beautifully done; each one in itself an artistic statement." - School Library Journal

"Chayka's expressive full-page oil paintings show the gentleness between Yanni and his mother and their bond with the small gray donkey that pulls the wagon through the narrow village streets." - Booklist

All content is copyright © 2010 Doug Chayka