Windows and Mirrors on the Fiske Library Bookshelf: NonFiction Books at Fiske

Follow the real lives of seven kids from Italy, Japan, Iran, India, Peru, Uganda, and Russia for a single day. In Japan Kei plays Freeze Tag, while in Uganda Daphine likes to jump rope. But while the way they play may differ, the shared rhythm of their days--and this one world we all share--unites them.

From Newbery Honor winner Patricia C. McKissack and two-time Caldecott Honor winner Brian Pinkney comes an extraordinary must-have collection of classic playtime favorites. Parents and grandparents will delight in sharing this exuberant book with the children in their lives. Here is a songbook, a storybook, a poetry collection, and much more, all rolled into one.

In a book far ahead of its time, All Kinds of Families celebrated the broad diversity of American families when it was first published in 1976. Now Norma Simon and Sarah S. Brannen have updated this classic for the modern age. Multicultural and multigenerational people demonstrate what being in a family means and how all families offer each other support and love.

Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the Green Belt Movement, grew up in the highlands of Kenya, where fig trees cloaked the hills, fish filled the streams, and the people tended their bountiful gardens. But over many years, as more and more land was cleared, Kenya was transformed. When Wangari returned home from college in America, she found the village gardens dry, the people malnourished, and the trees gone. How could she alone bring back the trees and restore the gardens and the people? An author's note provides further information about Wangari Maathai and the Green Belt Movement. In keeping with the theme of the story, the book is printed on recycled paper.

An Italian boy sips from a fountain in the town square. A hiker takes a refreshing drink from a mountain stream. Black-robed women in India stride gracefully through a field with brass water jugs balanced on their heads. Whether they squeeze it out of a burlap bag, haul it home from a communal tap, or get it out of their kitchen faucet, people all around the world are unified by their common need for water. Barbara Kerley brings home this point simply and eloquently in this beautiful and educational picture book that combines striking National Geographic photographs with a poetic text to show how people in various cultures use and conserve the world's most vital resource.

Plastic bags are cheap and easy to use. But what happens when a bag breaks or is no longer needed? In Njau, Gambia, people simply dropped the bags and went on their way. One plastic bag became two. Then ten. Then a hundred. The bags accumulated in ugly heaps alongside roads. Water pooled in them, bringing mosquitoes and disease. Some bags were burned, leaving behind a terrible smell. Some were buried, but they strangled gardens. They killed livestock that tried to eat them. Something had to change. Isatou Ceesay was that change. She found a way to recycle the bags and transform her community. This inspirational true story shows how one person's actions really can make a difference in our world.

Almost 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end school segregation in California. An American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke and wrote perfect English, Mendez was denied enrollment to a "Whites only" school. Her parents took action by organizing the Hispanic community and filing a lawsuit in federal district court. Their success eventually brought an end to the era of segregated education in California.

Step into unique homes from around the world and discover the many fascinating ways in which people live and have lived.If you lived in the mountains of southern Spain, your bedroom might be carved out of a mountain. If you lived in a village in South Africa, the outside of your house might tell the story of your family. And if you lived in a floating green house in the Netherlands, you could rotate your house to watch both the sunrise and sunset. With intricate bas-relief collages, Giles Laroche uncovers the reason why each home was constructed the way in which it was, then lets us imagine what it would be like to live in homes so different from our own.Showing the tremendous variety of dwellings worldwide—log cabins, houses on stilts, cave dwellings, boathouses, and yurts—this book addresses why each house is build the way that it is.

Everyone loves a special occasion -- be it New Year in Hong Kong, Diwali in India, or Carnival in Rio. For Man Po, Sonu, and Janaina, the locations may be different, but the preparations, the excitement, and the atmosphere of their favorite festivals are the same. This remarkable new book from photographer and writer team Barnabas and Anabel Kindersley captures the color and vibrancy of international children's festivals. For 12 months Barnabas and Anabel have traveled around the world, meeting children and talking to them about the celebrations and festivals they enjoy. The children's stories are recorded in this beautiful book, which is published in association with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Original photography and the children's own words bring to life many of the world's major religious and local celebrations from countries as far apart as Japan and Mexico, India, and Sweden. From the dazzling costumes of the Rio Carnival to the role of the elephants in Sri Lanka's Esal Perahera, children everywhere will love learning about the festivals and the wonderful ways that these events are celebrated around the world.

Filled with delectable recipes, hands-on family activities, and traditional tales to read aloud, this extraordinary collection will inspire families everywhere to re-create the magic of Chinese holidays in their own homes. They can feast on golden New Year's dumplings and tasty moon cakes, build a miniature boat for the Dragon Boat Festival and a kite at Qing Ming, or share the story of the greedy Kitchen God or the valiant warrior Hou Yi.

In this Mexican retelling of the Cinderella story, there is no glass slipper and no fairy godmother. All Domitila has are her innate qualities and talents, resulting in the transformation of Timoteo, her suitor.

'Indian Tales' features stories from all over the Indian subcontinent. Magical spirits in the mountains of the northeast, sneaky robbers and brave heroines in the heart of the Indus Valley, action and adventure in the far south, and much more.

Around the world in 25 stories showing the lore & wisdom of the native peoples.

Award-winning author Duncan Tonatiuh reimagines one of Mexico's cherished legends. Princess Izta had many wealthy suitors but dismissed them all. When a mere warrior, Popoca, promised to be true to her and stay always by her side, Izta fell in love.

The fairy tales and folklore of China-like stories told throughout the ages everywhere-bring the fantastic world of ghosts and demons into our everyday lives. So it is not surprising that food makes an appearance here-each story is followed by a simple recipe by Judi Chan. This creative book folds fairy tales into a cookbook of kid-friendly recipes. Most of the thirteen fairy tales included in this book have been adapted and retold from original sources by master storyteller Paul Yee-a few are original to this text, but remain true to the spirit of the collection.

Classic favorites get a modern Latino twist.

When her Chinese grandmother comes to visit, a young Chinese-American girl learns of and participates in the customs and beliefs celebrating an authentic Chinese New Year.

In 1885, few Jews in Israel used the holy language of their ancestors, and Hebrew was in danger of being lost-until Ben Zion and his father got involved. Through the help of his father and a community of children, Ben modernized the ancient language, creating a lexicon of new, modern words to bring Hebrew back into common usage.

Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor 2018. The fascinating Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is remembered for her self-portraits -- her dramatic works featuring bold and vibrant colors. Her work brought attention to Mexican and indigenous culture and she is also renowned for her works celebrating the female form. Brown's story recounts Frida's beloved pets--two monkeys, a parrot, three dogs, two turkeys, an eagle, a black cat, and a fawn--and playfully considers how Frida embodied many wonderful characteristics of each animal.

Ada Rios grew up in Cateura, a small town in Paraguay built on a landfill. She dreamed of playing the violin, but with little money for anything but the bare essentials, it was never an option...until a music teacher named Favio Ch#65533;vez arrived. He wanted to give the children of Cateura something special, so he made them instruments out of materials found in the trash. It was a crazy idea, but one that would leave Ada—and her town—forever changed.

Every page of this book is filled with secret code. It seems like Chinese calligraphy, but it's not. It seems like you can't read it, but you can. Once the pieces of the puzzle start falling into place, you will understand it all. And some of it may even strike you as strangely familiar. Twelve traditional American songs, such as "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and "Yankee Doodle," as well as five classic songs from Chinese culture, are written here in artist Xu Bing's unique "square word calligraphy," which uses one-block words made of English letters.

Because Bobbi Gibb is a girl, she's not allowed to run on her school's track team. But after school, no one can stop her--and she's free to run endless miles to her heart's content. She is told no yet again when she tries to enter the Boston Marathon in 1966, because the officials claim that it's a man's race and that women are just not capable of running such a long distance. So what does Bobbi do? She bravely sets out to prove the naysayers wrong and show the world just what a girl can do.

In Julie Fogliano's skilled hand and illustrated by Julie Morstad's charming pictures, the seasons come to life in this gorgeous and comprehensive book of poetry.

Women in Science highlights the contributions of fifty notable women to the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) from the ancient to the modern world. Full of striking, singular art, this fascinating collection also contains infographics about relevant topics such as lab equipment, rates of women currently working in STEM fields, and an illustrated scientific glossary.

The story of the American Revolution starring the many men and women from various cultural backgrounds who made significant contributions in the fight for independence. The dimensions of the patriot cause during the American Revolution were far more multicultural and multiethnic than we have for so long believed. Women, African Americans, Jews, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, European immigrants, and young adults played leading roles in the struggle for independence from Great Britain.

Countering the prevailing, traditional story of the first Thanksgiving, with its black-hatted, silver-buckled Pilgrims; blanket-clad, be-feathered Indians; cranberry sauce; pumpkin pie; and turkey, this lushly illustrated photo-essay presents a more measured, balanced, and historically accurate version of the three-day harvest celebration in 1621.

As a young Navajo boy, Chester Nez had to leave the reservation and attend boarding school, where he was taught that his native language and culture were useless. But Chester refused to give up his heritage. Years later, during World War II, Chester--and other Navajo men like him--was recruited by the US Marines to use the Navajo language to create an unbreakable military code. Suddenly the language he had been told to forget was needed to fight a war. This powerful picture book biography contains backmatter including a timeline and a portion of the Navajo code, and also depicts the life of an original Navajo code talker while capturing the importance of heritage.