Awarded by: The Outstanding International Books committee of USBBY selects an honor list.
Van Mol, Sine. (2011). Meena. The United Kingdom: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. Originally published in Belgium.
Genre: Fiction
Picture Book
Children are fearful of their elderly neighbor Meena and
decide she is a witch. They meet Meena’s
granddaughter and soon realize how wrong they were. This book provides a good jumping off point
for a discussion on misunderstandings and bullying. The illustrations by Carianne Wijffels are
very unusual and convey the strong emotions in the book. She uses layering of color and texture to
emphasize a character on a page and secondary characters are drawn in one
layer.
Trottier, Maxine. (2011)
Migrant. Canada:
Groundwood Books.
Genre: Fiction
Picture Book
This beautifully written and illustrated book depicts the
feelings of a young migrant girl named Anna who wonders what it would be like
to stay in one place. The illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault let us into Anna’s
imagination with soft dream-like colors in watercolor, crayons and paper
collage. This book
would be a springboard for discussion on the issues facing Mennonite workers
from Mexico who come to Canada to work for 6 months of the year as well as
migrant workers’ plights in general. For
younger readers, it is a good opportunity to discuss/list this characters’
feelings and discuss the book’s phrasing such as, “Anna feels like a jackrabbit.”
Other Awards:
New York Times Best Illustrated 2011
Young, Cybele. (2011).
Ten Birds. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Kids Can Press Ltd.
Genre: Fiction
Picture Book
This pen and ink intricately drawn book pulls you in on so
many levels. It is a problem solving
book in which both ingenuity and common sense must be used by the birds. Readers can look at the first picture and
predict how the machinery might be used in each case. The surprise at the end shows that labeling
others is senseless and that simple solutions are often the best.
Other Awards:
2011 Governor
General's Award for Illustration
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