Africa South of the Sahara
Ghana
Grandma's List
By Portia Dery, Toby Newsome (Illustrator)
Grandma’s List. Portia Dery. Illustrated by Toby Newsome. Windmill Books, 2021. Originally published by African Bureau Stories,Ghana, 2017. ISBN 9781499486322. 32 p. (Ages 5-7). Picture book.
Eight-year-old Fatima wants to help her grandma complete her chore list, but while running errands, Fatima loses the list and has to recall the list by memory. Fatima believes she remembers everything correctly, but once everything is done, she and her family realize she got everything mixed up. As Fatima moves through the list of chores, the reader experiences a typical Ghanaian neighborhood and can learn about traditional West African foods like palm nut soup, groundnuts (peanuts), and Bissap drink. 2018 Children’s Africana Book Award (CABA) winner. This book would pair well with Don’t Forget the Bacon! by Pat Hutchins. Kid’s read aloud - Grandma’s List -Storytime Haven. [gd]
India
Ammachi's Glasses
By Priya Kurian
Ammachi’s Glasses. Priya Kurian. Tulika Books, 2017. ISBN 9789350469088. 28 p. (Ages 0 and up). Picture book.
A fun and humorous story set in Kerala, about Ammachi, a grandmother who searches for her lost glasses, is told through colorful and captivating illustrations. Would pair with Vacation by Blexbolex and Ammama’s Sari by Niveditha Subramaniam. The author is based in Bengaluru, India, and is a comic book writer, illustrator, and animation filmmaker. Shortlisted for the 2017 Publishing Next Award, Children’s Book of the Year. Ammachi’s Glasses is inspired by the author’s childhood memories with her grandmother in Kerala. Watch a reading interpretation of Ammachi's Glasses. [mi]
Korea
My GrandMom
By Gee-eun Lee, Sophie Bowman (Translator)
My GrandMom. Gee-eun Lee. Translated by Sophie Bowman. Amazon Crossing Kids, 2022. Originally published as Halmeoni eomma in Korean by Woongjin Thinkbig Co. LTD, in South Korea, in 2016. ISBN 9781662508257. 40 p. (Ages 3-7). Picture book.
Bologna Ragazzi Award-winning Gee-eun Lee bases this book on the times she spent with her own grandmother. A young girl, also named Gee-un, is left to the care of her grandmother because her parents are too busy. She cries at first, but comes to enjoy the time she spends cooking, napping and running with her grandmother, even hearing the grandmother’s stomach rumble. The story seamlessly introduces Korean words such as “Halmoni” (“grandmother”) and aspects of Korean culture such as eating on the floor and slurping noodles. [dj]
China & Taiwan
China
Dragonfly Eyes
By Cao Wenxuan, Helen Wang (Translator)
Dragonfly Eyes. Cao Wenxuan. Translated by Helen Wang. Candlewick, 2022. Originally published in China by by Phoenix Juvenile and Children’s Publishing and then released by Candlewick sister company Walker Books in the UK in 2021. ISBN 9781536200188. 384 p. (Ages 9-12.) Fiction.
A Batchelder honor book, this is the second novel of prolific Chinese author Cao Wenxuan to be translated into English, following his receipt of the 2016 Hans Christian Andersen Award. A more direct encounter with the turbulence of Chinese history than that presented in Bronze and Sunflower, it is a multi-generational saga of a mixed Chinese and French family in Shanghai from the 1920s to the 1960s, as they weather the Japanese invasion, the Communist takeover and the Cultural Revolution. [dj]
Taiwan
Grandma Lives in a Perfume Village
By Fang Suzhen, Huang Xiumin (Translator), Sonja Danowski
Grandma Lives in a Perfume Village. Fang Suzhen. Translated by Huang Xiumin. Illustrated by Sonja Danowski. NorthSouth Books, 2015. Originally published in China by China Children’s Press and Publication Group. ISBN 9780735842168. 48 p. (Ages 4-8). Picture book.
An international collaboration, this Batchelder Honor book pairs a story by the prolific Taiwanese author Fang Suzhen with exquisite art from German illustrator Sonja Danowski, recipient of the Golden Island Award in the 2015 Nami Island International Picture Book Illustration Concours. A touching story of a young child learning to accept his grandmother’s death. [cr/dj]
The Middle East & North Africa
Qatar
Mah and Me
By Ibtihaj Al-Harthi
Mah and Me. Ibtihaj Al-Harthi. Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press, 2019. Originally published as أنا وماه in Arabic by Bloomsbury, in 2015, in Qatar. ISBN 9789927119675. 32 p. (Ages 4 and up). Picture book.
A young boy is devastated by the news of his grandmother’s death. Reminiscing about their time together on her date farm, his mother helps him to understand they will never truly be separated. This book is perfect for talking to children about grief and loss. 2015 Etisalat Award Winner for Best Text. [ea]