01. New clothes for New Year’s Day

Bae, Hyun-Joo. New clothes for New Year’s Day. La Jolla, CA : Kane / Miller Book, 2007.

  Title:  New clothes for New Year’s Day
  Author:  Hyun-Joo Bae
  Publisher:  Kane / Miller Book
  Year of publish: 2007
  Audience: Aged 4-8
  Subject: Traditions

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  Readers review: Available
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Annotation:
It is the award winner of “Notable Book for a Global Society award winner, 2008”. It was translated from Korean. The author wrote and illustated the story. The storyline is simple about a Korean girl excited getting in her attire piece by piece for Korean New Year’s day which will be the same as other children over the world . At the end of the book it not only shows pictures of Korean dresses with explanation of every part of it in Korean name and in English, but also has information of Korean New Year’s traditions. The story is accomplished with the vivid and descriptive illustrations. The text is simple, engaging and poetic: “It's a new year, it's a new day, and it's a new morning. It's the first day for the beginning of everything. It is a great book for a glance in Korean tradition and culture; suits children aged 4-8.

02. Mirror

Baker, Jeannie. Mirror. Somerville, Mass. : Candlewick Press, 2010.

  Title:  Mirror
  Author:  Jeannie Baker
  Publisher:  Candlewick Press
  Year of publish: 2010
  Audience: Aged 4-8
  Subject: Multiculturalism

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  Professional review: Available
  Readers review: Available
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Annotation:
It is an Australian fiction and multi awards winner of “2011 Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year; 2011 Australian Indie Award Best children's book; 2011 The English Assoc and the UK Literary Assoc 4-11 Award Best Children's Illustrated Book (non fiction)” – from Goodreads reader reviews. It is an excellent book to teach children intercultural understanding and respect. The story is about one day shopping experience of two boys and their families who live in different parts of the world. One is in Sydney city in Australia, another one is in a valley in Morocco. Their clothes, life styles, environments, etc. are totally different, but there are some things are the same. Besides introduction is in text in both English and Arabic, it is a wordless picture book. It narrates the story in full details in 40 pages length through the rich collage style illustrations. It is designed to read it side by side to comparison the two boys’ daily lives. From the left to right of the book is the story of a boy in Sydney, from the right to left of the book is the boy in Morocco. It suits children aged 4-8.

03. My Two Grannies

Benjamin, Floella & Chamberlain, Margaret. My Two Grannies. London : Frances Lincoln, 2007.

  Title:  My Two Grannies
  Author:  Floella Benjamin
  Publisher:  Frances Lincoln
  Year of publish: 2007
  Audience: Aged 5-8
  Subject: Culture conflict

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Annotation:
It is a winner of USBBY Outstanding International Book for Grades 3-5 in 2009. The theme of the book is mixed culture conflicts within a family which is easily connect to lots of families in Australia. The story is set in London. A mix racial girl Alvina has one black granny from Trinidad, one white granny from Yorkshire. These two grannies always want to do different things and lead to fight. How Alvina manages to find a perfect solution for her grannies? Answers are in the book. Readers can explore the two different cultures through the two grannies childhood stories and activities that they told Alvina. This is a perfect story to teach children tolerance of cultural differences. The humorous illustrations add hilarious elements to the characters. It targets children 5-8 years old.

04. The name jar

Choi, Yangsook. The name jar. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.

  Title:  The name jar
  Author:  Yangsook Choi
  Publisher:  Alfred A. Knopf
  Year of publish: 2001
  Audience: Aged 4-8
  Subject: Identity

  Award: 
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  Readers review: Available
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Annotation:
Author Yangsook Choi is winner of International Reading Association's Children's Book Award, and the Skipping Stones Award. It is one of her book. It is a simple and realistic story about the name of a Korean girl Unhei. She moved to America following her parents. On the first day to school, she couldn’t pronounce her name in English clearly and felt shame about her name. Her friendly classmates put suggested English names in jar for her to choose. At the end, she decided to keep her name to maintain her own cultural identity. The book is used oil paints with earthy tones which added touching and realistic accounts to the story. This story is relatable to many migrated children. It teaches children how to settle in a new environment and be proud of their own culture. The book is for children aged 4-8.

05. Nadia’s hands

English, Karen & Weiner, Jonathan. Nadia’s hands. Honesdale, PA : Boyds Mill Press, c1999.

  Title:  Nadia’s hands
  Author: Karen English
  Publisher:  Boyds Mill Press
  Year of publish: c1999
  Audience: Aged 5-8
  Subject: Social acceptance

  Award: 
  Professional review: Available
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Annotation:
Karen English is a Coretta Scott King Honor Award-winning author. This book is one of her books. The story is features a Pakistani American girl was invited to her aunties traditional wedding in Pakistan where her hands were decorated with hena (colouring). However, she was excited about traditional artwork, in another hand she worried to show art to her American schoolmates. It is an excellent book shows themes of Pakistani traditions and their family values. To help readers to understand the original words of Urdu used in the book, there is a glossary translating these words. The story was accomplished with oil pastel illustrations which give richness details to all the characters. The book teaches children how to honour their original cultures. It is targeted to children aged 5-8.