New Year

Zihan, Mei. New Year. Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2021.
Can you miss someone who is far away and at the same time be happy for them? In this wistful picture book, a father thinks about his grown-up daughter who lives in Paris. He wishes she could be back home with him in Beijing for Chinese Lunar New Year. But he is also proud that she has grown up into an independent person who has her own life in France. This extraordinarily beautiful story – evocatively illustrated in ink and watercolour by Qin Leng – is for mature readers who are able to see life from more than one point of view. 

Teachers of creative writing may want to use this story to show how to subtly move from speaking about a person to addressing them directly. Teachers of literature may want to show how specific cultural details can be combined with universal emotions to create a story with timeless appeal. 

This year, Chinese Lunar New Year is on January 23rd. 

More sophisticated picture books 

More stories from China 

Village of Scoundrels

Preus, Margi. Village of Scoundrels: Based on a True Story of Courage during WWII. New York: Amulet Books, 2021.

During World War 2, brave villagers in Les Lauzes, France shelter refugees and the people leading them to safety in Switzerland. This quickly-paced novel does not hide the brutality of the Nazi occupiers. Danger is ever present. But there is also humour and joy and hope among the children and young adults setting out to fool the German Gestapo. Includes an epilogue with photographs and biographies of what happened to the real people in the story. Highly recommended for readers 11 to 14 years of age. 

More stories set in France

More stories of refugees

More stories of World War 2

Madeline’s Rescue

Bemelmans, Ludwig. Madeline’s Rescue. New York: Viking Press, 1953.

An Analysis by Gurtaj in Grade 6

Reliability: I believe this book is reliable, because it was awarded “The Caldecott Medal”, which means it was the best picture book published in the U.S.A. in 1953. It was also published by Viking Press, which has a good reputation. In addition, I believe this book is good because it is written by Ludwig Bemelmans, who has other incredible books like: Sunshine, Madeline in London, Madeline and the Bad Hat. That is why I think this book is reliable.

Annotation: When a girl named Madeline slips into a river, her school teacher tries to get a hold of her before she falls; but Madeline is a bit out of reach. Everyone who has seen her fall in, tries to help but no one is successful. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a dog barges into the lake and reunites the girl with her teacher. The dog is taken back to where Madeline lives, where the two new friends live happily together.

Point of View: 3rd Person

“…she slipped and fell”.

“After she left there was a fight”.

“She was petted, she was fed”.

Tense: Past

“…they named it…”

“But no one answered…”

“…they had started…”

Literary Techniques: Assonance…

“That kept its head”

“And every place a dog might go”

“They came back home broken-hearted”

Connection: Text to Self

My connection with the book Madeline’s Rescue by the writer Ludwig Bemelmans relates to what happened to my dad. His friend fell off a bridge into a river. The two men were walking in an okay crowded area, but they wanted more space, so they started to walk over to a park. It was fine until they got to a bridge. The bridge didn’t have a railing. They walked carefully at first, but my dad’s friend decided to run. He tripped! My dad tried to get a hold of him, but it was too late. Everyone tried to help, but it didn’t matter. He had already fallen. Suddenly, everyone saw a stray dog run in and retrieve him. My dad’s friend was safe, after all.

More literary analyses

The Bicycle Spy

McDonough, Yona Zeldis. The Bicycle Spy. New York: Scholastic Press, 2016.
Twelve-year-old Marcel – riding his bicycle and dreaming of racing in the Tour de France – discovers that he is delivering more than bread from his family’s bakery. He is delivering secret messages that must be kept hidden from the German soldiers who have invaded France. Set in 1942, this suspenseful novel – with widely spaced lines and relatively large print – will appeal to readers 10 years old and up. 

More stories of World War 2 

More stories set in France

The Day the World Stopped Turning

Morpurgo, Michael. The Day the World Stopped Turning. New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2019.
A teenager, tired of his studies in England, travels to France where he discovers a story from the second world war: An autistic boy and a Roma girl had met in a village and become friends. But when German soldiers had invaded, their lives were in danger. All Morpurgo’s novels are competently written, but most are for younger readers. In contrast, this sophisticated coming-of-age novel is highly recommended for thoughtful readers 12 years old and up.

P.S. Any novel by Feiwel and Friends is worth picking up. The topic might not interest you, but the writing will be wonderful.

More stories of autism

More stories of World War 2

More stories set in France

Remembering…

Giff, Patricia Reilly. Genevieve’s War. New York: Holiday House, 2017.
August of 1939. Summer is over. Time to leave France and go home to America. But thirteen-year-old Genevieve decides – at the last moment – to stay with her grandmother in the small Alsatian village rather than return to New York. Mere months later, Nazi soldiers arrive and life changes.
This story is among the best of Giff’s many novels. Who are your friends? Whom can you trust? For whom will you risk your life? All these questions are quietly and skillfully addressed in a compelling novel for readers 11 years old and up.

More stories of World War 2 HERE.

More stories set in France HERE.

More stories of love HERE.

More stories of courage HERE.

What next?

Merveille, David. Hello, Mr. Hulot. New York: NorthSouth Books, 2013.
Mr. Hulot is a French character played by Jacques Tati, an actor and filmmaker. In this almost wordless picture book, David Merveille has created comic-strip scenes useful for learning how to infer meaning, make predictions, and analyze humour. But mostly, the pictures are simply fun. They will surprise and delight viewers 8 years old and up.

More wordless books HERE