a tender hearted look at dementia and the beauty of a life lived with simple pleasures

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a tender hearted look at dementia and the beauty of a life lived with simple pleasures

ages 4 to 12 years
Angela—who gets up before daybreak—waits for a special visitor. As she waits she bakes shortbread cookies, the ‘lovely sweet smell’ reminding her of her childhood. ‘That’s why she makes them so often.’

She becomes anxious as she waits and, with ‘her heart lurching in all directions’, she tries playing along to a quiz game on television. ‘That’s when she hears a small voice behind her 

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how empathy changes the way a young girl thinks about a kitten

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how empathy changes the way a young girl thinks about a kitten

ages 2 to 8 years
In the story of The Lost Kitten, a little girl, Hina, and her mother are met by a mother cat who seems to ask them to care for her sickly kitten. Hina is hesitant, she was hoping for ‘a cute one from the pet shop’....

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a delicious new treat for lovers of Madeline

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a delicious new treat for lovers of Madeline

ages 4 to 10 years
If you have a child who is a fan of Madeline and delicious food (perhaps that's you, too!) then The Sisters Saint-Claire is a must. The sisters Saint-Claire are five fabulous French mice with gourmet tastes. And each Sunday they head to the market to select the next week’s delicacies. All of them that is,

“Except for Cecile, who stayed home instead

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a touching story of recovery, remembering and resilience

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a touching story of recovery, remembering and resilience

ages 4 to 12 years
An asylum seeker is someone who is seeking protection as a refugee but hasn’t yet been granted recognised refugee status. So in this story, Ziba and her mother—who have left their own country after war and oppression came to their village—are both asylum seekers and refugees. They're traveling by boat to a new country where they hope to find ‘azadi’—freedom

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a rare story about an internally displaced family that is, at once, sobering and uplifting

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a rare story about an internally displaced family that is, at once, sobering and uplifting

ages 6 to 12 years
The civil war in Lebanon ran for about 15 years and even though it officially ended almost thirty years ago (in 1990), the IDMC says that there were still about 12,000 displaced people in Lebanon in 2015. This book tells the story of Sami, who is ten years old and has lived with the troubles of the Lebanon Civil War all his life...

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a poignant look at the precariousness of refugee life

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a poignant look at the precariousness of refugee life

ages 8 years and up
The reality of life in a refugee camp is no longer hidden—it permeates news cycles and images— and writings are readily available and plentiful. It's generally understood that a refugee's life is one of fear, heightened emotions, constant change. Still, the individual humanity of the refugees themselves remains hidden....

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