Books and activities

White Ravens Catalogue 2025

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The White Ravens Catalogue 2025

International Youth Library a publicat editia 2025 a catalogului White Ravens in care 215 carti pentru copii au reusit performanta de a fi incluse. Printre ele se numara si singura selectie care reprezintă Romania in catalog, “Cozonacei cu stafide” de Diana Tivu, aparuta la editura Frontiera.
Am apreciat introducerea in catalog a catorva titluri pe care le avem deja in biblioteca, dar am descoperit si cateva nestemate noi rasfoind catalogul online.
Sa incep cu Gianni Rodari si a lui “The book of whys” aparuta anul trecut. O carte enciclopedie, dar si plina de magie 🙂
Alti doi autori apreciati si talentati, Matthew Burgess si Doug Salati. Si cartea lor “ Words with wings and magic things”.
Urmeaza fabulosul Neil Packer si a lui minune de carte “La parabola del panificio indipendente”. Pe care am cumparat-o si ma bucur nespus pentru asta, chiar daca nu stapanesc limba italiana atat de bine. Ilustratiile sunt la fel de magice in orice limba 🙂
Lauren Redniss este o artista vibranta si ilustratiile ei sunt pe masura: pline de culoare si de intensitate. Uneori poate prea pline de culoare si intensitate. Heatwave nu se dezminte de la stilul artistei si parca simti o caldura sufocanta venind dinspre paginile cartii. Mai ales ca si in Romania vara aceasta a fost una arzatoare si amintirea zilelor toride in care simteam ca ne topim de cald nu este inca foarte departe incat sa o fi uitat complet.
Anna Desnitskaya este si ea cunoscuta cititorilor din Romania, iar cea mai recent publicata carte a ei , “ A star shines through” este povestea emigrării in Israel a artistei care s-a nascut si a trait toata viata ei la Moscova. Pana dupa invadarea Ucrainei, cand a simtit ca este momentul sa plece. Ce m-a convins sa cumpar cartea a fost delicatetea si emotia cu care vorbeste autoarea despre acest moment de rascruce din viata familiei sale. Intr-o masura sau alta, fie ca realizam sau nu, suntem pregatiti sau nu prea, multi dintre noi migram. Parasim casa parintilor, orasul natal, tara in care ne-am nascut. Este un proces greu si lung, anevoios si deloc usor de parcurs. Cu atat mai mult atunci cand cultura in care emigram este una complet straina. Limba, oamenii, obiceiurile. Dar, incet , incet “life as we know it, comes back”. Cu o decoratiune de la Ikea sau un zambet din partea unui vecin.
La final am pastrat o explozie de curaj, perseverenta si culoare. “Touch the sky” ilustrata de Chris Park este povestea unui baietel simpatic si cu par lung, pe nume Vern, care isi doreste foarte mult sa isi poata face vant singur in leagan. Dar nu reuseste, oricat incearca. Pana cand o intalneste pe Gretchen, care stie deja cum sta treaba cu leganatul. Si cu esecul primelor incercari. De aceea il incurajeaza pe Vern sa incerce si sa aiba incredere pentru ca sigur va reusi. Si chiar asta se intampla. Va poate parea o poveste simpla si deloc deosebita. Dar nu este; pe langa culorile vibrante si ilustratiile extrem de atragatoare, mai ales pentru cei mici, aceasta provocare de a reusi singur ceva ce pare atat de simplu privit din afara, dar atat de greu de realizat cand ai doar cativa anisori este ceea ce copiii experimenteaza foarte mult. Si orice exemplu de experienta in care alt copil trece prin acel moment si poate nu i-a fost usor, insa dupa mai multe esecuri a reusit ceva ce părea imposibil, este binevenit cred eu. Pentru ca asa este viata, pentru a atinge cerul, mai intai trebuie sa inveti sa zbori. Si uneori, mai si cazi. Important este sa te ridici si sa tot incerci pana reusesti sa iti indeplinesti visul.

Enjoy!

Dă clic pentru a accesa The_White_Ravens_2025.pdf

The Littlest Drop

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The littlest drop must come only from the littles bird, a hummingbird. Jerry Pinkey is one of my favourite illustrators of all time. Brian, his son, has the same artistic eye as his late father and after finding his unfinished works at “The littlest drop” he started creating new lines and drawings for the story. That is one of the warmest and most emotional stories we’ve red lately. A story about resilience and unconditional maternal love, about helping others when in great need, to fight the greater danger together. A story that touched our hearts and brought joy at the end.

Hansel and Gretel and Maurice Sendak magic

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Grimm Brothers will be very proud to kmow jow many great artists had use their work to create new magic art: theater spectacles, operas, illustrations.

A few days ago was published Stephen King’s adaptation after Hansel and Gretel original stories , illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

An visual feast for the eyes and a beutiful adaptation of the story for the little readers.

Enjoy!

An Almanac of birds by Maria Popova

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Or 100 Divinations for Uncertain Days, depend what you prefer 🙂 Maria Popova had became one of my favourite artists 10 years ago, when I first discover her art. It inspired me to pursue my dreams and to write about beautiful stories and even to found an online books & art gallery for children. I feel like everything she does in art is enlighting and magical. So this collection of illustrated poems could not be any less. Is a beautiful gift for a rainy day, with a cup of tea in your hands. Or for a dear friend that enjoys art and beautiful things in his life. And maybe for your children if they want to discover more about life and nature and birds. Printed on the glorious ilustrations made by John James Audubon and by naturalists Elizabeth and John Gould the divinations were at first a way of bringing together the beauty of this world. First forty of them, than adding up until 100. So if you are looking for an art treat , be sure to know that you found it.

Enjoy!

4th of July

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Island life. Independence. Settlers. Traditions. Generations. Simple yet hard life escaping time and rusticators. A visual delight offered by one of the greatest american artist and children books illustrators, Barbara Cooney. A book inspired by her beloved Maine. A beutiful gift today, on America’s day. Enjoy!

His Fairytale Life

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A book about Hans Christian Andersen

He was and still is the father or all stories and fairytales. He had just one dream, to tell stories to the kids. Because when himself were a kid, his mother would tell him stories. She didn’t know how to read, because in that era only the wealthy danish people were allowed to have an education. But that didn’t stop her from inventing the most amazong stories for her boy. Later in life, after a lot of hardships and attempts in other jobs, he will start writting his fairytales. 156 of them, to be more precise 🙂

In his honor, the greatest prize in children literature is being offered. I don’t think it exist a school or a household with children in it that hadn’t heard of him or red his fairy tales.

Now, a great author herself, Jane Yolen brings this beautiful homage to him. Together with the bright and warm illustrations of Brooke Boynton Hughes, this biography is one to be cherish and read.

Enjoy!

The Scroobious Pip

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A poem by Edward Lear illustrated by Charles and Nicholas Santore

What is a Pip? And more, what is a Scroobious Pip? My guess, is when you love children and words so much that you invent new ones of the latter to amuse the firsts ones 🙂

Edward Lear was a boy in his heart even when he was an adult. He loved to play with words and colors to change them and combine them as no other before him. Lots will tell you that he has the father of literary nonsense and that he loved the absurd in any form. I would say that he was beyond all that. That he imagined a world for him and him alone early in his childhood, when he first started having epilepsy seisures. And that he continued to work at it and to make it more and more beautiful and rich, for him to be able to have a space where he would feel at home. And later in life he chose to share his world with others like him, with a heart and imagination wide open and unaltered.

Charles Santore has an imaginative mind and great talent in depicting reality and fantasy alike in a unique way. He found joy in illustrating some of the great classics in children’s literature. The work at Scroobious Pip wasn’t finish at the time of his passing, so his son Nicholas, an visual artist himself, felt that he was the one meant to complete his father work. So it came one of the most anticipated and beautiful albums of 2025, that already has great reviews. Enjoy!

Cinema, cinema

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Astazi s-au decernat premiile Oscar 2025 si pentru a celebra Cinema-ul, va invit sa aruncam o privire asupra vietii unui mare cineast francez, Francois Truffaut. Cartea pe care o privim astazi a primit premiul Andersen 2021 pentru cel mai bun album ilustrat si este o biografie scrisa de Luca Tortolini si ilustrata de Victoria Semykina.
Francois Truffaut a stiut inca de la 8 ani ca pasiunea sa cea mai mare va fi cinema-ul. Cinema-ul si lectura. “Trei filme pe zi, trei carti pe saptamana”, aceasta a fost deviza sa. Pentru ca pasiunea pentru arta are nevoie de mult studiu individual si un mare bagaj de cunostinte acumulate.

Sper sa va placa propunerea mea de astazi si sa ne aduca aminte ca orice copil cu un vis indeajuns de mare va gasi mereu o cale sa il vada transpus in realitate.