Five year-old Shashank, the winner of our first “Around the World in 100 Bookshelves” book draw, received his books! The following is a note from his father:

The books have arrived, and they are so wonderful! Thank you! I have already read them several times to Shashank. His favorite one is ‘Homes,’ and the page he likes the most is the one where crying clouds make rain! Take a look at all the new books on our bookshelf!

Thanks for the feedback and photos, Prashanth! It’s great to see Shashank smiling, with his new favorite book in hand!

Readers, take note: on Jul 15th we will draw a new winner, so keep sending us photos of your children’s bookshelves. They could be the next to win a set of age-appropriate multicultural books!

Here is a list of the books we sent to Shashank:

Homes, by Yang-Huan, illustrated by Hsiao-yen Huang

Speak Chinese, Fang Fang! written and illustrated by Sally Rippin

No English by Jacqueline Jules, illustrated by Amy Huntington

Colors, Colores! by Jorge Luján

Loongie, The Greedy Crocodile by Lucy and Kiefer Dann, illustrated by Bronwyn Houston

Happy National Month of Poetry in the US and Canada – and for the rest of us, Happy Poetry Friday! I have just had the pleasure of reviewing a beautiful poetry picture-book, “Where is Spring?” by Yang-Huan, illustrated by H. Y. Huang and A. Yang (Heryin Books, 2007). It is absolutely perfect for us (in the Northern Hemisphere) as a readaloud at the moment. Spring seems to have been a long time coming this year but we’re just about there now. This morning, here in North Yorkshire (UK) the temperature plummetted back down to 2 degrees and it was grey and foggy – so the wail went up again. “Where is Spring?”: but as the day progressed, Spring did indeed arrive…

In Yang-Huan’s beautiful poem, a boy sends his kite up into the air to find out where Spring is:

A seagull says: Spring is traveling by sea in a boat,
Do you not hear the sailors serenading Spring?

A swallow says: Spring is resting in the sky,
Do you not see the busy clouds
Carefully mopping the sky bright and blue?

A sparrow says: Spring is strolling in the fields by the riverbank,
Do you not see the earth awakening from its winter sleep,
Combing the hair of the trees and putting new clothes on the fields?

We love this imagery – and the illustrations in this gorgeous picture-book really bring it alive, along with the small boy’s exuberance. You can just imagine that he’s been cooped up all winter and is absolutely delighted to be racing through the fields with his kite streaming high up in the sky. Eventually the boy and his kite return home to find that Spring has even entered there. Maybe we’ll be getting the kite out this week-end…

This week’s Poetry Friday is being hosted by ayuddha.net.