Outstanding International Books 2011

A Web of Air

Grades 6-8: Reeve, Philip. A Web of Air. Scholastic. (UK) Sequel to: Fever Crumb. In Mayda, a post-apocalyptic city off the coast of Portugal, a brilliant young engineer and a mysterious recluse…

Lost and Found

Grades 6-8: Tan, Shaun. Lost and Found. Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic. (Australia) Collects three stories by Shaun Tan that explore how people lose and find what matters most to them, as a girl finds…

The Conductor

Grades K-2 Devernay, Laëtitia. The Conductor. Chronicle. (France) Translated from the French. A wordless picture book in which an orchestra conductor prompts the leaves in a grove of trees to rustle,…

Dog in Boots

Grades K-2 Gormley, Greg. Dog in Boots. Illus. by Roberta Angaramo. Holiday House. (UK) After reading “Puss in Boots,” an adventurous dog sets out to find the perfect pair of shoes to suit his ever…

Anton Can Do Magic

Grades K-2 Konnecke, Ole. Anton Can Do Magic. Tr. by Catherine Chidgey. Gecko. (Germany) Anton uses his red hat to perform magic tricks for his friends.

Meena

Grades K-2 Mol, Sine van. Meena. Illus. by Carianne Wijffels. Eerdmans. (Belgium) The children of Fly Street fear and taunt their neighbor Meena, thinking she is a witch, but when they meet her gran…

I Am Different! Can You Find Me?

Grades K-2 Padmanabhan, Manjula. I Am Different! Can You Find Me? Charlesbridge. (India) Padmanabhan’s concept book about diversity features the prompt “Can you find me?” written in a different lang…

The Umbrella

Grades K-2 Schubert, Ingrid and Dieter. The Umbrella. Lemniscaat. (Netherlands) A dog picks up an umbrella and gets swept up by the wind and carried on a journey into the sky and around the world.

Migrant

Grades K-2 Trottier, Maxine. Migrant. Illus. by Isabelle Arsenault. Groundwood. (Canada) Anna, the child of Mennonites from Mexico who travel north to harvest fruit and vegetables, compares herself …

Press Here

Grades K-2 Tullet, Hervé. Press Here. Tr. by Chris Franceschelli. Chronicle. (France) Instructs the reader on how to interact with the illustrations to manipulate yellow, blue, and red dots.

Ten Birds

Grades K-2 Young, Cybele. Ten Birds. Kids Can. (Canada) Ten birds each come up with a different way to cross a river, and the bird known as “Needs Improvement” figures out the easiest method.

Sita’s Ramayana

Grades 9-12 Arni, Samhita. Sita’s Ramayana. Illus. by Moyna Chitrakar. Groundwood. (Canada/set in India) Sita, imprisoned in a garden with demons for guards, hears reports of the battles between…

iBoy

Grades 9-12 Brooks, Kevin. iBoy. Chicken House/Scholastic. (UK) Sixteen-year-old Tom Harvey was an ordinary Londoner until an attack that caused fragments of an iPhone to be embedded in his brain…

Flyaway

Grades 9-12 Christopher, Lucy. Flyaway. Chicken House/Scholastic. (UK) While her father is in the hospital, thirteen-year-old Isla befriends Harry, the first boy to understand her love of the outdooors…

High Riders, Saints and Death Cars: A Life Saved by Art

Grades 9-12 Herrera, Nicholas. High Riders, Saints and Death Cars: A Life Saved by Art. Illus. by John T. Denne. Tr. by Elisa Amato. Groundwood. (Canada/set in New Mexico) The subtitle of New Mexico…

Out of Shadows

Grades 9-12 Wallace, Jason. Out of Shadows. Holiday House. (UK/set in Zimbabwe) In 1983, at an elite boys’ boarding school in Zimbabwe, thirteen-year-old English lad Robert Jacklin finds himself…

The Midnight Palace

Grades 9-12 Zafon, Carlos Ruiz. The Midnight Palace. Tr. by Lucia Graves. Little, Brown. (Spain/set in India) When a mysterious threat reenters the lives of twins Ben and Sheere, separated as babies…

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