Malaika’s Winter Carnival (The Malaika Series, 2) - Hardcover

Hohn, Nadia L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1554989205 ISBN 13: 9781554989201

Publisher: Groundwood Books, 2017

Synopsis

Malaika is happy to be reunited with Mummy, but it means moving to a different country, where everything is different. It’s cold in her new city, no one understands when she talks and Carnival is nothing like the celebration Malaika knows from home!

When Mummy marries Mr. Frédéric, Malaika gets a new sister called Adèle. Her new family is nice, but Malaika misses Grandma. She has to wear a puffy purple coat, learn a new language and get used to calling this new place home. Things come to a head when Mummy and Mr. Frédéric take Malaika and Adèle to a carnival. Malaika is dismayed that there are no colorful costumes and that it’s nothing like Carnival at home in the Caribbean! She is so angry that she kicks over Adèle’s snow castle, but that doesn’t make her feel any better. It takes a video chat with Grandma to help Malaika see the good things about her new home and family.

Nadia L. Hohn’s prose, written in a blend of standard English and Caribbean patois, tells a warm story about the importance of family, especially when adjusting to a new home. Readers of the first Malaika book will want to find out what happens when she moves to Canada, and will enjoy seeing Malaika and her family once again depicted through Irene Luxbacher’s colorful collage illustrations.

About this title

About the Author:

Nadia L. Hohn is a writer, musician and educator. The manuscript of Malaika’s Costume, her first picture book, won the Helen Isobel Sissons Canadian Children’s Story Award. She is also the author of two forthcoming non-fiction titles, Music and Media Studies, part of the Sankofa series, which won the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award for Multicultural Non-Fiction. She lives in Toronto, where she teaches French, music and the arts at an alternative elementary school.

Irene Luxbacher is an artist and author living in Toronto, Canada. With more than fifteen years’ experience as an illustrator, Irene has received numerous awards for her children’s instructional and picture books. Some of her awards include the 2003 National Parenting Publications Gold Award, the 2004 Disney Book Award and the 2007 Ontario Library Association Award. In 2009/10 Irene made the USBBY Outstanding International Books Honor List and was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award, both for her illustrations in Andrew Larsen’s The Imaginary Garden.

Review:

Hohn contrasts Caribbean and Canadian cultures tenderly, with deep understanding of both, and she and Luxbacher have created a sweet, immersive and loving book that will benefit both young new arrivals to a country and those just meeting them. (Kirkus Reviews 2017-07-15)

Luxbacher’s stunning mixed-media collage illustrations surround Hohn’s lilting narrative with color, texture, and sensitivity. (Booklist 2017-07-25)

About Malaika’s Costume

"The text is told in the colloquial voice of the little girl, and readers will quickly and easily feel a part of her circle. Carnival is an important holiday in many cultures, and it's good to have a picture book to celebrate it." Horn Book

"Like a rainbow peacock itself, the illustrations in this book burst with a frenzy of colors and textures." Booklist Online

About Mr. Frank (written and illustrated by Irene Luxbacher)

"Outstanding mixed-media collages and a thoughtful text create a distinctive book that rises far above most tributes to grandparental love . . . a perfect book." Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW

About this edition

• Publisher: Groundwood Books
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1554989205
• ISBN 13: 9781554989201
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 36
• Illustrator: Luxbacher Irene