Celebrate the stories and voices from around the world by checking out the display in the Curriculum Resource Centre (CRC) that features picture books, young adult novels and other curriculum resources.

This specialized education resource library serves Trinity’s School of Education and local educators, and it provides a variety of resources for curriculum planning, research and teaching (including curriculum guides), teacher’s resources, and K-12 student resources.

Click on the link for more information. Learn how to place a Hold though our Holds Pickup. Or visit CRC located on the upper floor of the library and choose from these displayed titles and much more!

 

Ada’s Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraquay by Susan Hood and illustrated by Sally Wern Comport
(Grades: Kindergarten-3)

Ada Ríos grew up in Cateura, a small town in Paraguay built on a landfill. She dreamed of playing the violin, but with little money for anything but the essentials, it was never an option until a music teacher named Favio Chávez arrived. He wanted to give the children of Cateura something special, so he made them instruments out of materials found in the trash. It was a crazy idea, but one that would leave Ada and her town forever changed. Now, the Recycled Orchestra plays venues around the world, spreading their message of hope and innovation.

The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara with Susan McClelland
(Grades: 9-12)

As a child in a small rural village in Sierra Leone, Mariatu Kamara lived peacefully surrounded by family and friends. But when 12-year-old Mariatu set out for a neighboring village, she never arrived. Heavily armed rebel soldiers attacked and tortured Mariatu by cutting off both of her hands. Stumbling through the countryside, Mariatu miraculously survived. The sweet taste of a mango, her first food after the attack, reaffirmed her desire to live. With no parents or living adult to support her and living in a refugee camp, she turned to begging in the streets of Freetown. As told to her by Mariatu, journalist Susan McClelland has written the heartbreaking true story of the brutal attack, its aftermath and Mariatu’s eventual arrival in Toronto where she began to pull together the pieces of her broken life with courage, astonishing resilience and hope.

The Garbage King by Elizabeth Laird
(Grades: 8-10)

This young adult fiction Inspired by the true story of an Ethiopian childhood lived on the edge of destitution. When Mamo’s mother dies, he is abandoned in the shanties of Addis Ababa. Stolen by a child-trafficker and sold to a farmer, he is cruelly treated. Escaping back to the city, he meets another, very different runaway. Dani is rich, educated and fleeing his tyrannical father. Together they join a gang of homeless street boys who survive only by mutual bonds of trust and total dependence on each other.

The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter
(Grades: Kindergarten-4)

In a war-stricken country where civilians have little power, this true story about a Alia Muhammad Baker a librarian in Barsa and the struggle to save her community’s priceless collection of books reminds us all how, throughout the world, the love of literature and the respect for knowledge know no boundaries.

Mikis and the Donkey by Bibi Dumon Tak and illustrated by Philip Hopman
(Grades: 3-6)

This is a story about Mikis and his pet donkey, Tsaki. Mikis is told by his grandfather that donkeys are working animals, not pets. However, Mikis and Tsaki become friends and the two have some grand adventures. Eventually, both Mikis and his grandfather learn a bit more about what exactly it means to care for another creature.

My Name is Number 4: A True Story by Ting-Xing Ye
(Grades: 10-12)

A powerful and passionate memoir for young readers, Ting-xing Ye tells, through the eyes of a child, the moving story of growing up in China during the Cultural Revolution. After the death of both her parents, Ting-xing and her four siblings endure the brutality of Red Guard attacks on their schools and even their house as they struggle against poverty and hunger. At sixteen, Ting-xing herself is exiled to a prison farm far from home.