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Find early literacy tips and children's books on the Children's Blog. Discover your next great read on the Books Movies Music Blog. Dig into Nashville history with the Community History Blog. Listen to stories, history, and culture on NPL Podcasts. Please see this Note for Readers.

Naomi Shihab Nye's 1994 picture book, Sitti's Secrets, is about a young girl, Mona, and her Sitti, her grandmother, who lives in Palestine. This book captures the essence of the love that can persist despite being worlds apart. Mona remembers her visit to meet her Sitti, and the simple fun they shared together, although they did not share a language. Thirty years after the publication of this book, it is ever relevant. This beautiful read is just one of many children's books about Palestinian children and a tender longing feeling for one's distant homeland and loved ones. 

Podcast
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A Clever duckling loans money to the King, who refuses to repay the loan. When Drakestail and his unusual friends seek repayment, how far will the king go to avoid paying what he owes?

Cover of picture book "The Ferris Wheel." Image has large goldfish floating in foreground above a ferris wheel set off in a rectangular stone arch. There are queues of people flanking each side of stone arch framing the ferris wheel. On the left hand side, there is boy with his mother. He is wearing a yellow raincoat. On the right hand side a girl is accompanied by her father. She wears red, and he carries a blue suitcase.

In the Turkish import The Ferris Wheel, the stories of a boy and a girl living in different parts of the world intertwine in an exceedingly moving and timely picture book. 

Podcast

We're still questioning what it means to be good. What did we learn, and what are we letting go, about being "good"?

Podcast
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A soldier is foiled in his attempt to marry a princess; as a result, he spends years searching for her. Will he find her before she marries another?

It wasn't just Cozbi Cabrera's beautiful illustrations that captured my heart the first time I read Me and Mama. The prose that filled the pages was so sweet and specific, and sounded just like something that could have come from a child's mouth. After reading several of her other works, I was amazed at Cabrera's level of artistry and sincerity. This post shines a light on Cozbi Cabrera's masterfully created picture books.