Woods in the Books Blog — Elf Reads

We’re starting a new series of posts for the duration of the Circuit Breaker measures to shine a spotlight on SingLit books that we find to be uniquely encouraging. If you already own the book, why not dig out your copy to read again? If you don’t already have it, we’ll drop a link to our online catalogue below. Happy reading! ===== Every year as part of the #BuySingLit Campaign, Woods in the Books runs Hello SingLit!, a pop up book fair celebrating local literature. This year, we were invited to work together with Arts in Your Neighbourhood, bringing local...

'Who thinks it's too CROWded?''Who is chasing the PIGeon?'Michael Escolier’s clever wordplay stands out in this beautiful hardcover picture book, encouraging kids to scour playful illustrations for answers that are slyly hidden within the questions themselves. Of course it is the disgruntled CROW who finds the boat too crowded. There's runs the PIG as it barrels towards the put out pigeon. Colour change and capitals on the answer within the questions turn them into graphic elements to suit the book. While it seems at first as though it is only the illustrated setting that knits the seemingly disparate questions into...

Long ago, this folktale retelling begins, people had trouble remembering when they were born and how old they were. To help people remember their birth years, the Jade Emperor hit upon the idea to assign twelve animals to each year through a river-crossing race. Written and illustrated by Taiwanese author and illustrator Lai Ma, this warm and funny retelling recounts the story of the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac in simple but lively language well-suited to the playful illustrations. The heart of most retellings of this folktale lies in the conflict between the cat and the rat, where the...

Every Lunar New Year, Grandma would ask the same questions, wear the same "lucky" red, cook the same "lucky" food, give the same "lucky" amount, and invite the same "lucky" lions. The year turns, the lanterns are lit, the table is laden. Food, family, and festivities: it's time for the Lunar New Year reunion dinner. But a reunion dinner celebration in the world of Grandma and the Things that Stay the Same might be quite the same as Lunar New Year in our world. From its opening pages, Grandma and the Things that Stay the Same invites readers into a...