Rajah Street, Little Lion, When You Go To Melbourne, and Anisa’s Alphabet

Title: Rajah Street
Author: Myo Yim
Genre/ issues: Picture books. Outside my window.

Title: Little Lion
Author: Saroo Brierley and Bruce Whatley
Genre/ issues: Non fiction. Illustrated narrative. Family. 

Title: When You Go To Melbourne
Author: Maree Coote
Genre/ issues: Picture book. Non fiction. Melbourne life. 

Title: Anisa’s Alphabet
Author: Mike Dumbleton 

Illustrator: Hannah Sommerville
Genre/ issues: Picture book. Refugee stories. 

Shop local where you can: For Australian readers, you can find this book on Booktopia, or support your local independent bookstore. US readers, check out Bookshop.org.

4 more picture books, and 4 very different journeys.

Rajah Street by @myo.yim.drawing tells the story of Junyo, who explores the world outside his window, waiting desperately for Wednesday. Why? Because Wednesday is when the garbage trucks come! Lovely engaging illustrations, and a super sweet story.

Little Lion is illustrated by the incredible @whatleybruce, and tells the story of Saroo Brierley that we’re familiar with from the blockbuster movie Lion, for younger readers. I don’t have to tell you how stunning the artwork is, and it reflects perfectly the moving story of finding a new family, then finding your birth family again.

Whilst we can’t travel much in real life right now, we can certainly travel on the page, and When You Go To Melbourne took me back to one of my favourite cities! The grungy artwork really echoes the exceptionally cool vibe of Melbourne’s iconic laneways and landmarks. A great find-a-feature book for anyone missing Melbourne.

Anisa’s Alphabet. Sigh. My heart aches after reading this book. For many refugees, the alphabet is the first step towards learning a new language and building anew future, but Anisa’s alphabet tells the story of her journey from her war-torn home, fleeing to find safety, boarding a boat to cross the ocean, and her eventual limbo in a refugee camp, dreaming of her new life.

A diverse range of style sand experiences in this bunch- great stories, all.

#TamaraReads #2021readingchallenge 39-42/2021

Happy reading,