December 2018

The busiest and supposedly happiest month of the year is also, according to the Internet, Human Rights Month.  70 years ago in Paris on 10th December, the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted, for the first time codifying the fundamental human rights that deserve universal protection.  One of these inalienable rights is “the right to rest and leisure” which is what the holiday season promises for those who celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas or Kwanzaa and for those who do not.  As the year comes to a close, we cease work, unwind, reflect, celebrate and recharge. Naturally, our thoughts turn to home – being at home or going home – and to family and friends, and our reads for December focus on picture books that celebrate these treasures that we so often take for granted.

The thought-provoking Home suggests that the word “home” looks different to different people while inviting readers to answer that question for themselves. In the sumptuously illustrated A Stone for Sascha, a rock finds a new home atop a beloved pet’s final resting place, and the sparsely-worded Coming Home tells of the emotional home-coming of a soldier.  A boy’s chance encounter with an odd, misplaced creature ends joyfully in Shaun Tan’s surreal yet relatable The Lost Thing . Finally, a moving Christmas-themed picture book, The Christmas Truce: The Place Where Peace Was Found narrates in rhyme the true story of British and German soldiers in WWI who found friendship, camaraderie and soccer in No Man’s Land on Christmas Day, 1914.

To all our followers and readers, may your holiday season be filled with treasures too. We look forward to sharing many more memorable stories with you in 2019.

Maureen, Anna & Ben