New Releases by Veronika Martenova Charles

Noor Nobi is a broken man, wandering the streets of Calcutta with no reason to live. His three children, snatched from him in a cruel accident, were everything he worked for and loved. But one day, he enters a crowded market and sees a bird, caged and frightened and sick. With very little money in his pocket, he waits until the vendor is closing up. Quickly, Noor Nobi bargains and, happy to get anything for the sickly thing, the vendor accepts his offer. For some reason Noor Nobi cannot explain, it is important for him to nurse the bird back to health. When it is finally able to fly, Noor Nobi takes his bird to a big Banyan tree and releases it. Only then is he able to weep and fully grieve for his children. Before Noor Nobi knows it, he is back at work and taking his weekly earnings to the market where he continues to buy, heal, and free as many birds as he can. Crowds gather; some laugh and say he is crazy, some stand reverently, some don’t know what to think. But Noor Nobi’s kindness saves a growing number of birds, and the birds, in turn, give him new purpose. Author Veronika Martenova Charles read a short newspaper article about the “Birdman” of Calcutta and her imagination took flight. She traveled to India, found Noor Nobi, and witnessed the freeing of the birds for herself. The Birdman is a touching, true story, tenderly illustrated by Annouchka Gravel Galouchko and Stéphan Daigle. It is accompanied by an afterword, diary entries, and photographs of the author’s experience.

"Canadian Children''s Book Centre "Our Choice" Award 2002 Honour Title, Storytelling World Award 2002" Long ago, a Seneca tribe lived on the Niagara River, just upstream from a great waterfall. With plenty of fish and crops to feed them, life was good in their village. Then a sickness came to the people, and everything changed. As the situation worsened and people died, Lelawala, the chief_s daughter, came up with a plan to help. She would go to the thunder god, Hinu, and find out why he wouldn_t help her people. But to do that, Lelawala would have to go to his home under the great falls, and never return.

Stretch was not like other people. She could stretch her body taller than the tallest tree. People didn''t trust her because she was different. That''s why she lived in the forest. Swallow could eat more food than anyone. The villagers made fun of her because she was short and fat. That''s why she left town. Stare''s eyes were so strong they could burn through anything she looked at. Everyone was afraid of her. That''s why she stayed alone. And then there was Ira - small, skinny, and short-sighted - with nobody in the world to help him search for his missing sister. Somehow these four unlikely characters come together and overcome all obstacles - even the most evil magic in the land. Veronika Martenova Charles has drawn upon an old Czech fairy tale to create her own contemporary story about the strength of friendship and the value of being different.

Miguel was not lonely so much as he was curious. And, when he asked his father to tell him about the city beyond the mountains, he didn''t know what would happen. Now by the shore of the Emerald Lake he must choose between his world and another. High in the Andes, surrounded by giants, Miguel learns that even a boy can stand tall enough to reach the stars. Veronika Martenova Charles crafts a mystic tale, mixing dreams with reality, humility with grandeur, folk lore with history, and presents it with the clarity of a crisp mountain breeze.

Feeling that the arrival of a new baby has stopped her parents from loving her, Yoshiko goes to live among the cranes, whose magic transforms her into one of their young for a while.

If it''s a ring, a ding, a splash or a crash, you can be sue it has something to do with Aunt Minnie. She is the funniest, happiest, noisiest aunt who ever came to visit, and now she''s inviting you to join in and make some noise of your own.