Book Sets Research Articles

2019 Series Spotlight

2019 Series Spotlight Kate Quealy-Gainer, Assistant Editor We're delighted to continue to highlight YA and children's books that take more than one volume to deliver their punch. This year's batch covers quite a few genres, so there's something here for everyone. Sports fiction makes an appearance with Jason Reynolds' Track series, following four middle-school runners as they deal with family and friend drama. Ben Hatke gives Jack and the Beanstalk the graphic novel treatment and throws in some fan-pleasing twists, while fantasy and romance mark Shusterman's and Taylor's epic tales. And the genre-defying Lowriders series brings quirkiness and adventure, along with a serious love of cars. These sets of books offer a unique reading experience, going beyond the traditional formulas of series fiction and nonfiction, so be sure to clear some shelf space for them. Camper, Cathy. Lowriders in Space; illus. by Raúl the Third. Chronicle, 2014. Gr. 5-9 (BCCB 1/15) ———. Lowriders to the Center of the Earth; illus. by Raúl the Third. Chronicle, 2016. Gr. 5-9 (BCCB 7/16) ———. Lowriders Blast from the Past; illus. by Raúl the Third. Chronicle, 2018. Gr. 5-9 (BCCB 11/18) Readers follow the zippy adventures of mechanic Lupe the antelope, clean freak Flappy the octopus, and Elirio, an artistic mosquito, as they pursue their dream to get a garage of their own to work on lowriders. The magnificent red, blue, and black pen drawings with creamy backgrounds expertly mesh charm, hipness, and artistry in these lively graphic novels. A glossary of Spanish terms, plus endnotes covering textual references, invite readers to immerse themselves in the cultural and technological details of the lowrider world. Hatke, Ben. Mighty Jack; written and illus. by Ben Hatke. First Second, 2016. Gr. 4-6 (BCCB 9/16) ———. Mighty Jack and the Goblin King; written and illus. by Ben Hatke. First Second, 2017. Gr. 4-6 (BCCB 9/17) ———. Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl; written and illus. by Ben Hatke. First Second, 2019. Gr. 4-6 (BCCB 9/19) Hatke starts this richly drawn graphic novel series with a small cache of beans, which young Jack plants, growing a garden that leads to a world of fantastical creatures, many of them bent on humanity's destruction. Nods to various fairy tales are sure to please readers of folktales and the original Jack tales, but it's the Easter eggs of Hatke's previous works that will really get fans excited, and they'll thrill to see their beloved intergalactic heroine Zita the Spacegirl make her return. [End Page 194] Reynolds, Jason. Ghost. Dlouhy/Atheneum, 2016. Gr. 5-7 (BCCB 10/16) ———. Patina. Dlouhy/Atheneum, 2017. Gr. 5-7 (BCCB 10/17) ———. Sunny. Dlouhy/Atheneum, 2018. Gr. 5-7 (BCCB 6/18) ———. Lu. Atheneum, 2018. Gr. 5-7 (BCCB 10/18) With four genuinely likable and authentically nuanced protagonists, Reynolds gives readers a team worth rooting for as Sunny, Lu, Patina, and Castle (Ghost) grapple with grief, racism, parental absence, and family expectations. A skillful blend of domestic drama and sports action gives this series broad appeal and leaves readers with the reassuring message that a few good teammates can get you through just about anything. Shusterman, Neal. Scythe. Simon, 2016. Gr. 9-12 (BCCB 10/16) ———. Thunderhead. Simon, 2018. Gr. 9-12 (BCCB 2/18) ———. The Toll. Simon, 2019. Gr. 9-12 (BCCB 12/19) In a world that has conquered natural death, Scythes maintain population growth with principled and orderly "gleanings," while a benevolent AI cares for humanity like a paternalistic god. Readers initially follow apprentice Scythes Citra and Rowan, but Shusterman soon expands his cast into an increasingly complicated but brilliantly drawn world, balancing breathless action with philosophical interrogations of love, faith, humanity, and technology. This is a master class in dystopian literature for young adults. Taylor, Laini. Strange the Dreamer. Little, 2017. Gr. 7-10 (BCCB 3/17) ———. Muse of Nightmares. Little, 2018. Gr. 7-10 (BCCB 10/18) With lush prose and complex world building, Taylor gives readers both a sweet romance and a sprawling epic, following the violent conflict between humans and godspawn. Fans of Taylor...

Following the Traces of Books in the Brisigell Family

The Brisigells were one of the families that settled in Bohemia in connection with land acquisitions during the Thirty Years’ War. The family achieved its greatest wealth in the second generation at the turn of the 18th century. The third generation suffered a gradual decline, caused i.a. by financial difficulties and debt. After the middle of the 18th century, the family disappeared from Bohemia. The electronic cataloguing of early printed books with systematically recorded provenances has made it possible to identify in the collections of the Strahov Library and the National Library a small set of books previously owned by individual family members. Not only has the analysis enabled insight into the reading interests of the Brisigell family, but it has also provided information on the wandering of the books within the family as well as within friendly and business relations with other noblemen in the regions of West and Southwest Bohemia.

James Fishkin's Unconventional Challenge to Thinking about Elections and Representation

Abstract Jim Fishkin's important book sets out a number of challenges to the conventional wisdom of political scientists and lawyers (and, for that matter, pundits and politicians) about what would count as serious “reform” of a now much-criticized system of elections and political representation within the United States and elsewhere. Drawing from both ancient Athens and the findings of contemporary political philosophy and empirical political science, Fishkin's work is essential reading for anyone interested in the health of our polities, at home and abroad, especially as they come under ever more challenges that are calling the maintenance of liberal constitutionalism into doubt.

Iran's Political Economy since the Revolution

Iran's Political Economy since the Revolution

Karel, Reynaert – en de anderen?

Abstract Karel, Reynaert – and the others? The broadness of the concept ‘literature’ in secondary education Current scholarship on historical Dutch literature – as reflected by the Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse literatuur (GNL) – is characterized by its broad definition of ‘literature’. This article examines whether the ambition to look beyond the literary canon impacted on historical literature education in secondary schools. On the basis of a survey among former pupils of 72 secondary schools in the Netherlands and an analysis of the download data of the website scholieren.com, we reveal that secondary schools generally prescribe a small set of canonical books. We also conduct a case study on Tekst in Context – a series of historical texts for pupils – which includes the analysis of its content and sales figures, and interviews with secondary school teachers. We demonstrate that Tekst in Context on the one hand supports a dynamic approach to the literary canon (since it includes some unknown texts and reflects on the changeability of esthetic judgements), but most of all enhanced the canonical status of texts (as most Tekst in Context issues focus on canonical texts, and these issues are by far the most popular ones). So the dynamic canon approach, as supported by the GNL, hardly impacted on current secondary education.

A Study of Zhu Xi's Embodiment of Metacognition : Analysis of Mencius Gathering Essence

<p>朱熹《四書章句集注》字字斟酌，得未前有。朱熹逝後，盧孝孫取《語類》、《文集》之說，逐章逐句，討論發明，輯為一百卷《四書集義》，但內容既雜，元儒劉因病其繁冗，乃約其精要，輯成《四書集義精要》一書。不但凸顯朱子尊程用意、說解典制會通諸說、補充引而未發之語、刪削浮辭標舉要領，亦能別白諸家矛盾之處，既有保存之功，又有刪略識見，純正客觀，使之不惑於多歧。有助於了解朱熹《四書章句集注》真義，以及元儒於朱注的反省與發展。本文嘗試在經學與理學的視域中，檢覈劉因《四書集義精要》中的「孟子」部分如何薈萃甄別朱子之說，對於朱學流傳北方以及四書註解的開展，尤其是以朱證朱方式的確立，提供可以檢視的依據。另外，本文所用底本為臺北故宮所藏為罕見的完整版本，尚未被學界大量使用。其可貴之處，不僅是刊雕精緻，後世未見翻刻、少見流傳，使它更有價值。藉由本文之研究，當使此一善本更受學術界重視。</p> <p> </p><p>Zhu Xi’s “Notes on Four Books and Chapters” has repeatedly changed, and his books are very different from each other. Therefore, after Zhu Xi’s death, Lu Xiaosun took “Language Class” and “Collection of Works,” said one by one, discussing the invention, and the series was one hundred. Volume "Four Book Sets Righteousness", but the contents are both complex, Yuan Confucian Liu because of its tedious, it is about its essence, compiled into "four books to set the essence of essence" book. It not only highlights Zhu Zi’s intentions in the process, but also explains why the system resolves the problem, supplements the unspoken language, and eliminates the need for evasive presentations. It can also highlight the conflicts, save the power, and delete it. Seeing, pure and objective, does not confuse it. It is helpful to understand the true meaning of Zhu Xi’s Notes on the Four Books and Chapters, and the reflection and development of Confucianism and Confucianism. This article tries to examine how the “Mencius” part of Liu’s “Four Men’s Book Collection Essays” is a metaphor for the screening of Zhu Zi in the perspective of classics and Confucianism. The establishment of the Zhu Zhu Zhu method provides the basis for inspection. In addition, the base used in this article is a rare full version of the National Palace Museum in Taipei. It has not yet been widely used by the academic community. The valuable point is not only the fine carving, but also the later generations that have not been turned and rarely seen, making it more valuable. Through the study of this article, when making this rare book more academic attention.</p> <p> </p>

Does book genre matter? Boys' and girls' word learning from narrative and informational books in the preschool years

BackgroundThe current study aims to address whether boys and girls learn words differently from shared reading of informational books, which are often perceived as ‘boys' books’.MethodsForty‐five mother‐child dyads (Mean age = 60.4 months, SD = 6.84) were video recorded reading sets of informational and narrative trade books at home. Children's learning of 12 target words of varying difficulty from each book was tested, controlling for initial vocabulary levels.ResultsBoys and girls learned target words from a single reading of both book genres, with no significant differences between the genders. However, gender and genre interacted with girls less likely to learn new words at the expressive level from the informational books.ConclusionsBook genre seems to matter for preschoolers learning new vocabulary at the expressive level from shared reading, with girls at a possible disadvantage. Because of this, additional support, such as direct explanation of words, can be added when reading these books.

Kazimiero Barėno laiškai Klaipėdos universiteto bibliotekos dr. Kazio Pemkaus bibliotekoje-archyve

[straipsnis ir santrauka lietuvių kalba; santrauka anglų kalba]
 Straipsnyje analizuojami Klaipėdos universiteto bibliotekos dr. Kazio Pemkaus bibliotekoje-archyve saugomi Kazimiero Barėno egodumentai. Turimi laiškai pateikia duomenų apie K. Barėno leidybos darbą, asmenybę, literatūros metraščio „Pradalgės“ leidybos pradžią ir istoriją, supažindina su išeivijos rašytojais Alfonsu Šešplaukiu-Tyruoliu ir Juozu Švaistu bei kitais išeivijos kultūros darbuotojais.

The insoluble problems of books: what does Altmetric.com have to offer?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the capabilities, functionalities and appropriateness of Altmetric.com as a data source for the bibliometric analysis of books in comparison to PlumX.Design/methodology/approachThe authors perform an exploratory analysis on the metrics the Altmetric Explorer for Institutions, platform offers for books. The authors use two distinct data sets of books. On the one hand, the authors analyze the Book Collection included in Altmetric.com. On the other hand, the authors use Clarivate’s Master Book List, to analyze Altmetric.com’s capabilities to download and merge data with external databases. Finally, the authors compare the findings with those obtained in a previous study performed in PlumX.FindingsAltmetric.com combines and orderly tracks a set of data sources combined by DOI identifiers to retrieve metadata from books, being Google Books its main provider. It also retrieves information from commercial publishers and from some Open Access initiatives, including those led by university libraries, such as Harvard Library. We find issues with linkages between records and mentions or ISBN discrepancies. Furthermore, the authors find that automatic bots affect greatly Wikipedia mentions to books. The comparison with PlumX suggests that none of these tools provide a complete picture of the social attention generated by books and are rather complementary than comparable tools.Practical implicationsThis study targets different audience which can benefit from the findings. First, bibliometricians and researchers who seek for alternative sources to develop bibliometric analyses of books, with a special focus on the Social Sciences and Humanities fields. Second, librarians and research managers who are the main clients to which these tools are directed. Third, Altmetric.com itself as well as other altmetric providers who might get a better understanding of the limitations users encounter and improve this promising tool.Originality/valueThis is the first study to analyze Altmetric.com’s functionalities and capabilities for providing metric data for books and to compare results from this platform, with those obtained via PlumX.

¿Cómo redactar los antecedentes de una investigación cualitativa?


 
 
 La irrupción en el campo de la investigación educativa para quienes inicialmente se disponen a investigar siempre genera consigo un sinnúmero de temores, incertidumbre y confusiones que a poco llegan a convertirse en preguntas agobiantes, una de tantas es: ¿Cómo redactar los antecedentes de una investigación? En atención a esta interrogante, que en algún momento de nuestro itinerario académico seguramente nos planteamos, es que se origina el presente artículo. Para ello, se ha tomado un camino documental fundamentado en la técnica de la revisión documental, y se ha analizado un conjunto de libros y artículos científicos, y consultado otra cantidad de tesis en centros de documentación nacionales y plataformas digitales internacionales, lo cual ha generado como resultado un modelo para la redacción de antecedentes, que entre sus propósitos pretende facilitar la construcción de los antecedentes de la investigación cualitativa y, por ende, ser un referente para quienes flamantemente se inician en el área de la investigación educativa.
 
 

Hairs in old books isotopically reconstruct the eating habits of early modern Japan

To complement literature-based historical knowledge of the eating habits of 17th- and 18th-century Japan, we analysed carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N, respectively) of human hairs embedded in cover paper of Japanese books printed during 1690s–1890s, taking regional and temporal variations into consideration. We purchased 24 book sets from second-hand book markets. Twenty-three sets contained enough human hairs, which were non-destructively extracted from the thick, recycled paper of the book covers and used to measure the δ13C and δ15N values, found to be identical within each book set. Relatively low δ13C values and high δ15N values suggested that people depended on rice, C3 vegetables, and fish, more exclusively than contemporary Japanese people. The relatively high δ13C values found in Edo (Tokyo) might be associated with the preference for C4 millets by Edo people as a measure against beriberi (locally recognised as the Edo affliction). The δ15N values gradually increased over 200 years, indicating an increase in the contribution of marine fish both as food and fertiliser for rice fields as suggested by literature-based studies. Further collection of hairs from books will enable a thorough examination of regional and temporal variations to better understand the pre-globalised food culture.

The Almoravid and Almohad Empires, by Amira K. Bennison

The Almoravids and Almohads have long been a problem in the Anglo-European historiography of al-Andalus (Islamic Spain) and the Muslim West. Their characterisation as fanatics, fundamentalists, puritans and even ‘Taliban’ is symptomatic of an anti-Berber bias that originates in contemporary Arabic Andalusi sources and has been uncritically assimilated by historians since the nineteenth century. Many of these have romanticised the era of the Umayyad caliphate and the taifa kingdoms, imagining it as an innocent paradise of pre-Modern ‘tolerance’, in part as a consequence of an uncritically Eurocentric and nationalistic perspective. The Almoravids, whose conquest of al-Andalus destroyed the taifa kingdoms, and the Almohads, whose revolution brought down the Almoravids before they conquered what remained of Muslim Spain, are often characterised as dourly pious, foreign philistines, who brought an end to the rich courtly culture and convivencia, or inter-religious concord, which it embodied (a convivencia sometimes characterised as ‘European’). Despite the fact that they dominated the Maghrib and al-Andalus from the second half of the eleventh to the first half of the thirteenth centuries, very little English-language scholarship has focused on the two movements. That is changing now, thanks in no small measure to the tremendously important and voluminous research carried out in recent years by academics in Spain and elsewhere. Amira K. Bennison’s book sets out to redress this historiographical problem, and provide a comprehensive history of the two imperia for English-language readers.

Murder and the Making of English CSI, by Ian Burney and Neil Pemberton

This book by Ian Burney and Neil Pemberton identifies and explains the origins of modern crime scene investigation (CSI) as a medico-scientific system with networks of institutions, concepts and practices focused on the crime scene as a distinct space ‘bounded conceptually and operationally by explicit rules of practice’ (p. 3). Using homicide as a lens through which to examine this process, the book sets up an important distinction between two paradigms of crime investigation and the sites in which they are performed. Forensic pathology, common since the nineteenth century, studies bodies in a mortuary. But forensic science has a more recent pedigree and a wider sphere of operation: it is concerned with the things found on or around a body (known as trace evidence) and practised at two locations, the crime scene and the laboratory, usually by teams rather than individuals. But forensic pathology and science interact at these three sites and in a fourth, the courtroom; there is thus no simple story of substitution of one for the other. Instead, by the 1950s, conceptual, technical and institutional changes had resulted in the integration of the lone inter-war pathologist into the emergent procedures of CSI.

Forced Migration in the Spanish Pacific World: From Mexico to the Philippines, 1765–1811, by Eva Maria Mehl

The wide geography of Eva Maria Mehl’s study—the Spanish Pacific world from Mexico to the Philippines—indicates the large and connected fields of scholarship to which this book will contribute, and with some considerable force. Yet its scope is even greater, for one of Mehl’s claims—well substantiated—is that military and penal transportation systems from Mexico to Manila were enmeshed in transportation systems around the Atlantic too. She does not frame her history as global, but it speaks very much to imperial and global history, and the history of globalisation particularly, given the human movements at the centre of the story. Considering the great reach of this book, it is especially pleasing to read its richly historiographical introduction. So many monographs—often at the behest of publishers—minimise historiographies these days, or relegate them to endnotes. It is to Mehl’s credit that the introduction to her book sets out a sequence of overlapping scholarly fields with great care and in considerable detail. And it is to Cambridge University Press’s credit that they continue to publish this literature as accessible footnotes, not inaccessible endnotes. The result is probably the best available literature review of the Spanish Pacific, the Iberian world and its particular relation to global deportation and convict transportation.

The Channel: England, France and the Construction of a Maritime Border in the Eighteenth Century, by Renaud Morieux

The waters separating the south coast of England from the north coast of France have helped to define relations between the two countries for centuries. However, as Renaud Morieux argues in this work, these relations have been characterised almost exclusively by rivalry, conflict and contestation between the two states. Morieux’s book sets out to correct that two-dimensional interpretation and to present a more rounded and nuanced view of the Channel that foregrounds exchange, co-operation and co-existence. His thesis is persuasive: borders cannot be conceived simply as lines or divisions that separate states absolutely; instead, border zones need to be seen as complex social spaces that encourage exchange and facilitate entanglement. In the case of the Channel, communications could be quicker, cheaper and more efficient between places on opposite sides of the water than between them and their inland hinterlands: Calais is half as far from London as from Paris, for instance.

Jonathan Rose, Readers’ Liberation

Jonathan Rose's book sets out explicitly to argue that ‘reading can be and has been the most fundamental expression of human freedom, even in repressive societies’ (p. vii). While it is certainly a...

Three bags full: Integrating text sets with engineering explorations for young children

Engineering is receiving unprecedented attention in early childhood and elementary classrooms. Teachers of young children may recognize the ways young children act as natural engineers as they design and create with materials from the classroom or playground. Everyday experiences such as choosing the type of bag: paper, plastic, or a reusable cloth bag at the grocery store can also be used to build explorations with engineering design and challenges. The meaningful integration of children’s literature with engineering design challenges provides the further benefit of supporting the kinds of literacy instruction fundamental to primary classrooms. One method to consider is the use of Text Sets, a strategy from literacy that involves the selection and use of a variety of texts chosen intentionally along one or more dimensions where multiple kinds of texts might meet multiple needs or purposes. Lesson suggestions are provided for using text sets of books from different literary genres including biography, narrative, expository, and procedural books and activities to explore the properties of paper, plastic, and fabric with preschool through second grade students.

L’addictologie de liaison : outils et spécificités

Since the 1970s, the concept of “consultation/liaison (CL) psychiatry” has pertained to specialized mobile teams which meet inpatients hospitalized in non-psychiatric settings to offer them on-the-spot psychiatric assessment, treatment, and, if needed, adequate referral. Since the birth of CL psychiatry, a long set of theoretical books and articles has aimed at integrating CL psychiatry into the wider scope of psychosomatic medicine. In the year 2000, a circular issued by the Health Ministry defined the organization of “CL addiction services” in France. Official CL addiction teams are named “Équipes de Liaison et de Soins en Addictologie” (ELSAs) which are separated from CL psychiatry units. Though this separation can be questioned, it actually emphasizes that the work provided by CL addiction teams has some very specific features. The daily practice of ELSAs somewhat differs from that of psychiatric CL teams. Addictive behaviors often result from progressive substance misuse. In this respect, the ELSAs’ practice frequently involves screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) interventions, which are rather specific of addiction medicine and consist more of prevention interventions than actual addiction treatment. Moreover, for patients with characterized substance use disorders substantial skills in motivational interviewing are required in ELSA consultations. Though motivational interviewing is not specific to addiction medicine, its regular use is uncommon for other liaison teams in France. Furthermore, substance misuse can induce many types of acute or delayed substance-specific medical consequences. These consequences are often poorly known and thus poorly explored by physicians of other specialties. ELSAs have therefore the role of advising their colleagues for a personalized somatic screening among patients with substance misuse. In this respect, the service undertaken by ELSAs is not only based on relational skills but also comprises a somatic expertise. This specificity differs from CL psychiatry. Moreover, several recent studies have shown that in some cases it was useful to extend liaison interventions for addiction into outpatient consultations that are directly integrated in the consultation units of certain specialties (e.g., hepatology, emergency, or oncology). Such a partnership can substantially enhance patients’ motivation and addiction outcome. This specificity is also hardly transposable in CL psychiatry. In France, addiction medicine is an inter-specialty that is not fully-integrated into psychiatry. This separation is also applied for CL services which emphasizes real differences in the daily practices and in intervention frameworks. Regardless, CL psychiatry units and ELSAs share many other features and exhibit important overlaps in terms of targeted populations and overall missions. These overlaps are important to conjointly address, with the aim to offer integrated and collaborative services, within the hospital settings of other medical specialties.

Bath Time/Play Time/Nap Time by S. Hughes

Hughes, Susan. Bath Time. Annick Press, 2017.Hughes, Susan. Play Time. Annick Press, 2017.Hughes, Susan. Nap Time. Annick Press, 2017. This is a set of board books on the activities of daily living: sleeping, bathing, and leisure. The concepts are introduced using high resolution stock images of animals paired with words related to the pictures.The “Bath Time” book illustrates the differences and similarities between humans and animals interacting with water. Actions like soaking and splashing are shown, and activities unique to animals like fluttering and licking are depicted. The “Play Time” book shows animals interacting in different environments: trees, snow, water, ice and grass. It also shows animals playing alone and together. The play-words used in this book can be applied to human interaction. The “Nap Time” book’s images show animals sleeping and yawning much like humans would, and shows the natural ways animals sleep that are different from humans (upside down, or in a tree). This book introduces synonymous words for napping like dozing and snoozing, and associative words like snuggling and cuddling.Each book concludes with the question “How do you nap/play/bathe?” which opens up opportunities to talk about these activities, learn word association, and learn about differences between animals and humans. These books bring a new perspective to these activities through the use of animal photos and would be appropriate for prekindergarten children. I would recommend them for public libraries.Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Tabatha Plesuk Tabatha Plesuk, is a first year MLIS Student at the University of Alberta (who spends free time teaching dance to children ages three to fourteen) with an enthusiasm for children’s books.

Creating Nations from Silent Books

Creating Nations from Silent Books Debbie Thomas (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Refugee: a word that speaks of leaving and losing, fear and flight. But it is also an arriving word, deriving from the Latin refugium, "a place to flee back to." With media images of refugees escaping untold terrors, any attempt to find hope in the word runs the risk of belittling their ordeal. Conversely, to dwell solely on the trauma is to risk portraying refugees as powerless victims. A workshop for primary school children, designed and run by IBBY Ireland, has helped to balance the narrative by imagining a future where the victim becomes the victor, where the once disempowered get to rule on their future, literally. If that sounds a little heavy for Irish eight to twelve-year-olds, the Nation Creation workshop has also proved huge fun, allowing participants to journey imaginatively from the horror of forced migration to the delight of dreaming up their ideal country. Nation Creation has accompanied IBBY's Silent [End Page 76] Books Exhibition on its tour of Irish libraries. The workshop adds another brick to the "bridge of children's books" envisioned by IBBY's founder, Jella Lepman. The Silent Books have been building that bridge in spatial and psychological ways since they were first collected from around the world in 2013. Geographically, one set of the books lives permanently on a "bridge" to Europe—the island of Lampedusa — which serves as a transit point for migrants from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Imaginatively, the wordless picturebooks offer a bridge across which refugees can escape horrific memories into pages full of beauty, color, and comfort. And an empathetic bridge forms when the story behind the travelling set of Silent Books is told, connecting children all over the world to the experiences of those forced to flee their countries. "The exhibition was an absolute gift," says Marian Keyes, programmer of events and exhibitions at the dlr LexIcon library near Dublin and a former committee member of IBBY Ireland. "It appealed to all ages from babies to primary and secondary school pupils, artists and illustrators, storytellers, authors, and of course the public." The Silent Books formed the springboard for the Nation Creation workshop, facilitated by illustrator and children's author Tatyana Feeney and myself, also a children's writer, both committee members of IBBY Ireland. We introduced the exhibition by asking participants to think of a group of people that might particularly benefit from wordless picturebooks. Answers included pre-reading toddlers, adults who cannot read, and people who speak different languages, such as refugees. Children looked at a map showing Lampedusa and heard about the library set up by IBBY. After browsing the books, they discussed how these stories beyond words could comfort, entertain, educate, and inspire refugees. This led to a consideration of the feelings that might accompany forced migration—from terror, loneliness, and anger to the more positive possibilities of relief, gratitude at escape, and hope of a better future. In groups, participants then dreamed up their own ideal country as an island state, complete with laws, flags, and other markers of national identity. With Tatyana's help, they began by drawing a map of the island on a large sheet of paper. "That allowed them to visualize the worlds they were creating," she says. "Having a physical space to work with led quickly to other ideas." These ranged from the predictable "islands made of chocolate" to wildly inventive new languages, anthems, and names. There was Nuevo Saol ("new" in Spanish and "life" in Irish) and Yorland, a country that welcomed everyone. The island of Atlasia "supports the rest of the world like the giant Atlas," according to its founders, and Cisilěně, in the Mediterranean, was colonized by Celts from Sicily. The children then worked in groups to design flags on paper and cut them out of felt, sticking bright pieces on a rectangular background. "This was a great way to encapsulate a national identity," says Tatyana. "The flags focused the students' thoughts about how they wanted to represent their new land. Some were very specific, such as pineapples and unicorns, while others were more...