Do you get books from a public library in your town or even in your school library? In many remote areas of the world, there are no library buildings. In many countries, books are delivered in unusual way: by bus, boat, elephant, donkey, train, even by wheelbarrow. Why would librarians go to the trouble of packing books on the backs of elephants or driving miles to deliver books by bus? Because, as one librarian in Azerbaijan says, "Books are as important to us as air or water!" This is the intriguing photo essay, a celebration of books, readers, and libraries.

Now in an updated edition with revised back matter, the quintessential picture-book biography of Ted Harrison (1926–2015) Ted Harrison’s brightly coloured and wildly imaginative paintings set in the Yukon have become synonymous with the North. His instantly-recognizable images of the land of the midnight sun hang in galleries and private collections around the world. But how did a boy who grew up in a drab mining town in northeast England become one of Canada’s most beloved and decorated artists? A Brush Full of Colour is the story of a boy whose passion for learning would save him from a life in the coalmines. The books by the American writer Jack London and Canadian poet Robert Service fired his imagination with scenes of the wilderness and the Klondike Gold Rush. He trained as an artist, and a stint in the British Intelligence Service allowed him to travel. But Ted never stopped dreaming of the North, and when he saw an advertisement for teachers in Northern Alberta, he jumped at the chance to emigrate to Canada, where the biggest adventure of his life would begin. Margriet Ruurs and Katherine Gibson trace the life of Ted Harrison and the influences that would lead to his unique style as an artist. Filled with full-colour examples of his vivid art, and with a foreword written by Ted Harrison himself, this nonfiction picture book will provide inspiration for a new generation of budding artists.

Do you get books from a public library in your town or even in your school library? In many remote areas of the world, there are no library buildings. Writer Margriet Ruurs read a newspaper article about a camel in Kenya that is used to bring books to children in remote desert villages. She became curious about how else children around the world might get their books if there is no library. Librarians and volunteers from many countries sent her stories and photos of their mobile libraries. The result is this intriguing photo essay, a celebration of books, readers, and libraries. In the jungles of Thailand, in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, in rural Zimbabwe, the arrival of the mobile library is a major and exciting event. If it weren't for librarians and volunteers, people in these remote parts of the world might never have books to read. In other countries, books are delivered in unusual ways: by bus, boat, elephant, donkey, train or even by wheelbarrow. Why would librarians go to the trouble of packing books on the backs of elephants or driving miles to deliver books by bus? Because, as one librarian in Azerbaijan says, "books are as important to us as air or water!"

This book allows young readers to visit with fourteen children, all from different countries, to learn about their families. Based on real children, each is told in the first person, beginning with a greeting in the child's native language. From Ryan, who lives on a Texas cattle farm, to Nkoitoi, who tends the family goat in Kenya, to Baatar, who moves regularly with his nomadic family in Mongolia, there is a vast range of homes, locations, customs and activities presented here, all of it illustrated with bright colors and vivid detail by illustrator Jessica Rae Gordon.

Everyone in the world has a birthday. But birthdays are not celebrated in the same way everywhere. Meet Mercedes in Peru, who eats a cake and a purple pudding called mazamorra morada. Ieva in Latvia is raised in the birthday chair, one lift for each year. And rather than celebrating his own birthday, Phuc Khang in Vietnam joins in the festivities during Tet, when everyone in the country turns one year older. Based on interviews with real people, award-winning author Margriet Ruurs tells the unique birthday traditions of seventeen children from all around the globe.