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{"id":6812117008443,"title":"The Playgrounds of Babel","handle":"the-playgrounds-of-babel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom the international best-selling author of \u003cem\u003eSidewalk Flowers\u003c\/em\u003e and a world-renowned illustrator, this picture book is about the power of song, inspired by the story of the Tower of Babel.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis unusual, thought-provoking story begins with an old woman telling a tale to a group of children in a playground. One of the boys can’t understand what she is saying, so another offers to translate. The old woman’s tale is inspired by the Tower of Babel story: In the days when everyone spoke the same language, the people built a tower to reach God. But God was annoyed and sent a dragon to destroy the tower, then created new languages for everyone so that they couldn’t understand each other. Fortunately, two little girls find a way to communicate through song.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTold entirely through dialogue, moving back and forth between the old woman’s tale and the exchange between the two boys, this original, sometimes funny story raises questions about what divides us and what brings us together, in spite of all our differences — it is the power of song in this case, which ultimately brings hope.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePiet Grobler brings a masterful visual interpretation to this layered story, rendering the old woman and children in the playground in monochromatic tones and the characters in the old woman’s tale in a naïve style with vibrant color, complete with incomprehensible languages in hand-drawn speech balloons. An author’s note explains JonArno Lawson’s inspiration for the story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKey Text Features\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nauthor’s note\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCorrelates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6\u003cbr\u003e\nIdentify who is telling the story at various points in a text.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.9\u003cbr\u003e\nCompare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2022-03-22T16:41:10-04:00","created_at":"2022-03-22T11:20:57-04:00","vendor":"Groundwood Books Ltd","type":"","tags":["age range 4 - 8","By (author) Lawson JonArno","CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6","CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.9","Diversity","Fountas \u0026 Pinnell Text Level Gradient O","Groundwood Books","Guided Reading Level O","Illustrated by Grobler Piet","Lexile measure 540L","Picture Books","pub date: 2019-08-01"],"price":1695,"price_min":1695,"price_max":1895,"available":true,"price_varies":true,"compare_at_price":null,"compare_at_price_min":0,"compare_at_price_max":0,"compare_at_price_varies":false,"variants":[{"id":40195609198651,"title":"hardcover jacket","option1":"hardcover jacket","option2":null,"option3":null,"sku":"9781773060361","requires_shipping":true,"taxable":true,"featured_image":null,"available":false,"name":"The Playgrounds of Babel - hardcover jacket","public_title":"hardcover jacket","options":["hardcover jacket"],"price":1895,"weight":380,"compare_at_price":null,"inventory_management":"shopify","barcode":"9781773060361","requires_selling_plan":false,"selling_plan_allocations":[],"quantity_rule":{"min":1,"max":null,"increment":1}},{"id":40195676864571,"title":"EPUB, fixed","option1":"EPUB, fixed","option2":null,"option3":null,"sku":"9781773060378","requires_shipping":false,"taxable":true,"featured_image":null,"available":true,"name":"The Playgrounds of Babel - EPUB, fixed","public_title":"EPUB, fixed","options":["EPUB, fixed"],"price":1695,"weight":0,"compare_at_price":null,"inventory_management":null,"barcode":"9781773060378","requires_selling_plan":false,"selling_plan_allocations":[],"quantity_rule":{"min":1,"max":null,"increment":1}},{"id":40195678142523,"title":"Kindle, Fixed Layout","option1":"Kindle, Fixed Layout","option2":null,"option3":null,"sku":"9781773062778","requires_shipping":false,"taxable":true,"featured_image":null,"available":true,"name":"The Playgrounds of Babel - Kindle, Fixed Layout","public_title":"Kindle, Fixed Layout","options":["Kindle, Fixed Layout"],"price":1695,"weight":0,"compare_at_price":null,"inventory_management":null,"barcode":"9781773062778","requires_selling_plan":false,"selling_plan_allocations":[],"quantity_rule":{"min":1,"max":null,"increment":1}}],"images":["\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/files\/BNCImageAPI_b5b10bf3-cc51-4183-8b7f-0a26c84f9e8e.jpg?v=1705997198","\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/products\/BNCImageAPI_84f76172-1f58-4b12-99ec-29df71395185.jpg?v=1647966442","\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/products\/BNCImageAPI_9b69ed93-911f-4689-92dc-5e8d79d5e33d.jpg?v=1647966456","\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/products\/BNCImageAPI_6d205fd9-23bc-4f46-ba2d-eba2b7d3f181.jpg?v=1647966468"],"featured_image":"\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/files\/BNCImageAPI_b5b10bf3-cc51-4183-8b7f-0a26c84f9e8e.jpg?v=1705997198","options":["Title"],"media":[{"alt":"Two small hills have two brick structures on them, and the further one has a swing set. On the nearest hill are two boys, one with light skin tone and the other with dark skin tone, flying a kite shaped like a yellow dragon. A woman with light skin tone stands by a dead tree watching them. She wears a head scarf and glasses. The sun shines in the sky behind the brick buildings. Text: The Playgrounds of Babel. Jonarno Lawson. Piet Grobler.","id":24126746296379,"position":1,"preview_image":{"aspect_ratio":0.854,"height":1874,"width":1600,"src":"\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/files\/BNCImageAPI_b5b10bf3-cc51-4183-8b7f-0a26c84f9e8e.jpg?v=1705997198"},"aspect_ratio":0.854,"height":1874,"media_type":"image","src":"\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/files\/BNCImageAPI_b5b10bf3-cc51-4183-8b7f-0a26c84f9e8e.jpg?v=1705997198","width":1600},{"alt":"This image is in shades of black and white. Three houses by a clearing sit on a street with dead trees. A cityscape is behind. A woman in a head scarf is on a chair in the clearing speaking to three children. A speech bubble above her shows red circles, squares, and dashes. Two children across the street watch the woman and children. The girl has light skin tone and a speech bubble above her reads, “What is she saying?” The boy has dark skin tone and a speech bubble above him reads, “I’ll translate.”","id":21765490376763,"position":2,"preview_image":{"aspect_ratio":1.701,"height":294,"width":500,"src":"\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/products\/BNCImageAPI_84f76172-1f58-4b12-99ec-29df71395185.jpg?v=1647966442"},"aspect_ratio":1.701,"height":294,"media_type":"image","src":"\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/products\/BNCImageAPI_84f76172-1f58-4b12-99ec-29df71395185.jpg?v=1647966442","width":500},{"alt":"This image is a double page spread. To the left, a girl with light skin tone and a girl with dark skin tone are by palm trees with their arms raised. Below, they sit with their hands on their heads. To the right, a boy with dark skin tone has speech bubbles above him reading, “So what could the girls do? First they babbled at each other. But it was no good. Then they cried.” and, “That was better.” Below, a woman in a headscarf has speech bubbles above her with red circles, squares, dashes, and parentheses.","id":21765497094203,"position":3,"preview_image":{"aspect_ratio":1.701,"height":294,"width":500,"src":"\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/products\/BNCImageAPI_9b69ed93-911f-4689-92dc-5e8d79d5e33d.jpg?v=1647966456"},"aspect_ratio":1.701,"height":294,"media_type":"image","src":"\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/products\/BNCImageAPI_9b69ed93-911f-4689-92dc-5e8d79d5e33d.jpg?v=1647966456","width":500},{"alt":"This image is a double page spread. To the left is a city scape in black and white. Two girls dance in a field. Speech bubbles show music notes. Behind are the silhouettes of children and an adult. A child says, “But they’d only be able to translate the words that came up in song.” The other says, “She says luckily they knew a lot of songs.” To the right, a boy in black and white holds a branch with a bird. He says, “What happened to the dragon?” A yellow dragon with red spikes flies toward him.","id":21765503385659,"position":4,"preview_image":{"aspect_ratio":1.701,"height":294,"width":500,"src":"\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/products\/BNCImageAPI_6d205fd9-23bc-4f46-ba2d-eba2b7d3f181.jpg?v=1647966468"},"aspect_ratio":1.701,"height":294,"media_type":"image","src":"\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/products\/BNCImageAPI_6d205fd9-23bc-4f46-ba2d-eba2b7d3f181.jpg?v=1647966468","width":500}],"requires_selling_plan":false,"selling_plan_groups":[],"content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom the international best-selling author of \u003cem\u003eSidewalk Flowers\u003c\/em\u003e and a world-renowned illustrator, this picture book is about the power of song, inspired by the story of the Tower of Babel.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis unusual, thought-provoking story begins with an old woman telling a tale to a group of children in a playground. One of the boys can’t understand what she is saying, so another offers to translate. The old woman’s tale is inspired by the Tower of Babel story: In the days when everyone spoke the same language, the people built a tower to reach God. But God was annoyed and sent a dragon to destroy the tower, then created new languages for everyone so that they couldn’t understand each other. Fortunately, two little girls find a way to communicate through song.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTold entirely through dialogue, moving back and forth between the old woman’s tale and the exchange between the two boys, this original, sometimes funny story raises questions about what divides us and what brings us together, in spite of all our differences — it is the power of song in this case, which ultimately brings hope.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePiet Grobler brings a masterful visual interpretation to this layered story, rendering the old woman and children in the playground in monochromatic tones and the characters in the old woman’s tale in a naïve style with vibrant color, complete with incomprehensible languages in hand-drawn speech balloons. An author’s note explains JonArno Lawson’s inspiration for the story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKey Text Features\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nauthor’s note\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCorrelates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6\u003cbr\u003e\nIdentify who is telling the story at various points in a text.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.9\u003cbr\u003e\nCompare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e"}
{"AlsoRecommendedISBN_0":"9781773063973","AlsoRecommendedISBN_1":"9781773063973","AlsoRecommendedISBN_2":"9781773062099","AlsoRecommendedISBN_3":"9781773063973","AlsoRecommendedISBN_4":"9780888996664","AudienceRangePrecision_1_0":"03","AudienceRangePrecision_1_1":"03","AudienceRangePrecision_1_2":"03","AudienceRangePrecision_2_0":"04","AudienceRangePrecision_2_1":"04","AudienceRangePrecision_2_2":"04","AudienceRangeQualifier_0":"17","AudienceRangeQualifier_1":"26","AudienceRangeQualifier_2":"11","AudienceRangeValue_1_0":"4","AudienceRangeValue_1_1":"K","AudienceRangeValue_1_2":"K","AudienceRangeValue_2_0":"8","AudienceRangeValue_2_1":"3","AudienceRangeValue_2_2":"3","BASICMainSubject":"JUV022000","BASICMainSubjectLiteral":"JUVENILE FICTION\/Legends, Myths, Fables\/General","BiographicalNote":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJONARNO LAWSON\u003c\/strong\u003e is the author of numerous books for children and adults, including \u003cem\u003eThe Playgrounds of Babel\u003c\/em\u003e, illustrated by Piet Grobler, and \u003cem\u003eLeap!\u003c\/em\u003e, illustrated by Josée Bisaillon. He has also collaborated on books with Nelson Ball, Alec Dempster, Nahid Kazemi, Amjad Jaimoukha, Qin Leng, Daniel Ratthei and Sherwin Tjia. His most recent book is \u003cem\u003eWise Up! Wise Down!\u003c\/em\u003e, a collaboration with the poet John Agard, illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura. JonArno lives in Toronto, Ontario, with his family.\u003c\/p\u003e","BISACSubjectLiteral_0":"JUVENILE FICTION \/ Legends, Myths, Fables \/ General","BISACSubjectLiteral_1":"JUVENILE FICTION \/ Comics \u0026amp; Graphic Novels \/ Fairy Tales, Folklore, Legends \u0026amp; Mythology","BISACSubjectLiteral_2":"JUVENILE FICTION \/ Imagination \u0026amp; Play","BISACSubject_0":"JUV022000","BISACSubject_1":"JUV008070","BISACSubject_2":"JUV051000","CommonCore":"CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.9","CommonCore_1":"CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6","ComplexityCode_0":"O","ComplexityCode_1":"O","ComplexityCode_2":"540L","ComplexitySchemeIdentifier_0":"05","ComplexitySchemeIdentifier_1":"09","ComplexitySchemeIdentifier_2":"06","ComplexitySchemeIdName_0":"Fountas \u0026amp; Pinnell Text Level Gradient","ComplexitySchemeIdName_1":"Guided Reading Level","ComplexitySchemeIdName_2":"Lexile measure","ContributorBio_0":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJONARNO LAWSON\u003c\/strong\u003e is the author of numerous books for children and adults, including \u003cem\u003eThe Playgrounds of Babel\u003c\/em\u003e, illustrated by Piet Grobler, and \u003cem\u003eLeap!\u003c\/em\u003e, illustrated by Josée Bisaillon. He has also collaborated on books with Nelson Ball, Alec Dempster, Nahid Kazemi, Amjad Jaimoukha, Qin Leng, Daniel Ratthei and Sherwin Tjia. His most recent book is \u003cem\u003eWise Up! Wise Down!\u003c\/em\u003e, a collaboration with the poet John Agard, illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura. JonArno lives in Toronto, Ontario, with his family.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","ContributorBio_1":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePIET GROBLER\u003c\/strong\u003e is a world-renowned South African illustrator of children’s books. He has illustrated ninety five books, which have been published in many languages, and he has won a number of awards, including two silver medals at the Noma Concours (Japan), the Octogone de Chêne (France) and a Golden Apple at the Biennial of Illustration in Bratislava. He lives in Portugal and is the visiting Professor in Illustration at the University of Worcester, in the United Kingdom.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","ContributorRole_0":"By (author)","ContributorRole_1":"Illustrated by","Contributor_0":"Lawson, JonArno (CA)","Contributor_1":"Grobler, Piet","Description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom the international best-selling author of \u003cem\u003eSidewalk Flowers\u003c\/em\u003e and a world-renowned illustrator, this picture book is about the power of song, inspired by the story of the Tower of Babel.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis unusual, thought-provoking story begins with an old woman telling a tale to a group of children in a playground. One of the boys can’t understand what she is saying, so another offers to translate. The old woman’s tale is inspired by the Tower of Babel story: In the days when everyone spoke the same language, the people built a tower to reach God. But God was annoyed and sent a dragon to destroy the tower, then created new languages for everyone so that they couldn’t understand each other. Fortunately, two little girls find a way to communicate through song.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTold entirely through dialogue, moving back and forth between the old woman’s tale and the exchange between the two boys, this original, sometimes funny story raises questions about what divides us and what brings us together, in spite of all our differences — it is the power of song in this case, which ultimately brings hope.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePiet Grobler brings a masterful visual interpretation to this layered story, rendering the old woman and children in the playground in monochromatic tones and the characters in the old woman’s tale in a naïve style with vibrant color, complete with incomprehensible languages in hand-drawn speech balloons. An author’s note explains JonArno Lawson’s inspiration for the story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKey Text Features\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nauthor’s note\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCorrelates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6\u003cbr\u003e\nIdentify who is telling the story at various points in a text.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.9\u003cbr\u003e\nCompare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e","EAN":"9781773062778","Height":"10","HeightCode":"in","Imprint":"Groundwood Books","KeyTextFeatures":"author's note","MetaKeywords":"mixed-media artwork","NumberOfPages":"32","OtherText_Back_cover_copy_0":"\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003eJonArno Lawson and Piet Grobler are world-renowned creators of picture books, and it’s very exciting to see their talents come together in this new work.\u003c\/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003eJonArno Lawson has established himself as a master of alternative storytelling after the great commercial success of the wordless picture book \u003cem\u003eSidewalk Flowers\u003c\/em\u003e, which was awarded four starred reviews in 2015.\u003c\/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003eThe story is partially inspired by the biblical story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis, tapping into a literary and cultural touchstone.\u003c\/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003eCreated entirely through dialogue, with two visual storylines, the book is ingenious and unusual.\u003c\/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003eCurriculum connections include language arts (oral communication, reading, media literacy), arts\/drama (creating and presenting; reflecting, responding, analyzing; exploring forms and cultural contexts).\u003c\/li\u003e\r\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","OtherText_Long_description_1":"\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003eJonArno Lawson and Piet Grobler are world-renowned creators of picture books, and it’s very exciting to see their talents come together in this new work.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJonArno Lawson has established himself as a master of alternative storytelling after the great commercial success of the wordless picture book \u003cem\u003eSidewalk Flowers\u003c\/em\u003e, which was awarded four starred reviews in 2015.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe story is partially inspired by the biblical story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis, tapping into a literary and cultural touchstone.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCreated entirely through dialogue, with two visual storylines, the book is ingenious and unusual.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCurriculum connections include language arts (oral communication, reading, media literacy), arts\/drama (creating and presenting; reflecting, responding, analyzing; exploring forms and cultural contexts).\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","OtherText_Previous_review_q_0":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW COPIES:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003eBooklist\u003c\/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/li\u003e\r\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","OtherText_Review_0":"\u003cp\u003e“[A] simple, heartening tale about myth, ingenuity, and the human need to connect.” — \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eQuill \u0026 Quire\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_0_Src":"Quill and Quire","OtherText_Review_1":"\u003cp\u003e“A conversation starter.” — \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_1_Src":"Kirkus Reviews","OtherText_ShortDescription_0":"From two world-renowned creators, this picture book is about the power of song, inspired by the story of the Tower of Babel.","ProductFormDescription":"Kindle, Fixed Layout","PublicationDate":"2019-08-01","Publisher":"Groundwood Books Ltd","ShortDescription":"From two world-renowned creators, this picture book is about the power of song, inspired by the story of the Tower of Babel.","Width":"8.5","WidthCode":"in"}
ages 4
to 8
/ grades K
to 3