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One Amazing Thing
by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
"An incredible and highly original premise in the hands of a gifted storyteller has resulted in this jewel of a story. It is, to paraphrase the book's title, an amazing thing." --Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting For Stone "Divakaruni is a brilliant storyteller; she illuminates the world with her artistry; and shakes the reader with her love." --Junot Diaz Late afternoon sun sneaks through the windows... (more)
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Martin's Big Words
The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Doreen Rappaport, Bryan Collier
This picture book biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. brings his life and the profound nature of his message to young children through his own words. Martin Luther King, Jr., was one of the most influential and gifted speakers of all time. Doreen Rappaport uses quotes from some of his most beloved speeches to tell the story of his life and his work in a simple, direct way. Bryan Collier's stunning collage art... (more)
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The Story of Ruby Bridges
by Robert Coles
Category: Biography"Please, God, try to forgive those people. Because even if they say those bad things, They don't know what they're doing."This is the true story of an extraordinary 6-year-old who helped shape history when she became the first African-American sent to first grade in an all white school. This moving book captures the courage of a little girl standing alone in the face of racism."Ford's moving... (more)
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Saturdays and Teacakes
by Lester L. Laminack
When I was nine or ten years old I couldn't wait for Saturdays. I got up early, dressed, and rolled my bicycle out of the garage. SO BEGINS AUTHOR Lester Laminack's poetic memory of the adult who made him feel incredibly special--his grandmother. Every Saturday, the narrator, a young boy, rides his bicycle up and down country roads past farms, a graveyard, and a filling station, until he reaches his beloved... (more)
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Henry's Freedom Box
A True Story from the Underground Railroad
by Ellen Levine, Kadir Nelson
Henry Brown doesn't know how old he is. Nobody keeps records of slaves' birthdays. All the time he dreams about freedom, but that dream seems farther away than ever when he is torn from his family and put to work in a warehouse. When Henry grows up and marries, he is again devastated when his family is sold at the slave market. Then one day, as he lifts a crate at the warehouse, he knows exactly what he must do:... (more)
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Thank You, Mr. Falker
by Patricia Polacco
Citation:Polacco, P. (1998). Thank you, Mr. Falker. New York, NY: Philomel Books.Genre:Realistic Fiction (Autobiographical)This touching story is based on Polacco's own childhood and experiences in school.
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Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life
by Shauna Niequist
Cold Tangerines is a collection of stories that celebrate the extraordinary moments hidden in our everyday lives. It is about God, and about life, and about the thousands of daily ways in which an awareness of God changes and infuses everything. It is about spiritual life, and about all the things that we have called nonspiritual life that might be spiritual after all. It is the snapshots of a young woman making... (more)
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Who Was?
Who Was Walt Disney?
by Whitney Stewart
Walt Disney always loved to entertain people. Often it got him into trouble. Once he painted pictures with tar on the side of his family’s white house. His family was poor, and the happiest time of his childhood was spent living on a farm in Missouri. His affection for small-town life is reflected in Disneyland Main Streets around the world. With black-and-white illustrations throughout, this biography reveals the... (more)
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My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
by Christine King Farris
"Mother Dear, one day I'm going to turn this world upside down." Long before he became a world-famous dreamer, Martin Luther King Jr. was a little boy who played jokes and practiced the piano and made friends without considering race. But growing up in the segregated south of the 1930s taught young Martin a bitter lesson -- little white children and little black children were not to play with one another. Martin... (more)
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The Man Who Walked Between The Towers
by Mordicai Gerstein
In 1974, French aerialist Philippe Petit threw a tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center and spent an hour walking, dancing, and performing high-wire tricks a quarter mile in the sky. This picture book captures the poetry and magic of the event with a poetry of its own: lyrical words and lovely paintings that present the detail, daring, and--in two dramatic foldout spreads-- the vertiginous... (more)
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Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books
by Kay Winters
In a tiny log cabin a boy listened with delight to the storytelling of his ma and pa. He traced letters in sand, snow, and dust. He borrowed books and walked miles to bring them back. When he grew up, he became the sixteenth president of the United States. His name was Abraham Lincoln. He loved books. They changed his life. he changed the world.
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Moses
When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom
by Carole Boston Weatherford, Kadir Nelson
This poetic book is a resounding tribute to Tubman's strength, humility, and devotion. With proper reverence, Weatherford and Nelson do justice to the woman who, long ago, earned over and over the name Moses.
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Tea with Milk
by Allen Say
At home in San Francisco, May speaks Japanese and the family eats rice and miso soup and drinks green tea. When she visits her friends' homes, she eats fried chicken and spaghetti. May plans someday to go to college and live in an apartment of her own. But when her family moves back to Japan, she soon feels lost and homesick for America. In Japan everyone calls her by her Japanese name, Masako. She has to wear... (more)
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Odd Boy Out
Young Albert Einstein
by Don Brown
When he was born, Albert was a peculiar, fat baby with an unusually big and misshaped head. When he was older, he hit his sister, bothered his teachers, and didn’t have many friends. But in the midst of all of this, Albert was fascinated with solving puzzles and fixing scientific problems. The ideas Albert Einstein came up with during his childhood as an odd boy out were destined to change the way we know and... (more)
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Rosa
by Nikki Giovanni, Bryan Collier
Fifty years after her refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus, Mrs. Rosa Parks is still one of the most important figures in the American civil rights movement. This picture- book tribute to Mrs. Parks is a celebration of her courageous action and the events that followed.Award-winning poet, writer, and activist Nikki Giovannis evocative text combines with Bryan Colliers striking cut-paper... (more)
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The Other Side
by Jacqueline Woodson, E. B. Lewis
Clover has always wondered why a fence separates the black side of town from the white side. But this summer when Annie, a white girl from the other side, begins to sit on the fence, Clover grows more curious about the reason why the fence is there and about the daring girl who sits on it, rain or shine. And one day, feeling very brave, Clover approaches Annie. After all, why should a fence stand in the way of... (more)
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Who Was?
Who Was Amelia Earhart?
by Kate Boehm Jerome
Amelia Earhart was a woman of many "firsts." In 1932, she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1935, she also became the first woman to fly across the Pacific. From her early years to her mysterious 1937 disappearance while attempting a flight around the world, readers will find Amelia Earhart's life a fascinating story.
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Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope
by Nikki Grimes, Bryan Collier
Ever since Barack Obama was young, Hope has lived inside him. From the beaches of Hawaii to the streets of Chicago, from the jungles of Indonesia to the plains of Kenya, he has held on to Hope. Even as a boy, Barack knew he wasn't quite like anybody else, but through his journeys he found the ability to listen to Hope and become what he was meant to be: a bridge to bring people together. This is the moving story... (more)
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Balloons over Broadway
The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade
by Melissa Sweet
Who invented the first balloons for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Meet Tony Sarg, puppeteer extraordinaire! Everyone’s a New Yorker on Thanksgiving Day, when young and old rise early to see what giant new balloons will fill the skies for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Who first invented these “upside-down puppets”? In brilliant collage illustrations, the award-winning artist Melissa Sweet tells the story of the... (more)
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Christopher Columbus
by Marion Dane Bauer, Liz Goulet Dubois
Christopher Columbus dreamed of adventure and discovery. He sailed across an ocean to an unknown land. He showed the way. Many others followed. With simple, lyrical text and bold, kid-friendly illustrations, this book introduces Christopher Columbus to the youngest readers and inspires them to follow their dreams.

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