Year of the Jungle


Suzanne Collins - 2013
    Suzy spends her year in first grade waiting for her father, who is serving in Vietnam, and when the postcards stop coming she worries that he will never make it home.

Journey to Topaz: A Story of the Japanese-American Evacuation


Yoshiko Uchida - 1971
    Uprooted from her home and shipped with thousands of West Coast Japanese Americans to a desert concentration camp called Topaz, Yuki and her family face new hardships daily.

Hiawatha and the Peacemaker


Robbie Robertson - 2015
    Now he shares the same gift of storytelling with a new generation. Hiawatha was a strong and articulate Mohawk who was chosen to translate the Peacemaker’s message of unity for the five warring Iroquois nations during the 14th century. This message not only succeeded in uniting the tribes but also forever changed how the Iroquois governed themselves—a blueprint for democracy that would later inspire the authors of the U.S. Constitution. Caldecott Honor–winning illustrator David Shannon brings the journey of Hiawatha and the Peacemaker to life with arresting oil paintings. Together, Robertson and Shannon have crafted a new children’s classic that will both educate and inspire readers of all ages. Includes a CD featuring a new, original song written and performed by Robbie Robertson.

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - 1861
    Illustrator Christoper Bing adds luminous paintings, historically rich engravings, and other enrichments to Longfellow's poem, tying the fiction into the fact of what really happened on that April night.

Rolling Thunder


Kate Messner - 2017
    High fives. Spirits soar.Every Memorial Day in Washington, DC, more than a million veterans and their supporters gather for the Rolling Thunder Ride for Freedom, a demonstration that pays tribute to the men and women of the US armed forces. This lyrical story honors the bravery and sacrifice of those American heroes -- the ones who have returned home, and the ones who haven't.

The Listeners


Gloria Whelan - 2009
    She is a slave. It’s dark in the morning when Ella May heads to the fields to pick cotton. And it’s sunset when she comes home. But her day isn’t done, not yet. Ella May still has important work to do. She’s got to listen.Each night Ella May and her friends secretly listen outside the windows of their master’s house. The children listen in the hopes of gleaning information about their fates and those of their loved ones. Who will be sold? Who will stay?The lives of slaves depended on the inclinations of their owners. They had no control over their daily lives or futures. But they could dream. And when the promise of freedom appears on the horizon, the children are the first to hear it.Book Details: Format: Hardcover Publication Date: 9/8/2009 Pages: 40 Reading Level: Age 6 and Up

Roxaboxen


Alice McLerran - 1991
    There across the road, it looked like any rocky hill—nothing but sand and rocks, and some old wooden boxes. But it was a special place. And all children needed to go there was a long stick and a soaring imagination.“A celebration of the transforming magic of the imagination. An original.” —ALA Booklist

Round Trip


Ann Jonas - 1983
    The trip to the city is read from front to back and the return trip from back to front, upside down.

Sir Cumference and the First Round Table: A Math Adventure


Cindy Neuschwander - 1997
    King Arthur was a good ruler, but now he needs a good ruler. What would you do if the neighboring kingdom were threatening war? Naturally, you'd call your strongest and bravest knights together to come up with a solution. But when your conference table causes more problems than the threat of your enemy, you need expert help. Enter Sir Cumference, his wife Lady Di of Ameter, and their son Radius. With the help of the carpenter, Geo of Metry, this sharp-minded team designs the perfect table conducive to discussing the perfect plan for peace. The first in Sir Cumference series, SIR CUMFERENCE AND THE FIRST ROUND TABLE makes math fun and accessible for everyone.

John Ronald's Dragons: The Story of J. R. R. Tolkien


Caroline McAlister - 2017
    R. R. Tolkien.John Ronald loved dragons. He liked to imagine dragons when he was alone, and with his friends, and especially when life got hard or sad. After his mother died and he had to live with a cold-hearted aunt, he looked for dragons. He searched for them at his boarding school. And when he fought in a Great War, he felt as if terrible, destructive dragons were everywhere. But he never actually found one, until one day, when he was a grown man but still very much a boy at heart, when he decided to create one of his own. John Ronald's Dragons, a picture book biography by Caroline McAlister and illustrated by Eliza Wheeler, introduces the beloved creator of Middle Earth and author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to a new generation of children who see magic in the world around them.

Christmas in the Trenches


John McCutcheon - 2006
    Full color. With CD

How I Became a Pirate


Melinda Long - 2003
    I know about pirates, because one day, when I was at the beach building a sand castle and minding my own business, a pirate ship sailed into view.So proclaims Jeremy Jacob, a boy who joins Captain Braid Beard and his crew in this witty look at the finer points of pirate life by the Caldecott Honor–winning illustrator David Shannon and the storyteller Melinda Long. Jeremy learns how to say “scurvy dog,” sing sea chanteys, and throw food . . . but he also learns that there are no books or good night kisses on board: “Pirates don’t tuck.” A swashbuckling adventure with fantastically silly, richly textured illustrations that suit the story to a T.

Grace for President


Kelly DiPucchio - 2007
    "Where are the girls?" When Grace's teacher reveals that the United States has never had a female president, Grace decides she wants to be the nation's first and immediately jumpstarts her political career by running in her school's mock election! The race is tougher than she expected: her popular opponent declares that he's the "best man for the job" and seems to have captured the votes of all of the class's boys. But Grace is more determined than ever. Even if she can't be the best man for the job, she can certainly try to be the best person! This timely story not only gives readers a fun introduction to the American electoral system but also teaches the value of hard work, courage, independent thought -- and offers an inspiring example of how to choose our leaders.

The Chestry Oak


Kate Seredy - 1948
    Young Michael of Hungary carries an acorn all the way from his castle home in Chestry Valley to the warm soil of the Hudson Valley farm in the USA where he makes a new home after WWII.It was difficult to decide which are the most unforgettable; the scenes in Hungary, Michael's proud, valiant father and his beloved Nana, or the friendly young GI and his family who take Michael to their hearts and make him their own.Perhaps the most compelling character of all is Midnight, the dancing black stallion, full of fire and beauty, and trained to perform before princes.Kate Seredy's drawings make this a book to treasure.

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear


Lindsay Mattick - 2015
    He named the bear Winnie, after his hometown of Winnipeg, and he took the bear to war. Harry Colebourn's real-life great-granddaughter Lindsay Mattick recounts their incredible journey, from a northern Canadian town to a convoy across the ocean to an army base in England . . . and finally to the London Zoo, where Winnie made a new friend: a boy named Christopher Robin. Gentle yet haunting illustrations by acclaimed illustrator Sophie Blackall bring the wartime era to life, and are complemented by photographs and ephemera from the Colebourn family archives. Here is the remarkable true story of the bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh.