Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie


Peter Roop - 1985
    In the winter of 1856, a storm delays the lighthouse keeper's return to an island off the coast of Maine, and his daughter Abbie must keep the lights burning by herself.

The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos


Deborah Heiligman - 2013
    And, it's true, many of them do. But Paul Erdos never followed the usual path. At the age of four, he could ask you when you were born and then calculate the number of seconds you had been alive in his head. But he didn't learn to butter his own bread until he turned twenty. Instead, he traveled around the world, from one mathematician to the next, collaborating on an astonishing number of publications. With a simple, lyrical text and richly layered illustrations, this is a beautiful introduction to the world of math and a fascinating look at the unique character traits that made "Uncle Paul" a great man.

Ruth and the Green Book


Calvin Alexander Ramsey - 2010
    Along the way they encounter prejudice, but they also discover The Green Book, a real guide to accommodations which was published for decades to aid African-American travelers as they faced prejudice on the roads across the country.

Eric Carle's Animals Animals


Eric Carle - 1989
    This celebration of the wonder and variety of earth's animals is "joyous...a book to be shared" (Booklist, starred review).

My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


Christine King Farris - 2003
    Martin Luther King Jr., joins with celebrated illustrator Chris Soentpiet to tell this “outstanding” (School Library Journal) and inspirational story of how one boyhood experience inspired a movement that would change the world as we know it.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 decided then and there that something had to be done. And so he began the journey that would change the course of American history.

Juneteenth for Mazie


Floyd Cooper - 2015
    She is ready to celebrate freedom. She is ready to celebrate a great day in American history — the day her ancestors were no longer slaves. Mazie remembers the struggles and the triumph, as she gets ready to celebrate Juneteenth.This beautiful story by award-winning author and illustrator Floyd Cooper will captivate both children and adults.

Mailing May


Michael O. Tunnell - 1997
    But when Charlotte May Pierstorff wanted to cross seventy-five miles of Idaho mountains to see her grandma in 1914, it was a very big deal indeed. There was no highway except the railroad, and a train ticket would have cost her parents a full day's pay.Here is the true story of how May got to visit her grandma, thanks to her own spunk, her father's ingenuity, and the U.S. mail. "A heartwarming period piece based on a true incident, lovingly told, beautifully illustrated," raved The New York Times Book Review of Michael O. Tunnell's Mailing May, illustrated by Ted Rand, which was also honored as a 1998 ALA Notable Book.

So Tall Within: Sojourner Truth's Long Walk Toward Freedom


Gary D. Schmidt - 2018
    Schmidt comes a picture book biography of a giant in the struggle for civil rights.Sojourner Truth was born into slavery but possessed a mind and a vision that knew no bounds. So Tall Within traces her life from her childhood through her emancipation to her leadership in the movement for rights for both women and African Americans.

The First Dog


Jan Brett - 1988
    Jan Brett’s popular tale of adventure in prehistoric times is now a big book!

The Doctor with an Eye for Eyes: The Story of Dr. Patricia Bath


Julia Finley Mosca - 2017
    Meet Dr. Bath—the scientist who never lost sight of her dreams!As a girl coming of age during the Civil Rights Movement, Patricia Bath made it her mission to become a doctor. When obstacles like racism, poverty, and sexism threatened this goal, she persevered—brightening the world with a game-changing treatment for blindness!The Doctor with an Eye for Eyes: The Story of Dr. Patricia Bath is the second book in a brand new educational series about the inspirational lives of amazing scientists! In addition to the illustrated rhyming tale, you'll find a complete biography, fun facts, a colorful timeline of events, and even a note from Dr. Bath herself!

Two Friends


Dean Robbins - 2016
    Anthony and Frederick Douglass, get together for tea and conversation. They recount their similar stories fighting to win rights for women and African Americans. The premise of this particular exchange between the two is based on a statue in their hometown of Rochester, New York, which shows the two friends having tea.

Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess


Richard Platt - 1999
    Eleven-year-old Toby’s vivid diary entries offer an insider’s view of day-to-day castle life, including tips on etiquette (where do you spit at a feast?) and exciting descriptions of hunting, jousting, and harvesting. Complete with glossary, index, and detailed endnotes, this is a rich look at medieval life that informs as much as it entertains.

Jefferson's Sons


Kimberly Brubaker Bradley - 2011
    The lighter-skinned children have been promised a chance to escape into white society, but what does this mean for the children who look more like their mother? As each child grows up, their questions about slavery and freedom become tougher, calling into question the real meaning of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."Told in three parts from the points of view of three of Jefferson's slaves - Beverly, Madison, and a third boy close to the Hemings family - these engaging and poignant voices shed light on what life was like as one of Jefferson's invisible offspring.

Who Was Abraham Lincoln?


Janet B. Pascal - 2008
    But Lincoln was tragically shot one night at Ford's Theater--the first President to be assassinated. Over 100 black-and-white illustrations and maps are included.

Ada's Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay


Susan Hood - 2016
    She dreamed of playing the violin, but with little money for anything but the bare essentials, it was never an option...until a music teacher named Favio Chávez arrived. He wanted to give the children of Cateura something special, so he made them instruments out of materials found in the trash. It was a crazy idea, but one that would leave Ada—and her town—forever changed. Now, the Recycled Orchestra plays venues around the world, spreading their message of hope and innovation.