Rosa
Nikki Giovanni - 2005
When the policeman bent down to ask “Auntie, are you going to move?” all the strength of all the people through all those many years joined in her. She said, “No.”A picture book account of Rosa Park's historic choice.
Cleopatra: A Life
Stacy Schiff - 2010
Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator.Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She poisoned the second. Ultimately she dispensed with an ambitious sister as well; incest and assassination were family specialties. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, among the most prominent Romans of the day. Both were married to other women. Cleopatra had a child with Caesar and–after his murder–three more with his protégé. Already she was the wealthiest ruler in the Mediterranean; the relationship with Antony confirmed her status as the most influential woman of the age. The two would together attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled their ends. Cleopatra has lodged herself in our imaginations ever since.Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Shakespeare and Shaw put words in her mouth. Michelangelo, Tiepolo, and Elizabeth Taylor put a face to her name. Along the way, Cleopatra’s supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order. Rich in detail, epic in scope, Schiff ‘s is a luminous, deeply original reconstruction of a dazzling life.
The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle: Solving a Mystery of Ancient Egypt
Claudia Logan - 2002
Readers are invited to join a young boy, Will Hunt, as he and his family become part of an archaeological team led by world-famous Egyptologist Dr. George Reisner. Based on actual records of Reisner's history-making dig, Giza 7000X, this strikingly original picture book uses journal entries, funny postcards, and quirky cartoons to pull readers into an ancient unsolved mystery. Luminous paintings of the pyramids, informative sidebars and inventive collages, including authentic documents and archival photographs, help provide information and clues. When a secret tomb is uncovered, readers, along with Will, put together clues to discover: Whose tomb is this? Why was it hidden? And how can a mummy be missing from a sealed tomb?This illuminating book invites readers to participate in the process of archaeology as it provides a rare glimpse into the true stories that exist behind the objects in museums.The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle is a 2003 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins
Carole Boston Weatherford - 2004
This insightful story offers a child's-eye view of this seminal event in the American Civil Rights Movement. Connie is used to the signs and customs that have let her drink only from certain water fountains and which bar her from local pools and some stores, but still . . . she'd love to sit at the lunch counter, just like she's seen other girls do. Showing how an ordinary family becomes involved in the great and personal cause of their times, it's a tale that invites everyone to celebrate our country's everyday heroes, of all ages.
The Value of Understanding: The Story of Margaret Mead
Spencer Johnson - 1979
A biography, stressing the understanding and tolerance, of an anthropologist who did extensive studies of primitive cultures.
The Value of Truth and Trust: The Story of Cochise
Ann Donegan Johnson - 1977
A biography of Cochise, the Apache chief, whose life illustrates the values of trust and truth.
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt
Deborah Hopkinson - 1993
Then she overhears two slaves talking about the Underground Railroad. In a flash of inspiration, Clara sees how she can use the cloth in her scrap bag to make a map of the land--a freedom quilt--that no master will ever suspect.
Orphan of the Sun
Gill Harvey - 2006
Under pressure to marry Ramose, a dull, plodding stonecutter, she resists, and begs for guidance from the gods, but she's unable to decipher the message behind her dreams.
Fox On The Job (Easy To Read Level 3)
James Marshall - 1988
He tries working at a shoe store (too much!), an amusement park (too scary!), and even tries delivering pizzas (too fast!). Then he finds a job that's just his speed - bed testing in a store window! Zzzzzzz!
No More Monsters for Me!
Peggy Parish - 1981
. . a baby monster!Minneapolis Simpkin is hiding it down there. But a monster is a hard thing to keep secret, especially one that hiccups and cries, and gets bigger every hour.This Level One I Can Read is perfect for kids learning to sound out words and sentences. From the beloved creator of Amelia Bedelia, Peggy Parish, and illustrated by Caldecott medalist Marc Simont.
Voices from the March on Washington
J. Patrick Lewis - 2014
Throughout this moving, beautifully crafted collection of poems, six “soloists” tell their personal tales of how the March changed them. These voices are interwoven with those of more than 35 others, combining to share one incredible story of that important day. From a woman singing through a terrifying bus ride to DC to a young child riding above the crowd on her father’s shoulders, each voice brings something different and fresh to the story, making the March completely accessible to young readers. Based on extensive research, Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis and highly-lauded poet George Ella Lyon have crafted a unique and beautiful account of this important moment in our history.
Trickster: Native American Tales, A Graphic Collection
Matt DembickiTim Tingle - 2010
Whether a coyote or rabbit, raccoon or raven, Tricksters use cunning to get food, steal precious possessions, or simply cause mischief. In Trickster, the first graphic anthology of Native American trickster tales, more than twenty Native American tales are cleverly adapted into comic form. An inspired collaboration between Native writers and accomplished artists, these tales bring the Trickster back into popular culture in vivid form. From an ego-driven social misstep in "Coyote and the Pebbles" to the hijinks of "How Wildcat Caught a Turkey" and the hilarity of "Rabbit's Choctaw Tail Tale," Trickster bring together Native American folklore and the world of graphic novels for the first time.
Sowa's Ark: An Enchanted Bestiary
Michael Sowa - 1996
A miniature pig splashing in a bowl of soup; a duck leading a wheelbarrow down a country lane; a woman gently stroking her daughter's face with a rabbit: take a trip into Sowa's brilliant and darkly comic imagination, where a menagerie of creatures adopt strange personae and pop up in the most unexpected places. In the same realm as Chris Van Allsburg and Maurice Sendak, Sowa's paintings take on the other-worldly look of a whacked-out fairy tale—each work full of irony, a wry Brothers Grimm for grown-ups. These witty and satirical images—a cross between Magritte and The Far Side—are sure to attract a well-deserved and passionate following in the States.
I am Jackie Robinson
Brad Meltzer - 2015
But he lived at a time before the Civil Rights Movement, when the rules weren't fair to African Americans. Even though Jackie was a great athlete, he wasn't allowed on the best teams just because of the color of his skin. Jackie knew that sports were best when everyone, of every color, played together. He became the first black player in Major League Baseball, and his bravery changed African-American history and led the way to equality in all sports in America.This engaging series is the perfect way to bring American history to life for young children, providing them with the right role models, supplemementing Common Core learning in the classroom, and best of all, inspiring them to strive and dream.
The Secret of the Village Fool
Rebecca Upjohn - 2012
They reluctantly do as their mother asks when she asks them to visit their neighbor Anton, knowing that the rest of the village laughs at him because of his strange habits of speaking to animals and only eating vegetables. Things change quickly when war comes to their town in the form of Nazi soldiers searching for Jewish families like that of Milek and Munio. Anton refuses to tell the soldiers where to find them, and then goes so far as to hide the family in his own home, putting his life at risk without a thought. Based on a true story.