Post Office in Albany, New York. Workers found him the next morning asleep on a pile of mail pouches. The dog seemed to like the post office and the smell of the mailbags and the men’s wool uniforms. When no one came to claim him, they named him Owney and made him their pet. However, Owney’s loyalty and sense of adventure soon made it clear he wasn’t just an average mutt. Over the course of nine years, Owney guarded the mail—not only in Albany but on mail trains that traveled all over the United States.Accompanied by lively pen-and-watercolor illustrations, this is a delightful true story of a special dog whose faithful service earned him a trip around the world. Owney can be seen in the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum.Owney, the Mail-Pouch Pooch is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

    Tired? Check the Green Book. Sick? Check the Green Book.In the late 1930s when segregation was legal and Black Americans couldn't visit every establishment or travel everywhere they wanted to safely, a New Yorker named Victor Hugo Green decided to do something about it. Green wrote and published a guide that listed places where his fellow Black Americans could be safe in New York City. The guide sold like hot cakes! Soon customers started asking Green to make a guide to help them travel and vacation safely across the nation too. With the help of his mail carrier co-workers and the African American business community, Green's guide allowed millions of African Americans to travel safely and enjoy traveling across the nation.In the first picture book about the creation and distribution of The Green Book, author Keila Dawson and illustrator Alleanna Harris tell the story of the man behind it and how this travel guide opened the road for a safer, more equitable America.

    Here comes the train. And it’s rolling down the tracks in this vibrant picture book! Follow it along and count the birds that join the trip. All aboard, and all join in as the cheerful little train chugs past the seaside, the farm, the forest, the city, and into the station for a nice long rest. Along the way, a flock of noisy seagulls and blackbirds, pigeons and geese hop on for the ride. Kids will have fun looking at Emma Garcia’s colorful, collaged landscapes and counting all the honking, cooing, tweeting birds.

    Each spread features an easy-to-understand scenario such as dice rolling, with questions about probable outcomes and simple explanations. In the vein of Great Estimations, this is a perfect book for getting across important math concepts in a fun way.

    Perfect for reading on winter days, the book features photos of real snow crystals in their beautiful diversity. Snowflake-catching instructions are also included.

    Despairing from the relentless teasing Crocky enlists the help of a local witch doctor who has an ingenious plan to deal with the monkey menace.A disgustingly funny story, Snotty Crocky is both hilarious and simple in its execution of a tale about standing up to bullies.A combination of read-along-verse by Papa G (Pedro The Ugliest Dog In The World) and illustrations by Carlos Patino which perfectly capture the humour of the story, Snotty Crocky is an excellent picture book for children to read along with their parents.

    In this evocative collection of poems illustrated by beautiful handmade quilts, Anna Grossnickle Hines explores peace in all its various and sometimes surprising forms: from peace at home to peace on a worldwide scale to peace within oneself.  Pondering the meaning of peace and its fleeting nature, this book compels each of us to discover and act upon peace ourselves.

    This Eyewitness book uncovers the story behind the story of this majestic ship, from its borth in a Belfast shipyard to its death in the icy Atlantic. Renderings, photographs, and deck plans accompany a compelling narrative of courage and cowardice, sacrifice, and survival.

    

    They will learn about the great steam locomotives that crossed the United States, joining east and west in 1869. And they will learn about the different technologies­­—steam, diesel, electric, and electromagnetic­­—that continue to make trains an important part of our modern world. Illustrated with full color and black & white photos.Step 3 readers feature engaging characters in easy-to-follow plots about popular topics—for children who are ready to read on their own.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    . . a truck? Yes, a truck! And a truck . . . And a truck . . . And a railroad car, if it gets stuck. A truck, a train, a car, a plane can all be lifted with a crane." From poet Rebecca Kai Dotlich and artist Mike Lowery comes a rollicking picture book about cranes--the kind that pick things up! We start with pipes and bricks and loads of steel and then move on to funny, whimsical objects: a cow, a ferris wheel, men in business suits, and an ancient mummy's case. With a rhyme that begs to be read aloud again and again, and quirky, exuberant illustrations, this book is sure to delight kids and parents alike. But watch out: "Cranes pick UP--that's what they do! Look out, or a crane might pick up you!

    But what if it the truck breaks down and blocks the mail truck behind it (now there are two), not to mention a third truck carrying hay? One by one, trucks of all types and sizes and functions are sure to pile up behind, offering ample opportunity for ogling — and counting. And maybe the boy’s idea for putting one of the trucks to good use might even save the day!

    The family were struggling Polish immigrants, and despite Keats’s obvious talent, his father worried that Ezra’s dream of being an artist was an unrealistic one. But Ezra was determined. By high school he was winning prizes and scholarships. Later, jobs followed with the WPA and Marvel comics. But it was many years before Keats’s greatest dream was realized and he had the opportunity to write and illustrate his own book.   For more than two decades, Ezra had kept pinned to his wall a series of photographs of an adorable African American child. In Keats’s hands, the boy morphed into Peter, a boy in a red snowsuit, out enjoying the pristine snow; the book became The Snowy Day, winner of the Caldecott Medal, the first mainstream book to feature an African American child. It was also the first of many books featuring Peter and the children of his — and Keats’s — neighborhood.   Andrea David Pinkney’s lyrical narrative tells the inspiring story of a boy who pursued a dream, and who, in turn, inspired generations of other dreamers.

    Beginning in 1922, when Edith Houghton was only ten years old, she tried out for a women’s professional baseball team, the Philadelphia Bobbies. Though she was the smallest on the field, soon reporters were talking about “The Kid” and her incredible skill, and crowds were packing the stands to see her play. Her story reminds us that baseball has never been about just men and boys. Baseball is also about talented girls willing to work hard to play any way they can.

    Back matter includes an author’s note, an illustrator’s note, a bibliography, and an index.