The Windy Hill


Cornelia Meigs - 1921
    A family mystery is unraveled by a boy and girl visiting their uncle one summer.

The Jumping-Off Place


Marian Hurd McNeely - 1929
    In the early 1900s, four orphaned siblings, the eldest being seventeen, set out to fulfill their uncle's dream of homesteading in Tripp County, South Dakota, and although they face drought, discomfort, and sabotaging squatters, new friends and inner strength help them carry on.

The Blue Cat of Castle Town


Catherine Cate Coblentz - 1949
    His destiny is to find a friendly hearth and inspire its owner with the beauty and wisdom of the river's song.

Pecos Bill: The Greatest Cowboy of All Time


James Cloyd Bowman - 1937
    He became a member of a pack of wild Coyotes, and until he was a grown man, believed that his name was Cropear, and that he was a full-blooded Coyote. Later he discovered that he was a human being and very shortly thereafter became the greatest cowboy of all time. This is how it all came about.”A Newbery Honor book in 1938, James Bowman’s PECOS BILL is the perfect introduction to a great American comic hero and to the delights of the American tall tale. Jolted off the back of his westward-bound pioneer family’s covered wagon, four-year-old Bill is left in the dust by his eighteen wawling and brawling siblings and never-suspecting mom and dad. Raised by coyotes as one of their own, Bill retains a natural innocence while developing a host of supernatural powers. When he finds out that he is a man, not a coyote, and returns to confront the often inhuman human world, those powers will come in handy. Bill never uses them maliciously, always for good, or simply to amaze and amuse.James Bowman was a fine folklorist and an outstanding storyteller and he relates Pecos Bill’s wild deeds in a plainspoken voice that highlights their wonderful swagger and charm. With lively color and black-and-white illustrations by Laura Bannon, Bowman’s PECOS BILL remakes bedrock American myth into a novel full of high adventure, outrageous fantasy, laughter, and sheer fun.

Belling the Tiger


Mary Stolz - 1961
    And now, for the first time, the classic story is brought to life with colorful illustrations in a picture book format. Award-winning illustrator Pierre Pratt adds whimsical new art to this charming tale about two little mice assigned to a mission of putting a bell collar on the mean house cat. Following the successful trend in publishing classic stories in picture books with new illustrations, Belling the Tiger is an enchanting visual and literary adventure for readers aged 6 to 11.

Honk the Moose


Phil Stong - 1935
    What do you do when a moose takes over your town? Three young boys try to save a moose through the cold Minnesota winter.

Journey Outside


Mary Q. Steele - 1969
    And so one night he leaped onto a shelf of rock and watched the flotilla of the Raft People disappear. And from there he found his way Outside, into a world so beautiful and strange he could only suppose he had died-a world of day, and sun, of trees and sky.

A Day on Skates: The Story of a Dutch Picnic


Hilda van Stockum - 1934
    Vividly illustrated.

All Sail Set: A Romance of the Flying Cloud


Armstrong Sperry - 1935
    The era depicted in this novel is a time when the windships were the queens of the ocean and sail was king. McKay's company, located in East Boston, launched many of the fastest clipper ships in history, with Flying Cloud being his most famous ship of all.In All Sail Set , McKay puts Enoch to work during the lofting, building, and rigging of the Flying Cloud, and then to ship out on her for her maiden, record-breaking trip around the Horn. Accompanied by Sperry's wonderfully vigorous drawings, this realistic nautical yarn from the glory days of sail will appeal to adults as well as young adult readers with a taste for historical adventure.

The Avion My Uncle Flew


Cyrus Fisher - 1946
    "What a way to spend a summer," Johnny thought disgustedy. That was before he discovered a pistol hidden in a loaf of bread ... and got on the trail of a fugitive Nazi spy and a stolen fortune!

When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw and Other Stories


Isaac Bashevis Singer - 1968
    Eight stories based on traditional Jewish themes from Eastern Europe include: Shrewd Todie & Lyzer the Miser; Tsirtsur & Peziza; Rabbi Leib & the Witch Cunegunde; The Elders of Chelm & Genendel's Key; Shlemiel, the Businessman; Utzel & His Daughter Poverty; Menaseh's Dream; When Shlemiel went to War

Graven Images


Paul Fleischman - 1982
    Crispin; and a statue commissioned by a ghost - effect revelations of murder and romance in three tales for young teens.

Hurry Home, Candy


Meindert DeJong - 1953
    He had no name, and no one to love him. He has only the silent, empty countryside, and a few crumbs and bare bones he could pick up. He had only himself, and he was afraid. Along the way, the little dog found a few friends, people who gave him shelter for a while, but always he moved on -- until he found a place he could call home forever.

Figgs & Phantoms


Ellen Raskin - 1974
    You would be too if your family consisted of: Sister Figg Newton (Tap Dancer, Baton Twirler, and also your mother); Truman, the human pretzel (your uncle); Aunt Gracie Jo, the dog catcher, and her son, Fido the Second. To name a few. The only person Mona really gets along with is Uncle Florence, the book dealer. And he keeps hinting that he may have to leave Mona soon to go to Figg family heaven, a place referred to as "Capri." But where is Capri, and why do all the Figgs go there? To find her uncle, Mona knows she must find out.

After the Rain


Norma Fox Mazer - 1987
    She worries about whether her family understands her, whether her friends like her, and whether she'll get her first kiss before she turns sixteen. And she worries about whether she can handle having a real boyfriend if he does come along.But it takes a dying old man -- her grandfather -- who has never been easy for anyone to handle, to show Rachel she has very special abilities. With love and compassion, she reaches the heart of an old tyrant who has always been unreachable. And in so doing, she comes to a better understanding of her family, her friends, and herself.