Sumo Joe


Mia Wenjen - 2019
    But on Saturday afternoons, he and his friends are sumo wrestlers! They tie on makeshift mawashi belts, practice drills like teppo, and compete in their homemade dohyo ring. They even observe sumo's ultimate rule: no girls allowed! But when Sumo Joe's little sister wants to join in the fun, Sumo Joe is torn between the two things he's best at--sumo, and being a big brother.Fists, feet, and martial art forms collide in this sweet yet spirited rhyming story by author Mia Wenjen and illustrator Nat Iwata.

How Many Donkeys?: An Arabic Counting Tale


Margaret Read MacDonald - 2009
    How many donkeys are there? His son helps him count ten, but once the journey starts, things change. First there are ten donkeys, then there are nine! When Jouha stops to count again, the lost donkey is back. What's going on? Silly Jouha doesn't get it, but by the end of the story, wise readers will be counting correctly - and in Arabic! Margaret Read MacDonald and Nadia Jameel Taibah are the tellers of this funny tale from the Middle East. The sunny pictures were painted by Carol Liddiment.

America's Champion Swimmer: Gertrude Ederle


David A. Adler - 2000
    At seventeen Trudy won three medals at the 1924 Olympics in Paris. But what she planned to do next had never been done by a woman: She would swim across the English Channel in fourteen hours and set a world record.

Keep Climbing, Girls


Beah E. Richards - 2006
    Richards. First published in 1951, her poem is given new life in this edition that includes an introduction by LisaGay Hamilton and stunning illustrations by R. Gregory Christie. With its inspirational messsage, this book will empower children with the realization that "the path of life goes up and up/not down!"

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat


Javaka Steptoe - 2016
    But before that, he was a little boy who saw art everywhere: in poetry books and museums, in games and in the words that we speak, and in the pulsing energy of New York City. Now, award-winning illustrator Javaka Steptoe's vivid text and bold artwork echoing Basquiat's own introduce young readers to the powerful message that art doesn't always have to be neat or clean--and definitely not inside the lines--to be beautiful.

Yoon and the Jade Bracelet


Helen Recorvits - 2008
    Instead, Yoon's mother gives her a Korean storybook about a silly girl who is tricked by a tiger. Yoon also receives a jade bracelet that once belonged to her grandmother. The next day at school, a girl offers to teach Yoon how to jump rope, but for a price: she wants to borrow the jade bracelet. When Yoon tries to get her bracelet back, the girl swears it belongs to her. Yoon must use the lessons learned in her storybook and her "Shining Wisdom" to retrieve the precious keepsake.In this third book featuring Yoon, lush impressionistic dreamscapes evoke a simple and timeless message: it is possible to trick a tiger.Yoon and the Jade Bracelet is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

The Can Man


Laura E. Williams - 2010
    To earn money, a young boy decides to collect and redeem empty soft drink cans, but ends up giving away his money to help a local homeless man.

The Adventures of Sparrowboy


Brian Pinkney - 1997
    Then Henry runs across a sparrow with the same ability and suddenly takes off! Suddenly airborne, he delivers papers from above then realizes a bully is threatening his neighbors. This super-boy knows it’s up to him to take the neighborhood under his wing!

My First Kwanzaa Book


Deborah M. Newton Chocolate - 1992
    Grandma brings special things to eat, Grandpa lights the candles, and everyone in the family celebrates their heritage.

Bow-Wow-Meow


Blanca Lacasa - 2017
    She writes lyrics and books for adults and children. She has published with several Publishing Houses in Spain. Bow Wow Meow is her first picture book with NubeOcho and her first picture book in the USA.GOMEZ studied Fine Arts at the prestigious University of Salamanca (Spain). A new talent, she has worked for several publishing houses in Europe, such as SM in Spain, Le Petit Bulles Edition in France, and Scholastics and Sterling in the USA.

All The Way to Lhasa: A Tale from Tibet


Barbara Helen Berger - 2002
    A young boy and his yak bravely overcome all odds to get to Lhasa, giving a wise and simple message that will inspire children of any age to dream and reach for a shining goal that may seem "very far."

My Dream of Martin Luther King


Faith Ringgold - 1995
    Ringgold describes a dream she has about Martin Luther King. It's a dream that includes scenes of segregation and protest--which, in a brilliant leap of imagination, she imagines King experiencing as a child--and scenes from King's adult life, from the Montgomery bus boycott to the March on Washington to his assassination. Framing this dream is a uniquely personal vision of Ms. Ringgold's own in which she visualizes the people of the world gathering in King's memory to trade in their prejudice, fear, and hate for hope, peace, and love--the fulfillment of King's dream of nonviolent social change. Cover excerpt, My Dream of Martin Luther King by Faith Ringgold, Crown Publishers, New York 1995.

The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark


Carmen Agra Deedy - 2000
    When the order goes out that all Jews must wear a yellow star on their clothes, the king has an idea that might just work. But it would take the faith and commitment of all Danes.In this retelling of a World War II legend, New York Times best-selling author Carmen Agra Deedy poignantly remind us of the power of a good, wise leader. Paired with Henri S�rensen's arresting full-color portraits, this is a powerful and dignified story of heroic justice.Teacher's Guide available!Bologna Ragazzi Award for Children's Non-FictionChristopher Award (Books for Young People)Jane Addams Peace Prize (Honor Book)ABC Children's Booksellers' Choices (Non-fiction)Notable Books for a Global Society

Sewing Stories: Harriet Powers' Journey from Slave to Artist


Barbara Herkert - 2015
    She lived through the Civil War and Reconstruction, and eventually owned a cotton farm with her family, all the while relying on her skills with the needle to clothe and feed her children.   Later she began making pictorial quilts, using each square to illustrate Bible stories and local legends. She exhibited her quilts at local cotton fairs, and though she never traveled outside of Georgia, her quilts are now priceless examples of African American folk art.   Barbara Herkert’s lyrical narrative and Vanessa Newton’s patchwork illustrations bring this important artist to life in a moving picture-book biography.

Swing Sisters: The Story of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm


Karen Deans - 2014
    Laurence Clifton Jones opened a special home for African American orphans in Mississippi called Piney Woods Country Life School. There, students worked hard on their studies, and no one worked harder than the young musicians who played in the Sweethearts, the schools all-girl swing band. Their music had rhythms and melodies that got people dancing! When the Sweethearts left Piney Woods, they moved to Washington, D.C., to try to make it to the big-time. It wasnt always easy, and it wasnt always safe, but the talented Sweethearts of Rhythm ultimately became an international sensation. Joe Cepedas exuberant illustrations celebrate these brave musicians who chipped away at racist and sexist barriers, and whose music reminded audiences how great it feels to be alive.