Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children


Jan Pinborough - 2013
    Reading wasn’t all that important for children, many thought. Luckily Miss Anne Carroll Moore thought otherwise! This is the true story of how Miss Moore created the first children’s room at the New York Public Library, a bright, warm room filled with artwork, window seats, and most important of all, borrowing privileges to the world’s best children’s books in many different languages.

Mamie on the Mound: A Woman in Baseball's Negro Leagues


Leah Henderson - 2020
    She was a talented player, but she wasn't welcome in the segregated All-American Girls Pro Baseball League due to the color of her skin. However, a greater opportunity came her way in 1953 when Johnson signed to play ball for the Negro Leagues' Indianapolis Clowns, becoming the first female pitcher to play on a men's professional team. During the three years she pitched for the Clowns, her record was an impressive 33-8. But more importantly, she broke ground for other female athletes and for women everywhere.

The Trouble with Time Travel


Stephen W. Martin - 2019
    Big trouble. Max has accidentally smashed an heirloom vase: the only treasure her great-great-great-great-great-great-grandma managed to save when her houseboat sank 234 years ago. Max can come clean—or, she can build a time machine! If she travels to the past and smashes the vase then, there will be nothing for her to break in the future. Brilliant!In the time machine—surprisingly easy to construct—Max and Boomer bump around to the past and the future, tangle the string of time, and crash into the ancestral houseboat, promptly sinking it. And in the past, the vase remains intact. Disheartened, Max and Boomer return to the moment just before their adventure began, to warn themselves NOT to build a time machine. Duly warned, Max tosses a Frisbee for Boomer, directly in the direction of the vase…

Pass Go and Collect $200: The Real Story of How Monopoly Was Invented


Tanya Lee Stone - 2018
    Waves of urban migration drew Lizzie’s attention to rising financial inequality. One day she had an idea: create a game that shows the unfairness of the landlord-tenant relationship. But game players seemed to have the most fun pretending to be wealthy landowners. Enter Charles Darrow, a marketer and salesman with a vision for transforming Lizzie’s game into an exciting staple of American family entertainment. Features back matter that includes "Monopoly Math" word problems and equations. Excellent STEM connections and resources.This title has Common Core connections.A Christy Ottaviano Book

Ocean Animals from Head to Tail


Stacey Roderick - 2016
    First, readers are shown a close-up illustration of an unusual part of an animal's body and asked to guess its owner: “What ocean animal has a head like this?” Then the following spread reveals the animal's name (e.g., “A hammerhead shark!”), along with an illustration of the whole animal in its habitat. There's also a brief description of the animal's traits with a special emphasis on the featured body part. For example, readers learn that a blue whale's mouth contains baleen, which help it capture krill to eat, and that the tail of a seahorse curls so it can hold on to sea plants for stability. Young children will recognize that every animal has its own distinctive features and body parts that help it survive. Author Stacey Roderick has created a perfect beginning exploration of the physical traits of ocean animals that's both engaging and informative. Paper collage illustrations by Kwanchai Moriya in bright, eye-catching colors bring the animals to vivid and appealing life. The fun, interactive nature of the guessing game makes this book ideal for a read-aloud. It would be a terrific addition to an early life-science class on the characteristics of living things or on types of ocean animals. A bonus spread includes information on eight more ocean animals.

Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival


Kirby Larson - 2008
    In the tradition of Owen and Mzee, this beautiful picture book is a testament to the spirit that defined post-Katrina rescue missions. During Hurricane Katrina, evacuating New Orleans residents were forced to leave their pets behind. Bobbi the dog was initially chained to keep her safe, but after her owners failed to return, she had to break free. For months, Bobbi wandered the city's ravaged streets-dragging her chain behind her-followed by her feline companion, Bob Cat. After months of hunger and struggle, the Two Bobbies were finally rescued by a construction worker helping to rebuild the city. When he brought them to a shelter, volunteers made an amazing discovery about the devoted friends-Bob Cat was actually blind! He had survived the aftermath of the storm by following the sound Bobbi's chain made as she dragged it along the ground.At the shelter, the two bob-tailed friends refused to be parted, even for a moment. Could rescue workers find the Bobbies' owners? Or could they find a new home that would take them together?

She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World


Chelsea Clinton - 2017
    In early 2017, Senator Elizabeth Warren’s refusal to be silenced in the Senate inspired a spontaneous celebration of women who persevered in the face of adversity. In this book, Chelsea Clinton celebrates thirteen American women who helped shape our country through their tenacity, sometimes through speaking out, sometimes by staying seated, sometimes by captivating an audience. They all certainly persisted.She Persisted is for everyone who has ever wanted to speak up but has been told to quiet down, for everyone who has ever tried to reach for the stars but was told to sit down, and for everyone who has ever been made to feel unworthy or unimportant or small.With vivid, compelling art by Alexandra Boiger, this book shows readers that no matter what obstacles may be in their paths, they shouldn’t give up on their dreams. Persistence is power.This book features: Harriet Tubman, Helen Keller, Clara Lemlich, Nellie Bly, Maria Tallchief, Claudette Colvin, Ruby Bridges, Margaret Chase Smith, Sally Ride, Florence Griffith Joyner, Oprah Winfrey, Sonia Sotomayor—and one special cameo.

John, Paul, George & Ben


Lane Smith - 2006
    . . John [Hancock], Paul [Revere], George [Washington], and Ben [Franklin]. Oh yes, there was also Tom [Jefferson], but he was annoyingly independent and hardly ever around. These lads were always getting into trouble for one reason or another. In other words, they took a few . . . liberties. And to be honest, they were not always appreciated. Until one day, they all played a part in securing America's freedom."Deftly drawn, witty, and instantly appealing, the illustrations creatively blend period elements such as wood-grain and crackle-glaze texturing, woodcut lines, and formal compositions typical of the era, with gaping mouths and stylized, spiraling eyes typical of modern cartoons," wrote Booklist, and School Library Journal declared, "Exercise your freedom to scoop up this one."

A Wizard from the Start: The Incredible Boyhood and Amazing Inventions of Thomas Edison


Don Brown - 2010
    At age fourteen he coined his personal motto: “The More to do, the more to be done,” and then went out and did: picking up skills and knowledge at every turn. When learning about things that existed wasn't enough, he dreamed up new inventions to improve the world. From humble beginnings as a farmer’s son, selling newspapers on trains and reading through public libraries shelf by shelf, Tom began his inventing career as a boy and became a legend as a man.

Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh


Sally M. Walker - 2015
    Harry was a veterinarian. But he was also a soldier in training for World War I. Harry named the bear Winnie, short for Winnipeg, his company’s home town, and he brought her along to the training camp in England. Winnie followed Harry everywhere and slept under his cot every night. Before long, she became the regiment’s much-loved mascot. But who could care for the bear when Harry had to go to the battleground in France? Harry found just the right place for Winnie while he was away — the London Zoo. There a little boy named Christopher Robin came along and played with Winnie — he could care for this bear too! Sally Walker’s heartwarming story, paired with Jonathan Voss’s evocative illustrations, brings to life the story of the real bear who inspired Winnie the Pooh.

A Boy Called Dickens


Deborah Hopkinson - 2012
    Yet it is a story worth telling. For it helps us remember how much we all might lose when a child's dreams don't come true . . . As a child, Dickens was forced to live on his own and work long hours in a rat-infested blacking factory. Readers will be drawn into the winding streets of London, where they will learn how Dickens got the inspiration for many of his characters. The 200th anniversary of Dickens's birth was February 7, 2012, and this tale of his little-known boyhood is the perfect way to introduce kids to the great author. This Booklist Best Children's Book of the Year is historical fiction at its ingenious best.

Our Flag Was Still There: The True Story of Mary Pickersgill and the Star-Spangled Banner


Jessie Hartland - 2019
    That’s huge! But how did it get there? And where did it come from? Well… The story of this giant flag begins in 1812 and stars a major on the eve of battle, a seamstress and her mighty helpers, and a poet named Francis Scott Key. This isn’t just the story of one flag. It’s the story of “The Star Spangled-Banner,” a poem that became our national anthem, too. Dynamically told and stunningly illustrated, Jessie Hartland brings this fascinating and true story to life.

King of Ragtime: The Story of Scott Joplin


Stephen Costanza - 2021
    The story of America's greatest musical pioneers follows Joplin from his first meeting with a piano to the creation of his record-breaking hit, “Maple Leaf Rag.” The book is set for spring 2019.

Earmuffs for Everyone!: How Chester Greenwood Became Known as the Inventor of Earmuffs


Meghan Mccarthy - 2015
    Earmuffs didn’t exist yet! But during yet another long and cold Maine winter, Chester decided to do something about his freezing ears, and he designed the first pair of ear protectors (a.k.a. earmuffs) out of wire, beaver fur, and cloth. He received a patent for his design by the time he was nineteen, and within a decade the Chester Greenwood & Company factory was producing and shipping “Champion Ear Protectors” worldwide! But that was just the beginning of Chester’s career as a successful businessman and prolific inventor. In this fun and fact-filled picture book you can find out all about his other clever creations. The Smithsonian has declared Chester Greenwood one of America’s most outstanding inventors. And if you’re ever in Maine on December 21, be sure to don a pair of earmuffs and celebrate Chester Greenwood day!

Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot's World War II Story


Marc Tyler Nobleman - 2018
    during WWII—the only enemy ever to do so—and comes back 20 years later to apologize. The devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, drew the United States into World War II in 1941. But few are aware that several months later, the Japanese pilot Nobuo Fujita dropped bombs in the woods outside a small town in coastal Oregon. This is the story of those bombings, and what came after, when Fujita returned to Oregon twenty years later, this time to apologize.      This remarkable true story, beautifully illustrated in watercolor, is an important and moving account of reconciliation after war.