Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova


Laurel Snyder - 2015
    . .One night, her mother takes her to the ballet, and everything is changed. Anna finds a beauty inside herself that she cannot contain.So begins the journey of a girl who will one day grow up to be the most famous prima ballerina of all time, inspiring legions of dancers after her: the brave, the generous, the transcendently gifted Anna Pavlova.

Pop!: The Invention of Bubble Gum


Meghan Mccarthy - 2010
    It's been around for centuries; from the ancient Greeks to the American Indians, everyone's chewed it. But the best kind of gum; bubble gum! wasn't invented until 1928, when an enterprising young accountant at Fleer Gum and Candy used his spare time to experiment with different recipes. Bubble-blowing kids everywhere will be delighted with Megan McCarthy's entertaining pictures and engaging fun facts as they learn the history behind the pink perfection of Dubble Bubble.

They Say Blue


Jillian Tamaki - 2018
    They Say Blue follows a young girl as she contemplates colours in the known and the unknown, in the immediate world and the world beyond what she can see. The sea looks blue, yet water cupped in her hands is as clear as glass. Is a blue whale blue? She doesn’t know — she hasn’t seen one.Stunningly beautiful illustrations flow from one spread to the next, as time passes and the imagination takes hold. The world is full of colour, and mystery too, in this first picture book from a highly acclaimed artist.

Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life


Molly Bang - 2009
    We are all dancing sunlight. The book is co-authored by award-winning M.I.T. professor Penny Chisholm, a leading expert on ocean science. A perfect addition to any library!

Apples and Robins


Lucie Felix - 2013
    . . are circles and the color red. In this extraordinary book, one thing transforms into another as each page turns—a circle becomes an apple, an oval becomes a bird, winter becomes spring. Constantly surprising and brilliantly constructed, Lucie Félix's Apples and Robins is full of the magic of shape, color, and imagination. All you need to do . . . is turn the page.

Blizzard


John Rocco - 2014
    Told with a brief text and dynamic illustrations, the book opens with a boy's excitement upon seeing the first snowflake fall outside his classroom window. It ends with the neighborhood's immense relief upon seeing the first snowplow break through on their street. In between the boy watches his familiar landscape transform into something alien, and readers watch him transform into a hero who puts the needs of others first.

Come On, Rain!


Karen Hesse - 1999
    Lyrically written and lovingly illustrated." - School Library Journal "Hesse's language is a quiet, elegant surge.... Muth contributes fine watercolor atmospherics." - Kirkus Reviews

Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year


Fiona Waters - 2018
    Filled with familiar favorites and new discoveries written by a wide variety of poets, including William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, John Updike, Langston Hughes, N. M. Bodecker, Okamoto Kanoko, and many more, this is the perfect book for children (and grown-ups!) to share at the beginning or the end of the day.

Over in the Meadow


Olive A. Wadsworth - 1971
    Keats's collage-style illustrations perfectly complement this classic Appalachian counting rhyme, which is also a popular song for toddlers.

We Are Still Here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know


Traci Sorell - 2021
    This companion book to the award-winning We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga offers readers everything they never learned in school about Native American people's past, present, and future. Precise, lyrical writing presents topics including: forced assimilation (such as boarding schools), land allotment and Native tribal reorganization, termination (the US government not recognizing tribes as nations), Native urban relocation (from reservations), self-determination (tribal self-empowerment), Native civil rights, the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), religious freedom, economic development (including casino development), Native language revival efforts, cultural persistence, and nationhood.

Infinity and Me


Kate Hosford - 2012
    How many stars were in the sky? A million? A billion? Maybe the number was as big as infinity. I started to feel very, very small. How could I even think about something as big as infinity? Uma can't help feeling small when she peers up at the night sky. She begins to wonder about infinity. Is infinity a number that grows forever? Is it an endless racetrack? Could infinity be in an ice cream cone? Uma soon finds that the ways to think about this big idea may just be . . . infinite.

Owl Moon


Jane Yolen - 1987
    The trees stand still as statues and the world is silent as a dream. Whoo-whoo-whoo, the father calls to the mysterious nighttime bird.But there is no answer.Wordlessly the two companions walk along, for when you go owling you don't need words. You don't need anything but hope. Sometimes there isn't an owl, but sometimes there is.Distinguished author Jane Yolen has created a gentle, poetic story that lovingly depicts the special companionship of a young child and her father as well as humankind's close relationship to the natural world. Wonderfully complemented by award-winning John Schoenherr's soft, exquisite watercolor illustrations, this is a verbal and visual treasure, perfect for reading aloud and sharing at bedtime.

Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13


Helaine Becker - 2018
    But do you know about the mathematical genius who made sure that Apollo 13 returned safely home?As a child, Katherine Johnson loved to count. She counted the steps on the road, the number of dishes and spoons she washed in the kitchen sink, everything! Boundless, curious, and excited by calculations, young Katherine longed to know as much as she could about math, about the universe.From Katherine's early beginnings as a gifted student to her heroic accomplishments as a prominent mathematician at NASA, this is the story of a groundbreaking American woman who not only calculated the course of moon landings but, in turn, saved lives and made enormous contributions to history.

Won-Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku


Lee Wardlaw - 2011
    Bed. Bowl. Blankie. Just like home! Or so I've been told.  Visiting hours! Yawn. I pretend not to care. Yet -- I sneak a peek.  So begins this beguiling tale of a wary shelter cat and the boy who takes him home.Sometimes funny, sometimes touching, this adoption story, told entirely in haiku, is unforgettable.

Seeds of Change: Wangari's Gift to the World


Jen Cullerton Johnson - 2010
    A picture book biography of scientist Wangari Maathai, the first African womanand first environmentalistto win a Nobel Peace Prize (in 2004), for her work planting trees in her native Kenya.