Book picks similar to
The Tortilla Factory by Gary Paulsen


picture-books
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My Five Senses Big Book


Aliki - 1962
    Beloved author-illustrator Aliki’s simple, engaging text and colorful artwork show young readers how they use their senses to smell a rose or play with a puppy. This oversize edition—perfect for sharing in a library or classroom—invites young readers to use each of their five senses to explore the world around them. Both text and artwork were expert-reviewed for accuracy.As Children's Books and Their Creators put it: Aliki "treats complex topics clearly and succinctly while providing lively pictures, with informative details and humorous elements often appearing in 'balloons.'" Aliki's books continue to speak to today's young readers.This is a Level 1 Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out, which means the book explores introductory concepts perfect for children in the primary grades and supports the Common Core Learning Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out is the winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Science Books & Films Prize for Outstanding Science Series.

Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes


Nicola Davies - 2014
    All around the world -- in the sea, in the soil, in the air, and in your body -- there are living things so tiny that millions could fit on an ant's antenna. They're busy doing all sorts of things, from giving you a cold and making yogurt to eroding mountains and helping to make the air we breathe. If you could see them with your eye, you'd find that they all look different, and that they're really good at changing things into something else and at making many more microbes like themselves! From Nicola Davies comes a first exploration for young readers of the world's tiniest living organisms.

Ada Lovelace: The Poet of Science


Diane Stanley - 2016
    Like her mother, she had a passion for science, math, and machines. It was a very good combination. Ada hoped that one day she could do something important with her creative and nimble mind.A hundred years before the dawn of the digital age, Ada Lovelace envisioned the computer-driven world we know today. And in demonstrating how the machine would be coded, she wrote the first computer program. She would go down in history as Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer.Diane Stanley’s lyrical writing and Jessie Hartland’s vibrant illustrations capture the spirit of Ada Lovelace and bring her fascinating story vividly to life.

What If You Had Animal Teeth!?


Sandra Markle - 2012
    If you had a beaver's, you'd have orange teeth! And if you had a naked mole rat's set of teeth, you could move each one separately, like chopsticks! The animal kingdom has lots of cool teeth, but yours are pretty awesome, too!

The Girl with a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague


Julia Finley Mosca - 2018
    Navy!After touring a German submarine in the early 1940s, young Raye set her sights on becoming an engineer. Little did she know sexism and racial inequality would challenge that dream every step of the way, even keeping her greatest career accomplishment a secret for decades. Through it all, the gifted mathematician persisted--finally gaining her well-deserved title in history: a pioneer who changed the course of ship design forever.The Girl With a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague is the third book in a riveting educational series about the inspiring lives of amazing scientists. In addition to the illustrated rhyming tale, you'll find a complete biography, fun facts, a colorful timeline of events, and even a note from Montague herself!

My Diary from Here to There/Mi diario de aquí hasta allá


Amada Irma Pérez - 2000
    Told in English and Spanish.

Locomotive


Brian Floca - 2013
    These pages come alive with the details of the trip and the sounds, speed, and strength of the mighty locomotives; the work that keeps them moving; and the thrill of travel from plains to mountain to ocean.

Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt


Deborah Hopkinson - 1993
    Then she overhears two slaves talking about the Underground Railroad. In a flash of inspiration, Clara sees how she can use the cloth in her scrap bag to make a map of the land--a freedom quilt--that no master will ever suspect.

A Cool Drink of Water


Barbara Kerley - 2002
    A hiker takes a refreshing drink from a mountain stream. Black-robed women in India stride gracefully through a field with brass water jugs balanced on their heads. Whether they squeeze it out of a burlap bag, haul it home from a communal tap, or get it out of their kitchen faucet, people all around the world are unified by their common need for water. Barbara Kerley brings home this point simply and eloquently in this beautiful and educational picture book that combines striking National Geographic photographs with a poetic text to show how people in various cultures use and conserve the world's most vital resource.National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez


Kathleen Krull - 2003
    When he led a 340-mile peaceful protest march through California, he ignited a cause and improved the lives of thousands of migrant farmworkers. But Cesar wasn't always a leader. As a boy, he was shy and teased at school. His family slaved in the fields for barely enough money to survive. Cesar knew things had to change, and he thought that--maybe--he could help change them. So he took charge. He spoke up. And an entire country listened.An author's note provides historical context for the story of Cesar Chavez's life.

Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra


Andrea Davis Pinkney - 1998
    Duke Ellington. As a child, he said piano made an umpy-dump sound that was headed nowhere worth following. But, years later, he heard the piano played a whole new way. People called the music "ragtime", and soon the sound had Duke's fingers riding the piano keys.Duke began to compose his own melodies, which led him to form a band, The Washingtonians. Before long, the group was performing at the swankiest hangouts in Harlem, including The Cotton Club, but under a new name: Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. Soon the whole country swung to Duke's beat.This is the story of one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century - the king of the keys - Duke Ellington.

Migrant


Maxine Trottier - 2011
    Sometimes she feels like a bird, flying north in the spring and south in the fall. Sometimes she feels like a jack rabbit living in an abandoned burrow, as her family moves into an empty house near the fields. But most of all she wonders what it would be like to stay in one place.The Low German-speaking Mennonites from Mexico are a unique group of migrants who moved from Canada to Mexico in the 1920s and became an important part of the farming community there. But it has become increasingly difficult for them to earn a livelihood, and so they come back to Canada each year as migrant workers in order to survive. And while they currently have the right to work in Canada, that right may be challenged. Working conditions are difficult for all migrant workers, most of whom have to leave families far behind. And yet countries like Canada and the United States benefit greatly from their labor.Beautifully written by Maxine Trottier and imaginatively illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault, this book describes what it is like to be a child in a migrant family.

A Boy and a Jaguar


Alan Rabinowitz - 2014
    Why are they all alone in empty cages? Are they being punished? More than anything, he wants to be their champion—their voice—but he stutters uncontrollably. Except when he talks to animals… Then he is fluent. Follow the life of the man Time Magazine calls, "the Indiana Jones of wildlife conservation"as he searches for his voice and fulfills a promise to speak for animals, and people, who cannot speak for themselves. This real-life story with tender illustrations by Catia Chien explores truths not defined by the spoken word.

One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference


Katie Smith Milway - 2008
    When his mother receives a loan from some village families, she gives a little money to her son. With this tiny loan, Kojo buys a hen.A year later, Kojo has built up a flock of 25 hens. With his earnings Kojo is able to return to school. Soon Kojo's farm grows to become the largest in the region.Kojo's story is inspired by the life of Kwabena Darko, who as a boy started a tiny poultry farm just like Kojo's, which later grew to be the largest in Ghana, and one of the largest in west Africa. Kwabena also started a trust that gives out small loans to people who cannot get a loan from a bank.One Hen shows what happens when a little help makes a big difference. The final pages of One Hen explain the microloan system and include a list of relevant organizations for children to explore.One Hen is part of CitizenKid: A collection of books that inform children about the world and inspire them to be better global citizens.

If You Made a Million


David M. Schwartz - 1989
    Hey, you never know!An ALA Notable Book A Horn Book Fanfare Selection A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year A Teachers' Choices Selection