Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman


Dorothy Sterling - 1954
    Escape seemed impossible--certainly dangerous. Yet Harriet did escape North, by the secret route called the Underground Railroad. Harriet didn't forget her people. Again and again she risked her life to lead them on the same secret, dangerous journey.

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens


J.M. Barrie - 1906
    Barrie. Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up, is one of the immortals of children's literature. J.M. Barrie first created Peter Pan as a baby, living in secret with the birds and fairies in the middle of London, but as the children for whom he invented the stories grew older, so too did Peter, reappearing in Neverland, where he was aided in his epic battles with Red Indians and pirates by the motherly and resourceful Wendy Darling. With their contrary lures of home and escape, childhood and maturity, safety and high adventure, these unforgettable tales are equally popular with children and adults.

A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home


Henry Cole - 2010
    She lives alone, quietly weaving baskets with creative flair under the floor boards of the Oakley Plantation. However, Celeste’s world turns upside down with the arrival of the great naturalist John James Audubon and his assistant Joseph, who have come to study and paint the birds of the Louisiana bayou. Their arrival coincides with Celeste’s sudden displacement from her home below to a guest room upstairs. There she watches young Joseph struggle to create the backgrounds for Audubon’s bird paintings. As the two homesick souls strike up a friendship, the mouse secretly puts her artistic skills to good use; she simultaneously helps Joseph improve his compositions while aiding the wounded birds that Audubon captures for his studies. Nearly every page of author-illustrator Henry Cole's fine novel combines text and remarkable drawn images to tell the story of a mouse in need of a home of her own from the tiny creature's unique vantage point.

26 Fairmount Avenue


Tomie dePaola - 1999
    Tomie has many adventures all his own, including eating chocolate with his Nana Upstairs, only to find out--the hard way--that they have eaten chocolate laxative. He tries to skip kindergarten when he finds out he won't learn to read until first grade. "I'll be back next year," he says. When Tomie goes to see Snow White, he creates another sensation.

Gideon the Cutpurse


Linda Buckley-Archer - 2006
     Gideon Seymour, cutpurse and gentleman, hides from the villainous Tar Man. Suddenly the sky peels away like fabric and from the gaping hole fall two curious-looking children. Peter Schock and Kate Dyer have fallen straight from the twenty-first century, thanks to an experiment with an antigravity machine. Before Gideon and the children have a chance to gather their wits, the Tar Man takes off with the machine -- and Kate and Peter's only chance of getting home. Soon Gideon, Kate, and Peter are swept into a journey through eighteenth-century London and form a bond that, they hope, will stand strong in the face of unfathomable treachery.

The Cat Who Went to Heaven


Elizabeth Coatsworth - 1930
    This is the story of a little cat who came to the home of a poor Japanese artist, and, by humility and devotion, brought him good fortune.

Our Island Story


H.E. Marshall - 1905
    Beginning with the stories of Albion and Brutus, it relates all the interesting legends and hero tales in which the history of England abounds through the end of the reign of Queen Victoria. Suitable for children ages 9 and up to read to themselves and for children as young as 6 as a read-aloud.

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew


Margaret Sidney - 1881
    Pepper has to sew all day long just to earn enough to pay the rent and to feed the five growing Peppers. But she faces poverty and trouble with a stout heart, a smiling face, and the help of her jolly brood: blue-eyed Ben, the eldest and the man of the house at the age of 11; pretty Polly, so eager to cook for the family and make everyone happy and comfortable; and the three littlest Peppers, Joel, Davie, and baby Phronsie.A favorite of children, parents, and teachers for generations, this heartwarming classic first appeared in 1880. Since then, it has inspired countless young imaginations with its tender tales of the ways in which courage and good cheer can overcome adversity.

Augustus Caesar's World


Genevieve Foster - 1947
    This frustration led to Foster's first book, George Washington's World (1941). In her unique approach, Foster weaves a story of the world around her central character; rather than focusing exclusively on geo-political events, as most textbooks do; she includes stories of scientific discovery and invention, music, literature, art, and religion. She has a keen intuition for stories that will especially delight and amuse her youthful audience. In Augustus Caesar's World, Foster traces the seven major civilizations Rome, Greece, Israel, Egypt, China, India, and Persia from 4500 B.C. to the time of Augustus Caesar in 44 B.C. and culminating in 14 A.D. Within this timeframe readers will learn not only the stories of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, and Marc Antony, but also the historian Livy and how Virgil came to write the Aeneid. Foster will then take her readers all over the world to learn what was happening at this same time in China, Persia, India and so on. Foster's detailed pen and ink drawings are fresh and appealing, and her illustrated timelines give a clear sense of chronology, enriching the engaging text. An all-time customer favorite!

Off With Their Heads!: All the Cool Bits in British History


Martin Oliver - 2009
    This book will inspire a love of history that will last a lifetime and is a lovely gift from parent to child to help all school children get to grips with British history. Contents include:• Rules to remember the rulers of Britain• Clue-up on the cruel fate of all six of Henry VIII's wives• Become an expert on the inventions of the Industrial Revolution• Be wise to the bloody battles of the Hundred Years War• Swat-up on stories of the Saxons' successes• Get to grips with the gunpowder plot• Understand the Easter Uprising• Roam about in Roman Britain• What was the War of the Roses?• Learn a poem to understand the events leading up to WW1

Rifles for Watie


Harold Keith - 1957
    It was 1861 in Linn County, Kansas, and Jeff was elated at the prospect of fighting for the North at last.In the Indian country south of Kansas there was dread in the air; and the name, Stand Watie, was on every tongue. A hero to the rebel, a devil to the Union man, Stand Watie led the Cherokee Indian Nation fearlessly and successfully on savage raids behind the Union lines. Jeff came to know the Watie men only too well.He was probably the only soldier in the West to see the Civil War from both sides and live to tell about it. Amid the roar of cannon and the swish of flying grape, Jeff learned what it meant to fight in battle. He learned how it felt never to have enough to eat, to forage for his food or starve. He saw the green fields of Kansas and Okla-homa laid waste by Watie's raiding parties, homes gutted, precious corn deliberately uprooted. He marched endlessly across parched, hot land, through mud and slashing rain, always hungry, always dirty and dog-tired.And, Jeff, plain-spoken and honest, made friends and enemies. The friends were strong men like Noah Babbitt, the itinerant printer who once walked from Topeka to Galveston to see the magnolias in bloom; boys like Jimmy Lear, too young to carry a gun but old enough to give up his life at Cane Hill; ugly, big-eared Heifer, who made the best sourdough biscuits in the Choctaw country; and beautiful Lucy Washbourne, rebel to the marrow and proud of it. The enemies were men of another breed - hard-bitten Captain Clardy for one, a cruel officer with hatred for Jeff in his eyes and a dark secret on his soul.This is a rich and sweeping novel-rich in its panorama of history; in its details so clear that the reader never doubts for a moment that he is there; in its dozens of different people, each one fully realized and wholly recognizable. It is a story of a lesser -- known part of the Civil War, the Western campaign, a part different in its issues and its problems, and fought with a different savagery. Inexorably it moves to a dramatic climax, evoking a brilliant picture of a war and the men of both sides who fought in it.

Just David


Eleanor H. Porter - 1916
    Though also a bestseller at the time, Just David has rarely been reprinted since its release in 1916. We felt a story this good shouldn’t be so hard to find, so we decided to put it back in print last year. Now it’s in a longer-lasting hardcover.It is the story of David, a charming little boy of 10 who is suddenly transplanted from a world of music (he plays the violin) in the mountains with his father, to the provincialism of a workaday small town. But even more, it is the story of how David transplants his own character, courage and happiness into the lives of the people he meets, and wins their love and respect. Here’s what we say in the preface to the new edition:Just David is a quiet, unassuming children’s novel about an orphaned young boy with a mysterious past. David, not the typical boy found in most stories of his day, is a mixture of simplicity and complexity whose disarming innocence has a profound effect on the people he encounters. Unlike the “good bad boy” often encountered in children’s literature, David is a “good good” boy. He is not in any way “goody-goody” in the moralistic sense, but simply and purely good. David’s goodness is not a mysterious quality that defies logic and imagination, but rather a quality cultivated in him by the intentional efforts of a wise and loving father. During David’s formative years, his father secluded him from the influences of the outside world, creating a private world in the mountains filled with simple pleasures, purposeful study, and beautiful music. David’s touching story is well within the scope of the imagination, and David’s endearing innocence, engaging personality, and natural character are unforgettable.Just David struck a resonant chord in our family for several reasons. First, David’s life affirms the biblical principle expressed in the proverb, “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm”. David walked with his father and became wise. Also, his story reminds us of the importance of creating the right “appetite” early in our children’s lives. David’s love of music, nature and beauty were intentionally cultivated in him by his father. Finally, there is a refreshing balance in David’s life and character that provides a literary model to emulate, especially for the more artistically-inclined boy often overlooked in literature. David is artistic, yet he knows when to be realistic. He is slight of stature, yet able to handily defend himself when necessary. He is trained and mannerly, yet he is also manly. He is sensitive, yet sensible. Whatever limitations he discovers, he meets them with strength of character.This is truly one of those books that everyone in your family will like, and will likely want to hear or read more than once. We’re on our fourth reading! It has even inspired us to have Just David days for our children when we focus on the beautiful and lovely things God has given us to enjoy. Just David is just great. Includes family discussion questions at the end of the book.--Whole Heart Ministries

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village


Laura Amy Schlitz - 2007
     Hugo, the lord’s nephew, proves his manhood by hunting a wild boar. Sharp-tongued Nelly supports her family by selling live eels. Peasant Mogg gets a clever lesson in how to save a cow from a greedy landlord. Barbary slings mud on noble Jack. Alice is the singing shepherdess. And many more . . . .

The Greek Gods


Bernard Evslin - 1966
    They could change day to night, turn people into animals, and punish men with eternal torture. Their whims and desires changed the course of human destiny. No legends are more fabulous than those of the Greek gods. This classic collection tells their stories.

The People Could Fly: The Picture Book


Virginia Hamilton - 2004
    And it is a moving tale of those who did not have the opportunity to “fly” away, who remained slaves with only their imaginations to set them free as they told and retold this tale.Leo and Diane Dillon have created powerful new illustrations in full color for every page of this picture book presentation of Virginia Hamilton’s most beloved tale. The author’s original historical note as well as her previously unpublished notes are included.Awards for The People Could Fly collection:A Coretta Scott King AwardA Booklist Children’s Editors’ ChoiceA School Library Journal Best Books of the YearA Horn Book FanfareAn ALA Notable BookAn NCTE Teachers’ ChoiceA New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of the Year