Words and pictures together connect readers -of all ages - to the spirit of Harlem in its music, art, literature, and everyday life, and to how it has helped shape us as a people.

    "" Everybody listened." A Caldecott Honor classic that celebrates friendship and new experiences-back in print on its 40th anniversary One afternoon late in August, before the start of a new school year, Jay finds Cricket. Cricket fits just right in small spaces-like under a tea strainer or in Jay's very own pocket-and Cricket makes the most exciting sounds. But what happens when it's time to go back to school? Will Cricket come too? Forty years after its original publication, this charming tale continues to capture the imaginative world of a child.

    . .and became a pond. . .and spilled over into a lake. . .and grew larger and larger until it joined with a river and travelled out to sea.With this classic picture book, young readers can follow the course of a heavy rain as it drenches people and animals and changes the landscape below. With its poetic text and lovely, detailed illustrations, Rain Drop Splash is a delight to read, rain or shine.

    What would please Cat more than a mouse for dinner? Mice twice! But Mouse has other plans in this "highly entertaining" ("Booklist") Caldecott Honor Book.

    A story of life in an isolated Cameroonian village.

    Nobody keeps records of slaves' birthdays. All the time he dreams about freedom, but that dream seems farther away than ever when he is torn from his family and put to work in a warehouse. Henry grows up and marries, but he is again devastated when his family is sold at the slave market. Then one day, as he lifts a crate at the warehouse, he knows exactly what he must do: He will mail himself to the North. After an arduous journey in the crate, Henry finally has a birthday -- his first day of freedom.

    Part autobiographical, part fictional, this allegorical tale sparkles with symbolic and historical references central to African-American culture. The spectacular artwork resonates with color and texture. Children will delight in the universal dream of mastering one's world by flying over it.

    But did you know that if you turn an A upside down and round the point out a little, it becomes an ark? B is for balloon. But did you know that if you blow it up really big, the hole in the middle floats away like a balloon? In this wonderfully creative alphabet book, letters are pulled, twisted, reversed, and curled until they become part of what they represent. F becomes a fish, and Y becomes a yak! Young readers will be fascinated with the way the letters evolve into the final creation. They'll never look at the alphabet the same way again!

    Willie’s notebooks filled up, one after another. Willie’s words gave him freedom and peace, but he also knew he needed to earn a living. So he went off to medical school and became a doctor -- one of the busiest men in town! Yet he never stopped writing poetry. In this picture book biography of William Carlos Williams, Jen Bryant’s engaging prose and Melissa Sweet’s stunning mixed-media illustrations celebrate the amazing man who found a way to earn a living and to honor his calling to be a poet.

    And you can come along.

    A lullaby which asks animals such as a lizard, monkey, and water-buffalo to be quiet and not disturb the sleeping baby.

    Immensely enjoyable." (CCBC Choices)Shapes and colors in your zoo, lots of things that you can do. Heads and ears, beaks and snouts, that's what animals are all about. I know animals and you do too; make some new ones for your zoo.

    It's war time, and women are needed to fill the men's jobs. As winter sets in, Ada Ruth and her grandma keep up their daily routine, missing Mama all the time. They find strength in each other, and a stray kitten even arrives one day to keep them company, but nothing can fill the hole Mama left. Every day they wait, watching for the letter that says Mama will be coming on home soon. Set during World War II, Coming On Home Soon has a timeless quality that will appeal to all who wait and hope.

    Many children understand April's dilemma when her cat, Sheba, has three kittens. April is thrilled until her father insists that theirs is strickly a one-cat household. April must give up three cats, but which ones? The aptly named Charcoal? Tiger-striped Butch? Sweet-faced Brenda? -- or even Sheba? How April eventually comes up with the perfect solutions makes for a heartwarming story that has appealed to many young cat lovers and will continue to delight generations of children everywhere. Clare's Newberry's enchanting illustrations reflect her fondness for cats; School Library Journal deemed these "beautiful drawings, so real one wants to pet them."

    A man of pure determination, he created the first life-size models of dinosaurs! This brilliant book is a fantastic nod to the genius of one man, and a glimpse into the beginning of an important era.As a boy in England, Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins always wanted to be an artist. His passion led him to animals, and soon he was drawing and painting them with fervor. This eventually led to his true calling -- creating models of dinosaurs as they actually must have looked when they roamed the earth! With the help of scientist Richard Owen, he checked the fossil remains of dinosaurs against living animals and constructed a gigantic model. Among the first to witness his creation were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who reacted with pure amazement.In order to impress England's leading scientists with his work, Waterhouse Hawkins staged a lavish New Year's Eve dinner party and hosted the gala inside the body of his model! He also wanted the public to learn about the dinosaurs and their history, so he built smaller models, illustrated books, and lectured on the subject. His fame spread to the United States, and he was invited to New York, where he began to create model dinosaurs for a proposed Paleozoic Museum in Central Park. However, a corrupt politician put an end to the project, and vandals later broke into Waterhouse Hawkins's workshop and destroyed his models. Though distraught, he moved on to Princeton, where he built skeletons and created paintings about life on earth in the age of the dinosaurs. Eventually, Waterhouse Hawkins returned to England and continued his work, some of which can still be seen in Crystal Palace Park.Writer Barbara Kerley and illustrator Brian Selznick have weaved a spirited account of this largely forgotten man. Plenty of textual detail, research, and a good dose of wonderment make Kerley's narrative a delightful experience. And the awesome illustrations, which combine Waterhouse Hawkins's own grandeur with Selznick's talent for the bold and the beautiful, made the pages come to life. The fusion of scientific allure and sensational images is a stroke of brilliance. This phenomenal book stands as true testament to the devotion and power of an individual -- it would have made Waterhouse Hawkins proud. (Amy Barkat)