She confronts a temple burglar in the dead of night, and crosses treacherous mountain passes to deliver food to hungry people. During her travels, Yuko-chan trips and tumbles down a snowy cliff. She discovers a strange thing as she waits for help: her tea gourd, regardless of how she drops it, always lands right-side-up. The tea has frozen in the bottom of the gourd! Inspired by this, she creates the famous Daruma doll toy, which rights itself when tipped—a true symbol of resilience.Thanks to Yuko-chan's invention, the villagers are able to earn a living and feed themselves by selling the dolls. Yuko-chan never gave up, no matter the obstacles she faced, and the Daruma doll is a charming reminder of the power of perserverence.

    But some days are the worst! Sometimes everything just goes wrong: your little sister presses the elevator button first your favorite socks are missing you're not allowed to wear your mermaid costume to the dentist you can't wear your snorkel in the bathtub But how great would it be if we could learn how to have a good do-over day? Think of all the moaning and groaning and fussing and grumping we could avoid.The Do-Over Day is a great book for kids ages 3-9 and can teach us all how to handle the occasional worst day ever. It even comes with practice cards, so you can begin to have better do-over days, too.

    Detailed, four-color paintings and a question-and-answer text bring to life the traditional life, customs, and everyday world of the Iroquois -- one of the most powerful and influential of the Indian nations.

    She tells Sarie wonderful stories and she and Sarie start to read together. Niki Daly's story will encourage any child who shares Sarie's reluctance to read.

    Girls weren’t supposed to act smart, tough, or ambitious. Even though, deep inside, they may have felt that way. And then along came Hillary. Brave, brilliant, and unstoppable, she was out to change the world.They said a woman couldn’t be a mother and a lawyer. Hillary was both. They said a woman shouldn’t be too strong or too smart. Hillary was fearlessly herself.It didn’t matter what people said—she was born to lead.With illustrations packed full of historical figures and details, this gorgeous and informative picture book biography is perfect for every budding leader. Includes a timeline, artist’s note, and bibliography.

    However, nothing is quite as she expected it to be, from the ring bearer whom she expected to be a bear, to her celery-colored dress, which she expected to be covered in real celery, to the wedding's two brides.

    Being a twin is great! Sometimes our friends can't tell us apart.A boy and his twin do everything together--leapfrog and piggyback rides, dancing and disagreeing, and everything in between! Their relationship has its ups and downs, but in the end, it's great knowing there's someone in their world who is just like them. This charming picture book is a sweet and silly celebration of twinhood--whether you look alike or not!

    Little Mouse travels around counting from one to ten, meeting cute little friends along the way. He encounters the world’s three most adorable spiders catching golden rays of sunshine and various other creatures like six slow slimy snails and seven busy buzzing bees. But none seem to care about him. Little Mouse heads home, dejected. The next day, however, his numbered friends arrive to recount all the good times they’ve shared with Little Mouse. So together they count down from ten to one and regain their friendship.Jana Buchmann demonstrates a musician’s timing and a poet’s skill in this perfectly penned book for aspiring little readers. The story, which centers on being disappointed when things don’t go your way, is easy to follow and is relevant for young children. The counting lesson is delivered is such a beautiful and engaging way that kids won’t even realize they are mastering their numbers. The colorful illustrations are divine, embellishing an already wonderful story. I highly recommend Who Wants To Play With Little Mouse? by Jana Buchmann to anyone with toddlers or preschoolers at home, as it is an easy-to-grasp story that teaches counting and important lessons in such a way that every child will be eager to learn.

    Her shoes have flames as she spins the ball down the spread-out sea of grass. But nothing makes her sad like soccer, too, because the restaurant where her auntie works is busy on game days and she can’t take time off to watch Sierra play. On game days, her auntie helps Sierra get ready and tells her, "Play hard and have fun." And Sierra does, but she can’t help wishing she had someone there to root for her by name, and not just by the number on her uniform. With honesty and rare subtlety, author Maribeth Boelts and illustrator Lauren Castillo portray an endearing character in a moving, uplifting story that touches on the divides children navigate every day- and remind us that everyone needs someone to cheer them on from the sidelines.

    A young boy and his sister gather the ingredients and grind them up in a molcajete, just like their ancestors used to do, singing and dancing all the while.The children imagine that their ingredients are different parts of an orchestra — the tomatoes are bongos and kettledrums, the onion, a maraca, the cloves of garlic, trumpets and the cilantro, the conductor. They chop and then grind these ingredients in the molcajete, along with red chili peppers for the “hotness” that is so delicious, finally adding a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of salt. When they are finished, their mother warms tortillas and their father lays out plates, as the whole family, including the cat and dog, dance salsa in mouth-watering anticipation.Winner of the International Latino Book Award for Guacamole, Jorge Argueta has once again written a recipe-poem that families will delight in.Each book in the cooking poem series features a talented illustrator from the Latino world. In Salsa the text is complemented by the rich, earthy illustrations of Duncan Tonatiuh, winner of the Pura Belpré Award. His interest in honoring the art of the past in contemporary contexts is evident in these wonderful illustrations, which evoke the pre-Columbian Mixtec codex.

    Sizes him up for a curve- or a fastball. Stretches her 5'2" frame. And pops a surefire, windup, coming-right-at-ya pitch smack dab over the plate. One that lets the batter know that this "peanut of a girl" means business. Fueled by her passion for the game and buoyed by the inspiration of Jackie Robinson, Mamie Johnson is determined to be a professional baseball pitcher. From the time she insists on trying out for the all-male all-white Police Athletic League team until she becomes one of only three women to play in the Negro Leagues, this biography of Mamie Johnson's life shows that courage-and a fierce curveball-can make a childhood dream come true. Illustrated with nineteen black-and-white photographs.

    Anthony and Harriet Tubman, with breathtaking illustrations by Michele Wood!What if Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony sat down over tea to reminisce about their extraordinary lives? What would they recall of their triumphs and struggles as they fought to achieve civil rights for African Americans and equal rights for women? And what other historical figures played parts in their stories? These questions led Coretta Scott King Award winner Nikki Grimes to create CHASING FREEDOM, an engaging work of historical fiction about two of the nineteenth century's most powerful, and inspiring, American women. With breathtaking illustrations by Coretta Scott King Award winner Michele Wood, CHASING FREEDOM richly imagines the experiences of Tubman and Anthony, set against the backdrop of the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, and the Women's Suffrage Movement. Additional back matter invites curious young readers to further explore this period in history--and the larger-than-life figures who lived it.

    He finds other street children who share their food and a place to sleep. Together they proclaim a message of hope through murals and radio programs. Now in paper, this beautifully illustrated story is supplemented with photographs of Haitian children working and playing together, plus an essay by Edwidge Danticat. Included in the 2005 ALA Notable Children’s Book List and the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List.Youme Landowne is an artist and activist who has worked with communities in Kenya, Japan, Haiti, and Cuba to make art that honors personal and cultural wisdom. She makes her home in Brooklyn, New York, and rides her bike everywhere.

    But there is one mistake on Izzy’s “I’m sorry” list that he’s finding especially hard to say out loud. Humor, touching moments between family and friends, and lots of information about the Jewish New Year are all combined in this lovely picture book for holiday sharing.Winner of the Sydney Taylor Gold Medal for best Jewish picture book of the year!

    Nathan, his trainer, is a brave young soldier. Wolf is a war dog who's seen it all.Grey and Nathan soon become inseparable. Until the day a parachute jump goes tragically wrong...As the Second World War rages, Grey faces his most important mission yet: to find his best friend. With Wolf at his side, he must journey across France and behind enemy lines. His path is fraught with danger. Can he reach Nathan before it's too late?