We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga


Traci Sorell - 2018
    Beginning in the fall with the new year and ending in summer, follow a full Cherokee year of celebrations and experiences. Appended with a glossary and the complete Cherokee syllabary, originally created by Sequoyah.

Gingerbread for Liberty!: How a German Baker Helped Win the American Revolution


Mara Rockliff - 2015
    When cries of “Revolution!” began, Christopher was determined to help General George Washington and his hungry troops. Not with muskets or cannons, but with gingerbread!     Cheerfully told by Mara Rockliff and brought to life by Vincent Kirsch’s inventive cut-paper illustrations, Gingerbread for Liberty is the story of an unsung hero of the Revolutionary War who changed the course of history one loaf at a time.

It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way


Kyo Maclear - 2019
    Now it's time for Gyo's story to be told -- a story of artistic talent that refused to be constrained by rules or expectations.Growing up quiet and lonely at the beginning of the twentieth century, Gyo learned from her relatives the ways in which both women and Japanese people lacked opportunity. Her teachers and family believed in her and sent her to art school and later Japan, where her talent flourished. But while Gyo's career grew and led her to work for Walt Disney Studios, World War II began, and with it, her family's internment. But Gyo never stopped fighting -- for herself, her vision, her family and her readers -- and later wrote and illustrated the first children's book to feature children of different races interacting together.This luminous new book beautifully and openly touches on Gyo's difficult experiences and growth. Through Julie Morstad's exquisite illustrations, alternating between striking black-and-white linework and lush colour, and Kyo Maclear's artful and accessible writing, the story of this cherished figure is told at last.

Hector: A Boy, A Protest, and the Photograph that Changed Apartheid


Adrienne Wright - 2019
    Black South African students were marching against a new law requiring that they be taught half of their subjects in Afrikaans, the language of the White government. The story’s events unfold from the perspectives of Hector, his sister, and the photographer who captured their photo in the chaos. This book can serve as a pertinent tool for adults discussing global history and race relations with children. Its graphic novel style and mixed media art portray the vibrancy and grit of Hector’s daily life and untimely death.Heartbreaking yet relevant, this powerful story gives voice to an ordinary boy and sheds light on events that helped lead to the end of apartheid.

Ron's Big Mission


Rose Blue - 2009
    Today, Ron is ready to take out books by "himself." But in the segregated world of South Carolina in the 1950s, Ron's obtaining his own library card is not just a small rite of passage - it is a young man's first courageous mission. Here is an inspiring story, based on Ron McNair's life, of how a little boy, future scientist, and Challenger astronaut desegregated his library through peaceful resistance.

Golem


David Wisniewski - 1996
    The golem's task was to vanquish those who persecuted the Jews of Prague, and he performed it almost too well. Retold from traditional sources and accompanied by masterly cutpaper illustrations, Golem is a dramatic tale of supernatural forces invoked to save an oppressed people. It offers a thought-provoking look at the consequences of unleashing power beyond human control.Winner of the 1997 Caldecott Medal.

Hidden: A Child's Story of the Holocaust


Loïc Dauvillier - 2012
    . . and a young girl in present-day France becoming closer to her grandmother, who can finally, after all those years, tell her story. With words by Loïc Dauvillier and art by Marc Lizano and Greg Salsedo, this picture book-style comic for young readers is a touching read."Originally published in 2012 by Le Lombard under the title L'Enfant Cache"--Copyright page.

Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder


Donald Zochert - 1976
    Wilder's unpublished memoirs to picture the people, places, and events that informed her ninety years and inspired her well-beloved Little House books

Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya


Donna Jo Napoli - 2010
    Today, more than 30 million trees have been planted throughout Mama Miti’s native Kenya, and in 2004 she became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Wangari Muta Maathai has changed Kenya tree by tree—and with each page turned, children will realize their own ability to positively impact the future.

Take a Picture of Me, James Van Der Zee!


Andrea J. Loney - 2017
    He took photos of his family, classmates, and anyone who would sit still for a portrait. By the fifth grade, James was the school photographer and unofficial town photographer. Eventually he outgrew his small town and moved to the exciting, fast-paced world of New York City. After being told by his boss that no one would want his or her photo taken by a black man, James opened his own portrait studio in Harlem. He took photographs of legendary figures of the Harlem Renaissance politicians such as Marcus Garvey, performers including Florence Mills, Bill Bojangles Robinson, and Mamie Smith and ordinary folks in the neighborhood too. Everyone wanted fancy portraits by James Van Der Zee. Winner of Lee & Low's New Voices Award, Take a Picture of Me, James Van Der Zee! tells the story of a groundbreaking artist who chronicled an important era in Harlem and showed the beauty and pride of its people.

Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship & Freedom


Tim Tingle - 2006
    In the days before the War Between the States, in the days before the Trail of Tears, Bok Chitto was a boundary. On one side of the river lived the Choctaws. On the other side lived the plantation owners and their slaves. If a slave escaped and made his way across Bok Chitto, the slave was free.Thus begins Crossing Bok Chitto, told by award-winning Choctaw storyteller Tim Tingle and brought to life with the rich illustrations of Jeanne Rorex Bridges.Martha Tom, a young Choctaw girl, knows better than to cross Bok Chitto, but one day--in search of blackberries--she disobeys her mother and finds herself on the other side. A tall slave discovers Martha Tom. A friendship begins between Martha Tom and the slave's family, most particularly his young son, Little Mo. Soon afterwards, Little Mo's mother finds out that she is going to be sold. The situation seems hopeless, except that Martha Tom teaches Little Mo's family how to walk on water to their freedom.Choctaw storyteller Tim Tingle blends songs, cedar flute, and drum with tribal lore to bring the lore of the Choctaw Nation to life in lively historical, personal, and traditional stories. His collection of stories Walking the Choctaw Road was selected as the Oklahoma Book of the Year.Artist Jeanne Rorex Bridges traces her heritage back to her Cherokee ancestors. Crossing Bok Chitto is her first fully illustrated book.

The House Baba Built: An Artist's Childhood in China


Ed Young - 2011
    The house his father built transformed as needed into a place to play hide-and-seek, to eat bamboo shoots, and to be safe.For outside the home's walls, China was at war. Soon the house held not only Ed and his four siblings but also friends, relatives, and even strangers who became family. The war grew closer, and Ed watched as planes flew overhead and frends joined the Chinese air force. But through it all, Ed's childhood remained full of joy and imagination.This powerful, poignant, and exquisitely illustrated memoir is the story of one of our most beloved children's illustrators and the house his baba built.

The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown


Mac Barnett - 2019
    Illustrated with sumptuous art by rising star Sarah Jacoby, this is essential reading for children's book lovers of every age.

A Lady Has the Floor: Belva Lockwood Speaks Out for Women's Rights


Kate Hannigan - 2018
    Supreme Court. She fought for equality for women in the classroom, in the courtroom, and in politics. In her quest for fairness and parity, Lockwood ran for President of the United States, becoming the first woman on the ballot. In this riveting nonfiction picture book biography, award-winning author Kate Hannigan and celebrated artist Alison Jay illuminate the life of Lockwood, a woman who was never afraid to take the floor and speak her mind.

The Matchbox Diary


Paul Fleischman - 2013
    Then I’ll tell you its story." When a little girl visits her great-grandfather at his curio-filled home, she chooses an unusual object to learn about: an old cigar box. What she finds inside surprises her: a collection of matchboxes making up her great-grandfather’s diary, harboring objects she can hold in her hand, each one evoking a memory. Together they tell of his journey from Italy to a new country, before he could read and write — the olive pit his mother gave him to suck on when there wasn’t enough food; a bottle cap he saw on his way to the boat; a ticket still retaining the thrill of his first baseball game.