Book picks similar to
Papa and the Pioneer Quilt by Jean Van Leeuwen
historical-fiction
picture-books
picture-book
historical
Freedom Summer
Deborah Wiles - 2001
He crawls like a catfish, blows bubbles like a swamp monster, but he doesn’t swim in the town pool with me. He’s not allowed. Joe and John Henry are a lot alike. They both like shooting marbles, they both want to be firemen, and they both love to swim. But there’s one important way they're different: Joe is white and John Henry is black, and in the South in 1964, that means John Henry isn’t allowed to do everything his best friend is. Then a law is passed that forbids segregation and opens the town pool to everyone. Joe and John Henry are so excited they race each other there...only to discover that it takes more than a new law to change people’s hearts.
Gittel's Journey: An Ellis Island Story
Lesléa Newman - 2019
Her mother writes her cousin’s address in New York on a piece of paper. However, when Gittel arrives at Ellis Island, she discovers the ink has run and the address is illegible! How will she find her family? The book includes an author’s note explaining how Gittel’s story is based on the journey to America taken by Lesléa Newman’s grandmother and family friend.
Peppe the Lamplighter
Elisa Bartone - 1993
Peppe's family is very poor, and though he is just a boy he needs to find work. Being a lamplighter is not the job his father had dreamed of for Peppe, but when Peppe's job helps save his little sister, he earns the respect of his entire family.Supports the Common Core State Standards.
Lizzie Nonsense
Jan Ormerod - 2004
Then Lizzie and Mama and baby are all alone in the little house in the bush. Lizzie is always playing and pretending. She is always dreaming. Lizzie nonsense! her mama calls it. Lizzie Nonsense brings to life, through the story of one family, the experience of pioneering women and children left alone in the Australian bush while their husbands and fathers were away working. Seen through the eyes of Lizzie, a playful and imaginative little girl, the joy and exuberance of childhood shines through, despite the hard work and isolation. But Lizzie Nonsense is, first and foremost, a story about a mother and daughter, told with warmth, tenderness and humour. Jan Ormerod's stunning, evocative illustrations make this a rich and resonating book.
The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge
Hildegarde Hoyt Swift - 1942
One day a great expanse of gray steel, which also shines a bright light into the fog and darkness, is built over it. The little red lighthouse feels insignificant and useless in comparison but soon learns that . . . small can be mighty!
Jars of Hope
Jennifer Roy - 2015
While many people lived in fear of the Nazis, Irena defied them, even though it could have meant her life. She kept records of the children she helped smuggle away from the Nazis grasp, and when she feared her work might be discovered, she buried her lists in jars, hoping to someday recover them and reunite children with their parents. This gripping true story of a woman who took it upon herself to help save 2,500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust is not only inspirational; it's unforgettable.
The Tweedles Go Electric
Monica Kulling - 2013
It’s the dawn of a new century—the twentieth century! — and the Tweedles have decided to buy a car. But no gas guzzler for this modern family. Only an electric car will do for them.Frances is the only member of her eccentric family who is not delighted when Papa decides they need an electric car. She would rather read a book. Frances knows that cars go fast, which can only lead to trouble. She is even less impressed when the family takes possession of the car and faces ridicule from more conventional citizens with their noisy, dirty, gas-fueled machines. But when Mr. Hamm is unable to get to the hospital because his car has run out of gas, Frances saves the day — and falls in love with automobile travel at the same time.With humorous allusions to the twenty-first century — which is better? Gas or electric? — The Tweedles Go Electric is a charming picture book about an odd and endearing family and their attempts to keep up with the times.
Madeline and the Gypsies
Ludwig Bemelmans - 1958
Join Madeline in another adventure when she and Pepito run off to join the carnival with a band of traveling gypsies! At first they're having the time of their lives—they don't have to go to school, brush their teeth, or ever go to sleep. But soon Madeline and Pepito start to feel homesick. Leave it to clever Miss Clavel to find Madeline and Pepito and bring them home.
All the Way to Havana
Margarita Engle - 2017
Along the way, they experience the sights and sounds of the streets--neighbors talking, musicians performing, and beautiful, colorful cars putt-putting and bumpety-bumping along. In the end, though, it's their old car, Cara Cara, that the boy loves best.
Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie
Peter Roop - 1985
In the winter of 1856, a storm delays the lighthouse keeper's return to an island off the coast of Maine, and his daughter Abbie must keep the lights burning by herself.
The Rag Coat
Lauren A. Mills - 1991
With paintings that capture all the beauty of Appalachia in authentic detail, this tender story about a resourceful mountain girl's special coat will touchreaders with its affirming message of love and friendship.
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
Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey
Maira Kalman - 2002
Harvey fireboat was the largest, fastest, shiniest fireboatof its time, but by 1995, the city didn't need old fireboats anymore. So the Harvey retired, until a group of friends decided to save it from the scrap heap. Then, one sunny September day in 2001, something so horrible happened that the whole world shook. And a call came from the fire department, asking if the Harvey could battle the roaring flames. In this inspiring true story, Maira Kalman brings a New York City icon to life and proves that old heroes never die.
Juneteenth for Mazie
Floyd Cooper - 2015
She is ready to celebrate freedom. She is ready to celebrate a great day in American history — the day her ancestors were no longer slaves. Mazie remembers the struggles and the triumph, as she gets ready to celebrate Juneteenth.This beautiful story by award-winning author and illustrator Floyd Cooper will captivate both children and adults.
The First Drawing
Mordicai Gerstein - 2013
Imagine you were born before the invention of drawing, more than thirty thousand years ago.You would live with your whole family in a cave and see woolly mammoths walk by!You might even see images of animals hidden in the shapes of clouds and rocks.You would want to share these pictures with your family, but wouldn't know how.Who would have made the world's first drawing? Would it have been you?
In The First Drawing, Caldecott Medal winner Mordicai Gerstein imagines the discovery of drawing...and inspires the young dreamers and artists of today.