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  • Tags: self esteem
A sweet smell of roses
Johnson, Angela
One morning, after a night of rain, Minnie and her sister sneak out of the house to join many men and women to march for freedom and equality. When they arrive at the beginning of the march, the girls walk with many others keeping their eyes straight ahead and their feet steady. Despite the criticism and yells from people standing by, the girls continue to march. As the day passes, more people join the march to where Dr. Martin Luther King gives his famous speech about peace, love, and equality for all.

A sweater for Duncan (Un sueter para Duncan)
Malone, Margaret
Little Duncan penguin is proud of his fuzzy coat. He sticks out his chest as he waddles among the other penguins. He knows he is the handsomest one in the frozen south. Trouble jumps in when his fuzz flies off in clumps and floats on the wind like butterflies. His mother agrees to knit him a sweater, but will that solve the problem? The sweater is just too small. What is he to do? Finally, his mother leads him to a mirror like a piece of ice, where a happy surprise awaits. He is all grown up and is again the handsomest penguin in the frozen south.

A summer day
Florian, Douglas
A family gets up at the crack of dawn to take a trip to the countryside. They spend an enjoyable day together swimming and fishing.

A special trade
Wittman, Sally
When Nelly was a baby, Bartholomew would push her in her stroller and tell her stories. Now that he is in a wheelchair and she is older, she pushes him around.

A shot for baby bear
Corey, Dorothy
A baby bear is aftaid of getting a shot. His brother serves as a model so that baby bear is no longer afraid.

A safe place
Trottier, Maxine
As a child, Emily watched her mother endure physical abuse. One night Emily's mom awakens her and she is only allowed to take her teddy bear. They go to a house with many mothers and children. All of them are watched over by a lady named Jane. Emily and her mother stay for awhile, then leave to move into their new apartment.

A rose, a bridge, and wild black horse
Zolotow, C.
A small boy describes all the marvelous things he will do for his sister when he is grown up, such as bringing her coral from the bottom of the sea and building her the biggest bridge in the world.

A regular rolling noah
Lyon, George Ella
A young boy is hired to be a helping hand with the farm animals during a move. On a train, he tells of his travels from Kentucky to Canada.

A rainbow of friends
Halliman, P.K.
A vision of harmony celebrates differences among people. These vibrant pictures and rhymes help portray the notion that uniqueness in individuals is what makes each of us so special.

A porcupine named fluffy
Lester, Helen
A young porcupine named Fluffy is unhappy with his name and tries to change himself until he meets a rhino named Hippo.

A pocket of cricket
Caudill, Rebecca
Jay, a six year old boy, finds a cricket and makes him his pet. On the first day of school, Jay takes Cricket to school in his pocket. When Cricket chirps in class, Jay's teacher asks him to take it out for show and tell. Jay is very proud to show off his cricket.

A pebble for your pocket
Hanh, Thich Nhat
Enjoy the stories of Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen Buddhist. Learn how to transform negative feelings into positive feelings so you can live more at peace with yourself and in harmony with your environment.

A new improved Santa
Wolff, Patricia
Santa is determined to become a new and improved Santa. He changes his hair, loses weight, and changes his clothing style. The children are not happy with his changes; they want the old Santa back.

A negro league scrapbook
Weatherford, Carole Boston
Through the use of photographs, narrations, and an inspiring poem, the history of African Americans in baseball unfolds. The struggles and triumphs they have experienced in the past have helped to establish the sport that we know today.

A mother for choco (Une maman pour choco)
Kasza, Keiko
A lonely bird, Choco, tries to find his mother by going to a variety of animals and comparing features to see if they match. Choco finally comes across a bear who takes Choco as her baby.

A moose is not a mouse
Berson, Harold
A mouse lives in fear of the cat. It is not until he sees a picture of a moose that he thinks that when he grows up he will be bigger than the cat. As it happens, the mouse's mother tells him that a mouse is not a moose.

A long way to go
Oneal, Zibby
During World War I in Europe, a girl named Lisa struggles because she feels that girls also deserve the right to vote. She is determined to prove this to others.

A helpful alphabet of friendly objects
Updike, John
Poems are provided with various pictures of objects which begin with each letter of the alphabet such as apple, bird, jam, egg, nickel, oatmeal, toy and zero.

A frog prince
Berenzy, Alix
This is a life lesson concerning love is in the eyes of the beholder. This story show how love turned a common frog into a prince.

A friend is someone who likes you
Anglund, Joan Walsh
This book describes all the different kinds of friends a person could have.

A firefly named torchy
Waber, Bernard
A very special firefly deals with his uniqueness. It is not easy to be different, but this story shows it is okay to be different.

A family like yours
Dotlich, Rebecca K.
There are so many families who do different things. Different families eat different foods, enjoy different activities, speak different languages, and live in different dwellings. There is always a family that is just right for you.

A color of his own
Lionni, Leo
A little chameleon is sad because he does not have a color of his own. He meets another chameleon who befriends him and they become the same colors together.

A castle on Viola street
Disalvo, Dyanne
Andy's family lives in a small, cramped apartment, and his parents work long hours to support the family. He never thought that they would ever live in an actual house, but one day they find a flyer saying You too can own a home. The organization buys empty houses and allows families to fix-up houses and then other people will help fix up a house for them. Andy's family is so excited as they help clean, paint, put down hard wood flooring, and pass out lemonade. At the end of the year, they find out that the next house to be built will be theirs!

A cane in her hand
Litchfield, Ada B.
Valerie, a young girl, has poor eyesight. She needs to use a cane to walk around. She eventually learns to use the cane and not feel bad about it.

A button in her ear
Litchfield, Ada B.
Angela Perkins sturggles to hear others, so her parents take her to the doctor for an examination. She must wear a hearing aid. Her friends think she is special and she enjoys wearing the hearing aid.

A bargain for frances
Hoban, Russell
Frances saves money to buy a real china tea pot. Thelma swindles Frances out of her money and buys the tea pot. Frances then tricks Thelma out of the tea pot and they are friends again.

A band of angels: A story inspired by the jubilee singers
Hopkinson, Deborah
A young girl listens to a story told by her aunt. Her story is about the young girl's great great grandmother and how she used her voice and dedication to fight for her education after the slaves were freed. The story was also tells how a group of singers toured and sang slave songs. They were trying to save their school, but ended up creating a university.

A baby sister for frances
Hoban, Russell
Frances has a new sister, Gloria. She believes that she is not loved because of her new sibling and runs away to the dining room. Her parents cleverly talk her into returning.