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The old Africa
Lester, Julius
An elderly slave uses the power of his mind to ease the suffering of his fellow slaves and eventually lead them back to Africa


Bintou's braids
Diouf, Sylviane
When Bintou, a little girl living in West Africa, finally gets her wish for braids, she discovers that what she dreamed for has been hers all along.


Turtle summer: A journal for my daughter
Monroe, Mary A.
A young mother writes a journal for her daughter. This scrapbook-journal explains the nesting cycle of loggerhead sea turtles and the natural life along the southeastern coast, including local shore birds, shells, and a sea turtle hospital.

African beginnings
Haskins, James//Benson, Kathleen
Come explore and celebrate the powerful impact people of African descent have made on world history and on the American experience.

Tudley didn't know
Himmelman, John
A painted turtle, Dudley, adopts other animalsメ behaviors ヨsimply because he doesnメt know he canメt! Tudley flies like a bird, sings like a katydid, hops like a frog, and glows like a firefly. He uses all his special behaviors to help other animals. Will Tudley's friends help him when he needs help?

Can you hear the sea?
Cumberbatch, Judy
Sarah's grandpa gives her a special shell and says if she listens carefully she can hear the sea, but all she hears are every day village noises.

Where are you going manyoni?
Stock, Catherine
Manyoni, a little girl living near the Limpopo River in Zimbabwe, sees many different animals and wildlife on her walk to school.

A is for africa
Onyefulu, Ifeoma
The author, a member of the Igbo tribe in Nigeria, presents text and her own photographs of twenty-six things, from A-Z, representative of all African peoples.

Food and festivals: West Africa
Brownlie, Alison
Describes the West African culture of food, including the kinds of food grown and eaten, and various feast days like Ramadan, Easter, naming ceremonies, and yam festivals.

Carolina's story: Sea turtles get sick too!
Rathmell, Donna
Follow the photo journal of Carolina, a critically ill loggerhead sea turtle, as she is cared for and nursed back to health at the Sea Turtle Hospital of the South Carolina Aquarium. \r\n\r\nJust like hospitalized children, Carolina goes through a variety of emotions and procedures during her care and recovery process. When she first arrives at the hospital, she is too sick, weak, and confused to understand what is happening. She has blood drawn, x-rays taken, gets shots, and is fed through an IV...just as ill children may be! As she gains strength, she begins to interact with her caregivers and begrudgingly, understands that they are really trying to help. Join her as she interacts with her many caregivers and her sick or injured roommate turtles.

To be a drum
Coleman, Evelyn
Daddy Wes whispers to his two young children about the history of Africans forced into slavery and how the pulse of the drum has moved through them over time. Daddy Wes promises his children that as long as they can hear the heartbeat of the earth, they will be free.

Loon chase
Diehl, Jean Heilprin
A boy discovers that his domesticated dog still has powerful instincts similar to animals in the wild. There is a surprise encounter between the dog and a mother loon: the bigger animal doesn't necessarily prevail. In his moment of wonder, the boy finally meets the loon himself.

The giraffe who was afraid of heights
Ufer, David A.
A giraffe suffers from the fear of heights. His parents worry about his safety and send him to the village doctor for treatment. Along the way he befriends a monkey who is afraid of climbing trees and a hippo who is afraid of water. A life-threatening event causes the three friends to face and overcome each of their fears.

Turtles in my sandbox
Curtis, Jennifer Keats
Imagine finding turtle eggs in your sandbox! When a mother diamondback terrapin lays eggs in a young girlメs sandbox, the girl becomes a モturtle-sitterヤ to help the babies safely hatch. She raises the teeny hatchlings until they become big enough to fend for themselves in the wild. Then, with the help of experts, she releases them. Along the way, she learns about these unique animals and that she has made an important contribution to their survival.

Big al and shrimpy
Clements, Andrew
Shrimpy learns that he is special in his own way, despite being different. He gets involved in a social activity then contributes his idea to solve a problem to help a friend in need.

The yellow balloon
Dematons, Charlotte
A balloon travels through the air and around the world. While sailing through the air, the balloon fly's over many different people and places (a wordless book).

I took the moon for a walk
Curtis, Carolyn
A little boy takes the moon on an adventurous walk. At first the moon is timid but then opens up to the little boy. They do things together such as swing, hold hands, and dance until the boy goes home to go to the sleep.

Audrey and barbara
Lawson, Janet
Audrey has big ideas for herself and her cat, Barbara. She wants to cross the ocean in her bathtub sailboat to visit the Taj-Mahal and ride on an elephant. But will her imagination take her all the way to India?

Little fur family
Brown, Margaret Wise
A father bear goes to work, and the younger bear goes exploring. He comes across many animals different from him. He comes home for dinner and bed.

Magic beach
Johnson, Crockett
Two children draw different words in the sand. As the tide washes over the word, the object written in the sand appears. They explore the land they created by writing in the sand.

The cat who walked across France
Banks, Kate
After the death of his owner, a cat is moved to another city. He has fond memories of the old woman and wishes to find his home again. The cat begins a journey across the country to find his way back to the stone house. When he arrives, he finds the door open, walks in, and finds a spot to fall asleep. He is awoken by two children who reminds him of the old woman with whom he finds home again.

Don't take a snake for a stroll
Ireland, Karin
A little boy talks about taking a variety of animals into public places. Using his imagination he describes what could possibly happen. In the end, he advises to just take people along and leave the animals at home.

Maria's comet
Hopkinson, Deborah
A little girl dreams of being an astronomer like her father. She daydreams of catching a comet by the tail to sweep the sky and stars. She tries hard to hold onto her dreams while being forced to the forefront of reality.

Kitten's first full moon
Henkes, Kevin
A little kitten sees a full moon for the first time. He thinks it is a bowl of milk and tries to reach it. Then he sees the full moon reflecting in a pond and thinks it's a bowl of milk. After getting wet and sad, he goes home to find his very own bowl of milk.

Yes, a cat named marty cohen
Gardner, Wendy Ann
A colorful cat becomes bored and wants to travel somewhere new. He packs up his clothes, food, and a few of his favorite things. He travels by boat and arrives in a sunny new place, then makes himself at home.

Old granny and the bean thief
Defelice, Cynthia
Granny loves her beans any way she can get them. A mischievous thief steals Granny's beans three nights in a row. She embarks on a journey to tell the sheriff about the thief. Along the way she makes several friends. They help Granny stop the thief in a very unique fashion.

Whales passing
Bunting, Eve
A father and his son go to the beach to whale watch through binoculars. The father teaches his son about the lives of an orca whale and how they communicate. They talk about what they see in vibrant words, colors, and pictures.

Big cat, little kitty
Cohn, Scotti
Big cats are fierce predators that roam the world from the mountains to the deserts. How are these wild cats that hunt for their food the same as pet cats that might chase a mouse or ball of yarn? How are they different? The award-winning prequel to this book, One Wolf Howls, introduces children to counting and the months of the year as they watch the seasons changing. This sequel introduces children to the days of the week as they travel to seven different world habitats to meet the big cats, and then back home to compare and contrast the domestic cat's behavior to that of its relative. Compare and contrast big cat predators to little kitty cats each day of the week.

Habitat spy
Kieber-King, Cynthia
Told in rhyming narrative, Habitat Spy invites children to search for and find plants, invertebrates, birds, and mammals and more that live in 13 different habitats: backyard, beach, bog, cave, desert, forest, meadow, mountain, ocean, plains, pond, river, and cypress swamp. Children will spend hours looking for and counting all the different plants and animals while learning about what living things need to survive.

Animalogy: Animal analogies
Berkes, Marianne
Compare and contrast different animals through predictable analogies that rhyme. Find the similarities between even the most incompatible animals....bat is to flit as eagle is to soar; dog is to bark as lion is to roar. Comparisons include sounds, physical adaptations, behaviors, and animal classifications.

Little bit & big byte: A day at the beach
Feigh, C
Big Byte, Joy, and Little Bit go to the beach to be with their friends Webster and Kay Board. They all see a couple of nefarious bugs named Vi and Russ who are going surfing. Big Byte and Kay Board want to go with them but Joy and Little Bit warn them that it is too dangerous. When Big Byte and Kay Board find themselves in danger, what will happen? Will Little Bit, Joy, and Webster be able to do anything to help them in this computer age adventure?

Amy's travels
Starke, Kathryn
Come along with Amy on her wonderful journey to all seven continents on earth. Read about the desert in Asia, the rainforest and jungles of Africa, the mountains of South America, and the cities of Europe. Feel the bitter cold of Antarctica, go on a safari, and meet people around the world who speak different languages. Traveling to brand new places is one of the most exciting ways to learn, and it's a trip you'll never forget!

Little swan
London, Jonathan
Ko-hoh cracks through his eggshell to find his parents towering over him. His trumpeter swan family stays close together as Ko-hoh and other cygnets learn how to feed themselves, to honk when predators are nearby, and to develop flight feathers. Little swan grows up and learns to migrate with his family.

In the time of the drums
Siegelson, K.
Raised by his grandmother Twi, a young boy named Mentu learns of the toils and tragedies of slavery and how one day he too will have to be strong in the cotton fields. As Mentu grows, Twi shares her talks of living in Africa through the use of drums. When Twi's spirit calls her home to Africa, Mentu's day to be strong arrives.

A child's day in a Ghanaian city
Provencal, Francis & McNamara, Catherine
Nii Kwei gets up with the sun, and at half past five, he's already hard at work chasing the chickens and sweeping the compound clean with his straw broom. As the city begins to wake up, he washes, changes into his school uniform, and sits down to chocolate milk and sandwiches for breakfast. Photographs capture the lively rhythms of West African daily life, and this delightful dawn-to-dusk journal will encourage young readers, wherever they live, to compare and contrast Nii Kwei's day with their own.

If a dolphin were a fish
Wlodarski, Loran
A dolphin imagines that she is a fish, a turtle, a bird, an octopus, a shark, and a manatee. Learn how special she really is and how special each of her other sea animal friends are too.

The rainforest grew all around
Mitchell, Susan K.
Imaginations soar while following the circle of life in the rainforest. Children learn about the wide variety of creatures lurking in the jungle. Search each page to find unique rainforests with bugs and butterflies hiding in the illustrations.

River beds: Sleeping in the world's rivers
Karwoski, Gail Langer
Take an around-the-world boatride to learn how mammals sleep in or around ten of the world's major rivers. Row down the Mississippi and watch two river otters slip into a hollow tree, or look to the bank of the Bribane River as a platypus pops into a hole and disappears into a narrow tunnel.

Animals are sleeping
Slade, Suzanne
Lyrical text provides fascinating information onnimals such as location, position, and duration of their sleep patterns on animals living in different habitats. Learn about the interesting sleeping habits of different animals that live on land, in water, and fly through the air.

Freedom river
Rappaort, Doreen
John Ripley shows courage and perseverence in Southern Ohio through his actions. John crosses the Ohio River into the slave state of Kentucky to help other African Americans escape to freedom. John listens to nature as he rows a slave family across the Ohio River to freedom along the Underground Railroad.

The return of freddy legrand
Agee, Jon
Freddy Legrand tries to fly across the Atlantic, but crashes. He is rescued by Sophie and Albert. He builds a new plane and plans and encounters great new adventures.

Winter rescue
Valgardson, W.D.
Thor wants to stay inside and watch cartoons on T.V. One day his grandfather needs help ice fishing and Thor is volunterred to help. Thor goes with grandfather, and the two ice fish for the entire day in the bitter cold. Thor ends up saving a man who falls through the ice.

All the cats in the world
Levitin, Sonia
Mikila, a poor old woman, goes down to the seaside cliffs each day to feed scraps to many hungry cats. She encounters harassment from the old man who controls the lighthouse. The man taunts her, claiming she will never feed all the cats in the world. But Mikila's faithfulness and determination teach the man a lesson.

The pig in the pond
Waddell, Martin
Neligan's pig jumps into the pond on a hot summer day. Neligan sees his pig and decides to go for a swim himself. All the other animals jump in for one giant splash!

River parade
Day, Alexandra
A young boy goes boating with his father. The boy's toys fall in the river so his father puts them on a string to keep them together. The boy also falls in the river and joins his toys on the string.

Henry the castaway
Taylor, Mark
Henry and his dog set out on an exploratory adventure. When they become shipwrecked, they learn survival skills and how to be brave.

The star counters
Luttrell, Ida
A king thinks that the stars in the sky are made of gold. He believes they all belong to him. He counts them every night to make sure that none are missing. When he gets tired of this, he tries to find an animal to count them for him.

Going west
Waddell, Martin
A little girl experiences one of the most dramatic changes in her life. While going west to build a new home, she learns to cope with many different things. She regains hopes and dreams for her new home.