Skip to main content
  • Tags: growing up
Annabell swift, kindergarten
Schwartz, Amy
Annabelle's sister, Lucy, tries to describe to Annabelle what her first day of Kindergarten will be like. It is much better than she thought.

The quilt story
Johnston, Tony
A quilt is passed from one generation to the rest. It holds many of the same meanings for each generation.

Higher on the door
Stevenson, James
A little boy dreams of what it will be like when he is older.

Little big girl
Horner, Althea
Mary Ellen was unsure whether or not her parents would love her when she grew up. After her parents found out the problem, they helped her to feel secure.

Little gorilla
Bornstein, Ruth
A little gorilla's family and friends try to help him overcome his special growing pains.

I was so mad
Simon, Norma
What makes you mad?Children are faced with emotions of anger, jealousy, and frustration. They must learn to control their feelings and work them out in ways that are acceptable to themselves and others. We need to understand and respect a person's feelings whatever they might be.

Tell me a story mom
Johnson, Angela
A child asks her mother to tell her one of her favorite stories. The story is about when her mother was little.

Waiting for the evening star
Wells, Rosemary
As Berty grows up, life on the farm is full of simplicity, hardwork, and tradition. Berty's older brother, Luke, has aspirations of traveling to see the world. This makes life a little more complicated for Berty so he wishes upon an evening star.

Flyaway girl
Grifalconi, Ann
Flyaway girl needs to learn to be a wise little woman for the New Year in her village. She is against the whole idea at first, but then she thinks it would not be that bad.

The great pumpkin switch
McDonald, Megan
A grandpa tells his grandchildren a story about his childhood when he and a friend mistakenly cut the vine on his sister's pumpkin. Grandpa's sister grew the pumpkin in order to earn a patch for her quilt. The boys find a way to save the pumpkin so that her hard work is not lost.

When I was little
Curtis, Jamie Lee
A little girl tells how much she has changed since she was a baby. Now she can eat pizza, noodles, fruit, and Chee-tos instead of goo and yucky stuff.

Tadpoles
James, Betsy
Growing up is an exciting process, especially for Molly and her brother, Darvy. Molly discovers frog eggs while she is at the pond and is allowed to bring them home until they develop into frogs. While Darvy experiences developmental changes of his own, he learns how to walk. In the end, Darvy teaches Molly an unexpected lesson.

Your body from head to toe
Roca, Nuria
Your body can do so many things. When you were born, you were only a baby. Then as you grew, you learned how to walk, eat, hear, taste, smell, see, and touch things. It is important to take care of your body so that it can continue to sense the world around you.

Little penguin
Benson, Patrick
Pip is a three-year old penguin. She is much smaller than some of the other penguins that are three years old, and this worries her. Eventually,she realizes that size does not matter because friendship goes beyond appearance.

Little red nose
Schlein, Miriam
A little boy feels something in the night, but he does not know what it is. The next day, he discovers that it was the coming of Spring and the sun kissed his nose and made it red.

Just the two of us
Smith, Will
A father talks of ongoing love for his son from the moment he is born. As his child grows, the father tries to teach him how to be a man and also tells him how he will always be there for him. Having this child is the father's proof that his dreams have come true.

I have to go!
Munsch, Robert
Andrew's parents always ask him if he has to go to the bathroom before they go anywhere. He always says no. A few moments later he has to go!

Why do grown ups have all the fun?
Russo, Marisabina
Hannah could not fall asleep one night because she thought her parents were having lots of fun without her. She sneeks out to watch them, only to discover that they were not eating ice cream or making popcorn, but reading, mending socks, and folding clothes. Hannah returns to bed and falls asleep.

Much bigger than martin
Kellogg, Steven
Henry wants to be bigger that Martin so he tries several ways to grow. In the end, he realizes that he'll grow up in time.

Gypsy
Seredy, Kate
Gypsy, a mother cat, has kittens. As she lays with her kittens, she remembers her past and thinks about what her kittens will go through.

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.

Posy
Pomerantz, Charlotte
It is Posy's bedtime and she asks for her father to tell her stories about when she was little. He tells her four separate stories and they discuss their memories.

A house for hermit crab
Carle, Eric
Hermit crab outgrew his shell in January so he must find a new home. Month by month he collects friends to make his home better. As he outgrows his shell, Herman is sad because he will have to leave his friends. A smaller homeless crab comes along and promises to take care of Herman's friends and home.

Owly
Thaler, Mike
Owly, a baby owl, asks his mother questions about the woods and she in turn helps him to discover the answers on his own.


Now one foot, now the other
dePaola, Tomie
Bobby loves to hear his grandfather tell the story of how he taught Bobby to walk. When his grandfather suffers from a stroke, Bobby teaches his grandfather how to walk.

Oh, the places you will go
Seuss, Dr.
A young person receives advice for going out into the world: expect life's ups and downs, be prepared for the unexpected, learn to roll with the punches, and perserverence pays off.

How many teeth?
Showers, Paul
Losing and growing teeth are events that all children experience as they grow up. Learning how this process occurs and learning about the functions of teeth can be interesting and fun.

When I am eight
Nixon, Joan Lowery
Herbie wants to prove that when he is eight, he'll do everything his older brother does -- but even better!He will be the best at baseball, video games, and bike riding. Herbie realizes that he won't always be in his brother's shadow.

The land of gray wolf
Locker, Thomas
Running Deer, a young Native American boy, helps fight the white settlers from taking over their native land. The white men kill many members of the tribe and take Running Deer and others to a reservation.

Indigo and moonlight gold
Gilchrist, Jan Spivey
A little girl reflects on her relationship with her mother. She lies on her porch staring at the stars and thinking.

The sky was blue
Zolotow, C.
As a little girl looks through old pictures in a photo album, her mom explains to her that the sky will always be blue, the grass will always be green, and everything will be just the same when she grows up.

Lucille's snowsuit
Lasky, Kathryn
Lucille wants desperately to go out and play with her older brother and sister in the snow. As Lucille works at putting on her snowsuit, she gets stuck, frustrated and hot. Her patience is wearing thin as she waits on her mom to help. Finally, Lucille joins the snow fun, but does her bad mood go away?

Mccrephy's field
Myers, Christopher//Myers, Lynne
Joe McCrephy moves away from his cornfield. While he is away for fifty years, both he and his field experience many changes.

Dikou and the baby star
Elzbieta
Dikou finds a baby star in the forest. He takes the star home, but does not know what to feed it. It keeps getting dimmer until his parents help him launch it back into the sky.

All alone after school
Stanek, Muriel
Josh learns how to take care of himself after school when his mother takes a new job and cannot afford a babysitter. Josh learns how to be confident while he's alone by knowing important phone numbers, always keeping the door locked and staying away from the stove. After his mother gives him a lucky charm, Josh learns to overcome his fear of being alone after school.

Bimwili and the zimwi
Aardena, Verna
Bimwili, a young Swahili girl, finds a shell at the seashore. Leaving it behind, she returns to fetch it and is captured by a shape-changing ogre. She must match wits with him in order to go home

The giving tree
Silverstein, Shel
A tree and a boy become friends. The tree gives and gives to the boy, because when the boy is happy, the tree is happy. The boy grows and takes everything from the tree then deserts the tree. He finally comes back when he must replace the tree.

When i grow up
Goennel, Heidi
A young boy and girl envision all of the things they will be able to do when they grow up. These things include driving, going to the prom, getting a job and travelling.

Harry and tuck
Keller, Holly
Harrison and Tucker are twin brothers who are very close and act alike as they are growing up. When they go to kindergarten, they end up in different classrooms. Although they are upset intially, they learn to develop differences and like it.

The always prayer shawl
Oberman, Sheldon
A person's life is followed from birth to almost death. Jewish traditions, culture, and families are highlighted.

Island boy
Cooney, Barbara
Matthais learns many skills with age. He always returns to his island home and eventually watches new generations of families grow and learn the island ways

The mango tooth
Pomerantz, Charlotte
Posy is a little girl who is in the tooth-loosing stage. She names each tooth according to what she eats when she looses it. She gets a dime for each tooth and two dimes for the animal cracker tooth.

It happens to everyone
Myers, Bernice
It is the first day of school. Michael is nervous as he gets dressed, eats his breakfast, and rides the bus to school. Mrs. Daniels, a teacher, also gets ready for school. She is nervous, too. When Michael and Mrs. Daniels arrive at school, they discover that they are in the same classroom.

Someone new
Zolotow, C.
A little boy grows up and begins to find out what is different in his life.

Maybe tomorrow i'll have a good time
Soderstorm, Mary
Marsha Lou's mom decides to go back to work. This means the Marsha Lou will have to go to child care. She is very unhappy, but she soon adjusts.

General store
Field, Rachel
A little girl wants to own her own store one day. She realizes that there will be many responsibilities and duties for a store owner.

A troll in passing
Krensky, Stephen
Imagine growing up and being just a little different than everyone else. Morgan was never interested in troll things, even the games they played. He wanted more than troll life could give him. When he gets the job of forager, he begins a whole new life.

Girls can be anything
Klein, Norma
Marina, a little girl, loves to play pretend with her best friend Adam. They pretent what they will be when they grow up. Adam tells Maria that she cannot have a career like a doctor because girls can only he nurses. Adam is always telling her that girls cannot do certain things but Marina always proves she can.

Michael
Bradman, Tony
Michael is different from his classmates. He misbehaves, always runs late, and does not do very well in his classes. His teachers believe he will have trouble all through life. He proves them wrong when he grows up to be an astronaut.