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Happy feet: The savory ballroom lindy hoppers and me

Michelson, Richard

A father loves to dance. He also loves to retell the story about the opening of the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. He works hard and saves money so he can put up a shoe shine sign for his own business. When his son is born that day, the new club opens to a sharp-dressing, happy-dancing people from all backgrounds with black people and white people dancing together. The son is named Happy Feet, and he too dreams of dancing at the legendary ballroom someday.

Tags

african american, author's note, body parts, business, car, cleanliness, clothing, community, dance, dancing, feelings, friendship, happiness, hard work, history, language, multicultural, music, new baby, party, performance, shoes, signs

Elena's serenade

Geeslin, Campbell

Elenaﾒs father is a glassblower. Elena wants her father to teach her how to blow glass. He refuses to teach her because she is a girl. After disguising herself as a boy, she learns how to blow glass. She shows her father she can blow glass and then reveals that it is her.

Tags

animals, assertiveness, business, conflict resolution, day, decision making, discrimination, disguise, family, goal setting, mexican, Mexico, multicultural, music, night, nonverbal communication, spanish, travel, verbal communication

Tap-dance fever

Brisson, Pat

Annabelle Applegate had Tap-dance fever. Her feet are constantly on the move, tapping everywhere she goes. The townsfolk are very aggrevated by her dancing. However, once tourists come to hear and see her tao-dance with the rattlesnakes, the townsfolk believe she was an asset to the community.

Tags

anger, animals, business, community, dancing, exercise, feelings, happiness, mischief, performance, persistence, rhythm, snake, success, wealth

Mama & papa have a store

Carling, Amelia Lau

Mama and Papa have a store. Day to day the routine is similar. The same people come in to buy the same things. This little girl likes these routines and she shares them with us. From what Mama is cooking to Papa counting on the abacus we spend the whole day with one little girl.

Tags

author's note, business, chinese, colors, cooking, counting, culture, customs, family, fish, food, guatemalan, indian, language, market, money, multicultural, nutrition, parents, photograph, play, rain, rainbow, shopping, siblings, sounds, spanish, traditions, verbal communication, weather

Ella takes the cake

D'Amico, Carmela & D'Amico, Steven

There's nothing more that Ella wants than to be a good helper. Ella can't help but feel inadequate when her mother won't let her help with a lot of the bakery chores because they're dangerous. When Mr. Banjo forgets an important delivery ,though, Ella proves herself by saving the day...and the cake.

Tags

animals, bicycle, birthday, books, business, celebration, escape, family, flood, helping, library, luck, maps, persistence, responsibilities, safety, vacation, village

The best beekeeper of lalibela: A tale from africa

Kessler, Cristina

In the Ethiopian mountain village of Lalibela, famous for its churches and honey, a young girl determines to find a way to be a beekeeper despite being told that is somethign only men can do.

Tags

africa, animals, bee, business, careers, critical thinking, determination, discrimination, dreams, family, feelings, forest, insects, inventions, language, market, mountains, multicultural, sadness, siblings, tree, village, work

Afro-bets: First book about africa

Ellis, Veronica

Mr. Amegashie explores the cultural diversity, rich history, and the beautiful and exciting land of Africa.

Tags

africa, african, animals, art, bodies of water, business, camel, celebration, ceremony, culture, customs, dancing, desert, discrimination, diversity, egypt, family, forest, geography, ghana, history, horse, hyena, independence, instruments, islam, learning, leopard, library, maps, mountains, multicultural, music, muslim, nigerian, nonfiction, nonverbal communication, photograph, religion, river, school, ship, slavery, storytelling, traditions, transportation, verbal communication, village, water, zimbabwe

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.

Tags

africa, african, animals, architecture, art, bodies of water, business, clothing, culture, dancing, death, desert, discrimination, donkey, egypt, europe, flood, food, geography, ghana, hard work, history, instruments, islam, leadership, lizard, maps, multicultural, music, muslim, nigerian, nonfiction, nonverbal communication, ocean, religion, river, ship, slavery, time, traditions, transportation, verbal communication, village, work, zimbabwe

Ice cream Larry

Pinkwater, Daniel

Larry loves to eat ice cream. It keeps him cool and he doesn't get hungry. After eating a ton of ice cream, Larry is asked to be the spokesbear for Iceberg Ice Cream's new product. Larry is so excited! His picture is shown on posters, billboards, and fliers which advertise the new Larry Bars. Thanks to his new job, Larry has his own walk-in freezer to sleep in and 50 ice cream bars a day.

Tags

animals, business, careers, cold, conflict resolution, food, friendship, nutrition, polar bear, secrets, travel, weather, work

Weeks and weeks

Watts, Mabel

Mr. Hobbs is the town photographer who does well in his business until the town plans to start having activity weeks. The townspeople get so busy with each new activity that they don't pay much attention to Mr. Hobbs, until Take-A-Picture Week comes along.

Tags

activities, business, careers, chaos, community, fun, memories, recreation, time

Lemonade for sale

Murphy, Stuart J.

The clubhouse is falling apart, but how will the kids get the money to fix it?They decide to sell lemonade to make money. Each of the kids is given a different job, including graphing the number of cups sold. Not only do the kids learn how to cooperate, they learn a little about graphing too.

Tags

beverage, birds, business, cooperation, friendship, goal setting, math, money, numbers, parrot, problem solving, responsibilities, teamwork

Chinatown

Low, William

Chinatown is a city that is home to street cobblers, herbalists, tai chi masters, kung fu students, fish markets, and restaurants. And best of all, the celebration of the Chinese New Year which has a parade and lion dance! A Chinese-American boy walks throughout Chinatown, New York with his grandmother as they enjoy the culture and activities native to China.

Tags

business, celebration, chinese, crab, crustaceans, dancing, exercise, family, fireworks, fish, five senses, food, grandparents, holidays, karate, market, medicine, multicultural, new year, parade, restaurant, sports, verbal communication, walking

Auntie claus

Primavera, Elise

Sophie, a spoiled child, is very excited to get lots of presents on Christmas even though she has everything. She follows her Auntie Claus on a business trip and finds out she is Santa's sister. Sophie learns from this experience that giving is better than receiving.

Tags

assertiveness, business, celebration, christmas, critical thinking, family, giving, goal setting, holidays, presents, selfishness, travel, verbal communication, wealth

Zelda and ivy and the boy next door

Kvasnosky, Laura McGee

A new boy named Eugene has moved in next door to Zelda and Ivy. the three quickly become friends. A romance blooms, they play imaginary games, and go camping. Like all friends, they don't always get along, but they work out their differences.

Tags

animals, assertiveness, bully, business, camping, careers, cleanliness, collection, conflict resolution, family, feelings, fox, friendship, helping, imagination, love, money, neighbors, pirates, playing, pretend, sharing, siblings, sleep, song, stars, verbal communication, wish

Pizza man

Pillar, Marjorie

The Pizza Man explains his daily duties and the procedure of making a pizza, from making the dough to assembling the pie to cleaning up at the end of the day.

Tags

business, careers, feelings, food, goal setting, happiness, nonverbal communication, nutrition, pride, responsibilities, routine, self esteem

Do you see a mouse?

Waber, Bernard

There could not possibly be a mouse at the Park Snoot Hotel could there?The hotel staff did not see a mouse as they make their rounds through the hotel. When the mouse catchers extraordinaire, Hyde and Snide, come to the hotel, they do not find a mouse. The clever mouse gets to keep his nice home at the hotel because no one can find him.

Tags

animals, attention, awareness, business, chaos, critical thinking, deception, mouse, shelter, sly, success, verbal communication

The bobbin girl

McCally, Emily Arnold

Ten-year old Rebecca works all day in a hot and noisy cotton mill. She's grateful to be able to help her struggling family, but not all the girls at the boarding house feel the same way. Some girls are starting to get sick. Judith, an older girl that is Rebecca's idol, wants to protest the mill's recent paycut but the troublemakers are fired. Does Rebecca have the courage to join?

Tags

assertiveness, business, careers, conflict resolution, coping, courage, critical thinking, decision making, family, history, illness, money, peer resistance, problem solving, sewing, verbal communication, work

Rocks in his head

Hurst, Carol Otis

Carol Hurst's father loves collecting rocks in his spare time. After the Depression forces him to close his gas station, the father gets a job working with rocks at a science museum, realizing his dream.

Tags

ambition, business, car, careers, collection, depression, dreams, learning, money, moving, museum, parents, reading, rocks, science, transportation, work

Gertie and gus

Weil, Lisl

Gertie and Gus are used to simple life, until Gertie brings home a fishing net for Gus. From then on Gertie finds new ways to increase their fishing business and make more money, but Gus is not happy with their new life. Eventually they realize what real happiness is.

Tags

business, careers, change, fishing, friendship, greed, happiness, wealth

The tale of ginger and pickles

Potter, Beatrix

Ginger and Pickles have to close their store when they run out of money, but Henny Penny opens it back up for business.

Tags

animals, business, careers, cat, dog, dolls, mouse, poverty, rabbit, shopping

The sign painter

Say, Allen

A boy with a love of painting wanders into town looking for a job when he sees a sign painter. Together, they go into the desert, painting a dozen billboards with just what was ordered, a woman's face and a single word, Arrowstar. Not understanding the meaning behind these billboards in the middle of the desert, the boy longs to paint beautiful landscapes instead. Still, the sign painter insists they stick to the order. Near the end of their journey, they learn the dream behind the billboards and the boy remembers a dream of his own.

Tags

art, bus, business, camping, car, careers, desert, dreams, entertainment, fire, food, money, multicultural, mystery, storm, teamwork, transportation, weather, wind

Sugaring season: Making maple syrup

Burns, Diane L

The making of maple syrup is a long process. First you must grow maple trees. Next is the tapping of the maple trees to collect the syrup. Once the syrup has been collected, it is cooked. the next step is grading and then the packing of the syrup.

Tags

autumn, business, food, hard work, nutrition, plants, seasons, spring, summer, time, winter

Siggy's spaghetti works

Thomson, Peggy

Siggy takes a group of students through his spaghetti factory. He shows them how to make spaghetti from start to finish. The children get to test the pasta during their tour. Siggy tells the students of the history of spaghetti and then they all dine on spaghetti.

Tags

business, food, hard work, history, italian, learning, machines, multicultural, nutrition, presentation, taste, train, transportation, verbal communication

Soo ling finds a way

Behrens, June

A little girl is worried because a new laundromat business is moving across the street from her grandfather's old laundry business. She sets out to help her grandfather stay in business.

Tags

asian american, assertiveness, business, careers, conflict resolution, critical thinking, decision making, family, fear, goal setting, grandparents, helping, multicultural, stress management, verbal communication

Mud for sale

Nelson, Brenda

Max sees that all of his friends are selling something. He wants to sell something too, so he comes up with the idea of selling mud. It is a big success.

Tags

assertiveness, business, creativity, decision making, feelings, friendship, goal setting, helping, imagination, jealousy

The babe and I

Adler, David A.

A young boy and his family are living through the Great Depression of 1932. When he learns that his father does not have a job, he gets a job with his friend selling newspapers to help make money for his family. He sells all of his papers outside of Yankee Stadium due to the popularity of Babe Ruth and his stories in the paper. He even gets to meet the Babe!

Tags

author's note, baseball, business, conflict resolution, depression, family, feelings, food, friendship, frustration, hard work, history, money, newspaper, parents, poverty, responsibilities, sadness, shopping, sports, stress management, work, worry

Each one special

Wishinsky, Frieda

Henry, the baker, creates magnificent cakes. No two cakes are alike and his customers love the beautiful decorations. Henry's friend Ben visits Henry and watches him work each day after school. When the bakery is bought by new owners, Henry loses his job. Henry is sad when he can no longer decorate cakes, but only until Ben helps his friend find a new outlet for his creativity.

Tags

art, birthday, bowling, business, careers, celebration, collection, conflict resolution, cowboys, creativity, feelings, fishing, flowers, food, friendship, golf, happiness, missing, recreation, sadness, technology, television, uniqueness, work

My many colored days

Suess, Dr.

Dr. Suess uses bright colors, fun rhymes, and active animals to discuss the different moods a person feels. Some days you feel yellow, like a buzzy bee, while other days you feel brown, low, low down. Despite all the different moods you feel, you're still you!

Tags

anger, animals, bear, bee, birds, bluebird, business, change, colors, day, differences, feelings, fish, flamingo, happiness, health, horse, insects, moods, owl, sadness, seal, self confidence, self esteem, surprises

Popsicle pony

Stover, Jill

Popsicle Pete had a pony named Chiefy who had a taste for a variety of snacks found around the town. Chiefy got his snacks while Popsicle Pete traveled around the town selling popsicles to children. When Popsicle Pete gets sick and goes into the hospital, Chiefy takes charge and leads everyone during the county parade.

Tags

animals, business, celebration, chaos, excitement, food, friendship, fun, helping, horse, nutrition, parade, seasons, summer, verbal communication

Market day

Ehlert, Lois

Morning comes with the crow of the chickens and the animals must be tended. Everyone in town packs up and heads off to market day. They pass many animals in the fields as they go to the town square in trucks, on motorcycles, and in carts to buy and sell at the market.

Tags

amphibians, animals, birds, bull, business, butterfly, chicken, farm, fish, food, frog, goose, market, mexican, motorcycle, multicultural, play, rhyme, sheep, snake, south american, sun, transportation, truck, turkey, work

Leo cockroach...toy tester

O'Malley, Kevin

Leo the cockroach is a toy tester for Mildred Splatt's toy company. He tests toys at night and puts the best toys in her office without her realizing it is him doing all the work. Whenever Mildred sees Leo she tries to squash him because she thinks he is only a pest. One day, Leo decides to fly over to the toy company across the street to see if he can help their business and earn more respect. When he is treated poorly, by the president who does not like his ideas, Leo escapes to work for Mildred again. He writes a letter explaining that he is the one that helps her and he is named Employee of the Year.

Tags

airplane, animals, appreciation, business, cat, conflict resolution, critical thinking, feelings, hard work, helping, insects, nonverbal communication, recognition, resentment, success, toys, verbal communication

The christmas tree ship

Winter, Jeanette

Captain Herman and his crew cut trees in Michigan to deliver to the city of Chicago for Christmas. When a blizzard forms over Lake Michigan, the Captain and his crew disappear. From then on, the Captain's wife and daughters carry out the Christmas Tree Ship tradition for many years.

Tags

accidents, boat, bodies of water, business, careers, christmas, critical thinking, decision making, family, geography, holidays, lake, loss, love, missing, parents, plants, seasons, siblings, snow, teamwork, traditions, transportation, travel, verbal communication, weather, winter

King long shanks

Yolen, Jane

King Long Shanks is known for his fine, long and strong legs and he is quite proud of them. One day two tailors arrive at the palace promising they can make an outfit to show off his legs!The outfit also promises to be a true test of loyalty for the people of the kingdom.

Tags

acceptance, amphibians, assertiveness, attention, business, celebration, communication, confidence, curiosity, embarrassment, entertainment, fable, fly, frog, humor, insects, nonverbal communication, rhyme, royalty, self esteem, sewing, support, trick

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