Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

Marven of the great north woods | by Lasky, Kathryn

A boy named Marvin leaves his family during the flu epidemic. He goes to a lumberjack camp in northern Minnesota and works and learns French while making some interesting friends. Marvin learns to ski, dance, and do the bookkeeping as a lumberjack.

Keywords: assertiveness, author's note, bedtime, cabin, careers, conflict resolution, counting, dancing, decision making, diseases, exercise, family, food, forest, french, friendship, language, money, numbers, nutrition, religion, seasons, shadows, skiing, snow, train, transportation, travel, verbal communication, weather, woods

Wee and the wright brothers | by Gaffney, Timothy

An educational story told from Wee the mouse's point of view, of how the Wright brothers succeeded in flight. Wee, an ambitious mouse, tells the story in a humorous yet detailed way of the historical Wright brothers and their flying machine.

Keywords: accomplishment, airplane, animals, assertiveness, biography, cabin, decision making, education, family, goal setting, heroism, history, inventions, mouse, newspaper, nonverbal communication, parents, self esteem, siblings, success, writing

Magic beach | by 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.

Keywords: adventures, alphabet, animals, beach, beverage, bodies of water, books, cabin, cow, critical thinking, decision making, fantasy, farm, fish, fishing, food, horse, hunger, magic, nutrition, peer resistance, picnic, royalty, sand, sea, shells, storytelling, tree, verbal communication, village, writing

Freedom river | by 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.

Keywords: african american, author's note, baby, boat, bodies of water, cabin, community, courage, escape, family, fear, feelings, fight, freedom, happiness, history, illustrator's note, listening, maps, money, multicultural, night, parents, prayer, quiet, relationship, rhythm, river, running, sadness, safety, secrets, slavery, transportation, underground railroad, woods, work, worry

Hush harbor: Praying in secret | by Evans, Freddi Williams

Simmy is both excited and nervous for his job as Scout during the community meeting. Simmy is excited because this means the elders trust him, but he is nervous because slaves are not supposed to gather and sing together. Simmy must be very careful and listen for the master during the meeting.

Keywords: african american, anger, anticipation, author's note, bravery, cabin, closeness, communication, cooking, creativity, creek, critical thinking, culture, dancing, death, faith, family, folktale, forest, friendship, hard work, hearing, hope, horse, listening, missing, multicultural, music, nonverbal communication, prayer, relief, religion, rhythm, river, running away, safety, secrets, slavery, song, spiritual, storytelling, woods, worry

The raft | by LaMarche, Jim

When a boy visits his grandmother for the summer, he finds adventure along the river. By making a raft, the boy is able to interact with the nature around him. He especially enjoys drawing the animals and fishing.

Keywords: animals, art, author's note, bear, birds, cabin, crane, deer, dragonfly, exercise, family, fish, fishing, fog, fox, grandparents, insects, nature, rabbit, raccoon, recreation, river, seal, self esteem, summer, swimming, vacation

Kindle me a riddle: A pioneer story | by Karm, Roberta

Jack, Constance, Mama, and Papa play a riddling game which helps them understand life on the frontier. Their riddles are about their log cabin, food, icehouse, candles, and baskets.

Keywords: alphabet, bee, bodies of water, cabin, critical thinking, duck, family, fire, neighbors, pioneers, pond, school, sewing, sheep, teaching, transportation, verbal communication, wagon

The secret of the stones | by San Souci, Robert D.

John and Clara work very hard all day, but they have no children to love. One night Clara finds two little white stones and brings them home with her. When they came home the next night all of the chores had been done, and John and Clara must find out who their helpers are and how to help them!

Keywords: african american, animals, author's note, bones, cabin, chicken, conflict resolution, cow, decision making, escape, farm, folktale, food, hard work, magic, multicultural, nutrition, orphan, poverty, rocks, song, stream, verbal communication

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