Skip to main content
Elephant games and other playful poems to perform
Bagert, Brad
An entertaining and exciting array of poems cover many issues that children face. Gleeful elephants help explore child-friendly issues such as bullying, feelings, nutrition, parents, animals, dreams, school, pets, trouble-makers and sports. Entertaining illustrations and catchy poems invite the reader to continue exploring.

Why the chameleon had two toes
Mashiri, Pascal
An older woman, named Gogo Senne, tells interesting stories to the children of a small, quiet South African village. She weaves the mythical take of how the chameleon got his two toes and red eyes. Read about the value of strong friendships, the importance of trust, communication and respecting each other.

Dangerous crossing
Krensky, Stephen
Showing no signs of fear, young Johnny Adams boards a ship with his father, the future second President of the United States, for a voyage from Massachusetts to Paris to gain support for the colonies. Their journey is depicted with vivid pictures and an exciting storyline portraying the battles, harsh weather and seasickness endured along the way by two key Presidents in U.S. history.

Matunje and the wooden spoon
Mashiri, Pascal
During a time of famine, Matunje goes looking for food. He finds mangoes which fall into the water and are carried out to sea. Matunje follows and is led to the sea king who gives him a magical wooden spoon to feed his country.

Lady monster has a plan
Blance, Ellen // Cook, Ann
Monster and the little boy have too many pets. They try to build a house for all of them, but they need help. Lady monster and the little girl come to help and they all cooperate to build the animal house.

My name was hussein
Kyuchukov, Hristo
Hussein is a young boy who lives in Bulgaria. He and his family are Muslim and are forced to give up their identities when soldiers come. Hussein is renamed Harry but he holds onto his real name and faith traditions. A pictorial view of this is depicted throughout the story as Hussein tries to understand what is happening around him.

Whose garden is it?
Hoberman, Mary Ann
Whose garden is it? A garden belongs to everyone because many contribbuted to its growth.

Dog blue
Dunbar, Polly
A young boy named Bertie loves the color blue. Bertie also loves dogs, but he does not have a blue dog. He pretends that he has a blue dog, until he actually finds a real dog! Although his new dog is black and white, Bertie loves him and decides to name him Blue.

My mountain song
Crum, Shutta
Observe a relationship that blossoms between competing cousins over their grandparents. Enjoy the scenic illustrations of summer life on the mountains while reading about a legacy being passed down.

An African princess
Edmonds, Lyra
Lyra is a young girl who lives in the city and who comes from a line of African princesses. She is teased by her classmates and starts to wonder whether or not she is a princess. Her family goes to visit her aunt who confirms that she is an African princess.

Jack and the missing piece
Schories, Pat
Jack is a dog that loves to play but he cannot help getting into trouble. He is not the only troublemaker in the house. Someone else loves to plack tricks.

Meet wild boars
Rosoff, Meg
Borris, Morris, Horace, and Doris are wild boars. They lack manners and kindness. Do not try to be friends with them because all they will do is cause trouble.

Fair monaco
Cole, Brock
Three sisters go to stay at their grandma's house. They ask to do things, but their grandma won't let them do anything but eat dinner and go to bed. She is too worried about all the horrible things outside. While the girls are dreaming, they end up in their grandma's horrible dream. The only way they can change it is to dream of their own good dreams. When their grandma wakes up, she is happy because of the good dream she had, since it was the same as her grandchildren.

How the amazon queen fought the prince of Egypt
Bower, Tamara
The land of Khor was a peaceful place free of men, in which woman could live side by side in harmony. One day, Pedikhous, of Egpyt decides to test the strength of the women through various attacks. To his surprise the women are stronger and more determined than he ever imagined. Instead of fighting against them, de decides to live in peace and love beside them.

New York is English, Chattanooga is Greek
Raschka, Chris
New York is planning a party and invites other cities such as: El Paso, Minneapolis, and Chicago. Learn how different cities got their names.

Robot dog
Oliver, Mark
A robot dog named Scrap wants to have an owner like all the other robot dogs. He ends up in the junk yard because he has a dent on him. Scrap becomes sad because he doesn't have an owner like his other fiends. Scrap decides to make an owner so he has someone to play with and love him.

Eddie's garden and how to make things grow
Garland, Sarah
Eddie and his mother and sister decide to start a garden. While doing this, they have lots of fun and learn everything there is to know about seeds, plants and gardening. Their garden yields just enough yummy food for a family picnic!

Papa's latkes
Edwards, Michelle
A Jewish family deals with the recent death of their mother and wife, while trying to keep their Chanukan traditions alive. Each family member deals with their emotions. They work as a single parent family to move on, while embracing their traditions of the past.

When I heard the learn'd astronomer
Whitman, Walt
A boy is overwhelmed by all the charts and figures about space, but he gets tired of listening to the lectures. He goes outside to look up at the night sky. He is able to make the connection between what he heard and what he sees.

Mr. COOL
Wilson, Jacqueline
Mr. Cool gives a fresh perspective on friendship and accepting people for who they are. There is a focus on emotional and social health which is brought to light in a positive manner. Kids will gain a better view of acceptance of their peers and helping with self esteem. Mr. Cool's band develops health skills, friendship, and confidence as they perform.

Zen shorts
Muth, Jon
One day, three young children meet a panda after his umbrella lands in their yard. The children become friends with the panda, whose name is Stillwater. He passes on folktales to them to help them solve problems they are having.

Tshepo rides the bus
Xaba-Mashiri, Zodwa
It is Tshepo's birthday and Auntie Sonto is taking him to the town on the bus. Tshepo loves to ride the bus. However, Auntie Sonto refuses to buy a bus ticket for Tshepo because she says Tshepo is too young.

The golden rain
Mashiri, Pascal
A young child learns from his mother's stories about decision making and choices. He comes to understand that choices make some people happy and leave some disapointed. The child also realizes that help is sometimes needed for the decision making, but ultimately it is up to the individual.

Leo: the little st. bernard
L'Hommediev, Dorthy K.
Leo wants to be a working dog for the monks at the Hospice. When they do not choose him, he decides to runaway to the Hospice. On his way up the mountain he encounters Angelena, a cashmere goat. Together they set out on a snowy and dangerous adventure.

Why rabbit doesn't lie
Mashiri, Pascal
While every animal of the forest is planning for next year's harvest, Rabbit decides to grow money. He lies to the chief and keeps the money for himself. Eventually the chief grows angry with Rabbit and demands the money Rabbit was supposed to grow. Rabbit deceives everyone in order to get out of his lie and he vows to never lie again.

He's your dog
Schories, Pat
A young boy's pet dog is on the verge of getting sent away. Before acting out, he comes up with possible solutions for the two of them. He realizes that the problem is sitting right in front of him.

Do not open this book!
Muntean, Michaela
A pig tries to dissuade the readers from opening the book because it is not finished yet. However, as the reader turns the pages, a frustrated pig realizes the book is being written after all.

A song for ba
Yee, Paul
A young, ambitious boy spends a lot of time with his grandfather learning how to sing and follow in the footsteps of his father who travels with a Chinese opera troupe. Wei, the little boy, loves to go to the opera and watch his father perform hoping one day, he too, will be a star. Through difficult times and financial loss, a young boy comes to the rescue of both his father and his cultural background.

Hannah is my name
Yang, Belle
Hannah and her family come to America from Taiwan to gain freedom. For them to become Americans and have their freedom, they must obtain their greencards. Hannah and her family's journey of over 2 years, encompasses many trials. Hannah and her family feel relief, excitement and prode as they finally receive their greencards and are now able to call American their home.

Lucy's quiet book
Medearis, Angela Shelf
An annoyed Lucy decides to go the library to get away from her brothers. The librarian gives her a book to quiet her brothers down. Once Lucy begins to read to her brothers, they quiet down and Lucy learns the positive effects of books.

The parrot tico tango
Witte, Anna
Set in a Rainforest of Costa Rica, greediness consumes a parrot named Tico Tango. However, what comes around goes around, and as Tico Tango finds out in this morally centered text, sometimes getting everything you want is not what you need.

Talking
Xaba-Mashiri, Zadwa
A man digs out a talking yam from his garden. The man is confused and asks his dog if he is talking, but the dog says it is the yam talking. The man runs to the village to tell people about the talking yam and dog. People do not believe the man until things starts talking to them.

The good luck cat
Harjo, Joy
Woogie, the cat, is thought to have good luck. But when she goes missing, will her good luck run out or will it bring her back home before her nine lives run out?

The table where rich people sit
Baylor, Byrd
A young girl feels that her family is so poor that rich people wouldn't even sit at her family's table. She holds a meeting with her family to discuss the money her family has. During the meeting she discovers how rich her family really is. She also learns the important things in life such as, family is more valuable than money itself.

Animals should definitely not wear clothing
Barrett, Judi
Wouldn't it be silly if animals wore clothing? It would probably make the lives of animals much more difficult. Enjoy exactly why clothes for animals are completely unnecessary. Would you want your new dress ruined by your porcupine quills?

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.

Chameleon, chameleon
Cowley, Joy
Come follow this colorful chameleon through the woods to a new tree home to find food. See how the chameleon creeps by geckos, frogs, scorpions, and others to protect himself on his way to his new tree homw. Do you think this chameleon can make it to a new tree to find food without getting hurt by the other creatures on the way?

Earth day - hooray!
Murphy, Stuart J.
Ryan, Carly, and Luke set out to clean up Gilroy Park for an Earth Day celebration. They decide to plant flowers to beautify the park while collecting cans to raise money through recycling. The children use math and find school resources to help them with their project.

Keep climbing, girls
Richards, Beah E.
Climb the highest tree possible with an ambitious young girl and learn never stop reaching for your hopes and dreams. Children are reminded that goal setting and perserverence are keys to success.

Beyond turkey
Herman, Debbie // Koffsky, Ann D.
Almost 400 years ago, pilgrims traveled to North America. They met and befriended the Indians of the area. The different cultures came together to prepare a harvest and a celebration. This celebration became known as Thanksgiving.

Can you find it?
Cressy, Judith
Go on an adventure around the world to many exciting places. Search through each painting for many objects. Create your own stories and imagine what life was like in each place.

Do frogs have fur?
Dahl, Michael
Do dogs have feathers? No! Birds do. Through questioning about animal coats, readers have the opportunity to learn about the functions of various animal coverings. The combination of a glossary, an index and factual information and an engaging text makes the book an effective educational tool.

The grouchy ladybug
Carle, Eric
A grouch ladybug and a friendly ladybug fly to a leaf with aphids. The grouchy ladybug tells the friendly ladybug to go away. They decide to fight, but the grouchy ladybug goes on to look for even bigger food. Every animal the grouchy ladybug encounters is not big enough until the whale slaps her across the ocean. At six o'clock, the grouchy ladybug returns to the leaf. The friendly ladybug saves the grouchy ladybug some aphids, and the two ladybugs become friends.

The baby beebbe bird
Massie, Diane Redfield
All day long, the zoo animals roar and make noise. When they lay down to go to sleep, something keeps them awake: a new baby beebee bird isn't tired and sings all night long. When morning comes, all the animals are still tired. To prove their point, the animals make noise all day, keeping the bird awake. The next night all the animals, including the baby beebee bird, are fast asleep.

The good tiger
Bowen, Elizabeth
Sara and Bob want to invite their tiger friend over for tea. When Sara fails to tell her mother that she invited a tiger, chaos occurs. The tiger leaves, but Sara and Bob find him in the forest where they have the best party ever.

The biggest bear
Ward, Leila
Johnny brings home a baby bear that eats everything and grows bigger and bigger. Johnny tries to take him back to the woods, but the bear keeps coming back. Finally, the bear finds a home in a zoo.

Arthur's pen pal
Hoban, Lillian
Arthur longs to be his pen pal's big brother, so they can wrestle and do karate. He does not like having to jump rope with his little sister. But one day, he learns something very surprising about his pen pal.

Suddenly!
McNaughton, Colin
Preston manages to avoid the wolf that wants to capture him. The wolf never catches Preston.

Chipper's choices
Boegehold, Betty
Chipper makes up five stories, riddles, and songs for his friends so they can have something to do when the winter season comes.

Snow day
Fain, Moira
Maggie is very embarrassed when her teacher, Sister Agatha Ann, punishes her for drawing on her desk. She must write a poem and recite it for the class the following day. All night she worries about her unfinished homework, but the next day she wakes up to a snow day!Through her fun in the snow and the help from her teacher, Maggie discovers her own special way of writing poetry.