Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

The notebook keeper: A story of kindness from the border | by Briseno, Stephen

Families seeking asylum into the U.S. at the Tijuana, Mexico border have to wait for a long time to enter the United States after being denied entry. During the wait at the border, a girl and her mother look for a refugee who keeps a list of people waiting to cross into the United States. This act of kindness from the border, initiated by a notebook keeper, gives families hope as they wait.

Keywords: asylum, author's note, central america, change, correspondence, Days of the Week, El Salvador, faith, feelings, food, guatemalan, haitian, history, hope, kindness, loneliness, loss, Mexico, multicultural, numbers, patience, perspective, refugee, safety, silence, travel, volunteer, writing

What planet are you from, Clarice Bean? | by Child, Lauren

Clarice Bean is having a hard time coming up with an idea for her project on the environment. To make matters worse, she is paired up with her tag-along neighbor, Robert Granger. Her situation looks hopeless until her brother becomes an ecowarrior in an effort to free the tree from being cut down in their neighborhood. Robert and Clarice become ecowarriors themselves, saving the tree and their project.

Monsoon | by Krishnawami, Uma

A young girl in India waits with her family and friends for the monsoon season to begin. The importance of the monsoon in her culture is revealed to the radio, television, newspaper, and stories of the people.

Keywords: animals, author's note, cow, exercise, faith, family, feelings, food, games, hindu, india, language, market, monsoon, multicultural, newspaper, ox, radio, rain, seasons, taxi, television, temple, transportation, weather

The hermit and the well | by Nhat Hanh, Thich

A young boy and his friends take a trip with their teacher to the top of a mountain in Vietnam. The boys are excited because at the top lives a hermit. When they reach the top, the hermit is nowhere to be found. Wondering where he could be, the young boy wanders off, stumbles upon a well, and eventually finds his inner peace.

Keywords: adventures, beliefs, buddhism, critical thinking, faith, feelings, hermit, mountains, multicultural, nonverbal communication, peace, self esteem, verbal communication, vietnamese

Papa's latkes | by 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.

A pebble for your pocket | by 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.

Ruth and naomi | by Marzollo, Jean

After their husbands sadly pass away, Ruth moves to Bethlehem with her widowed mother-in-law Naomi. With no money and no sense of hope, the two women are unsure as to what will happen. A kind farmer known as Boaz, however shows his kindness and restores their happiness so that they can begin anew.

Keywords: anger, bravery, courage, critical thinking, faith, feelings, food, friendship, god, happiness, hard work, helping, kindness, loneliness, love, loyalty, marriage, moving, nutrition, sadness, song, spiritual, stress management, unselfish

Grandpa's gamble | by Michelson, Richard

A brother and sister are tired of always having to be quiet so as not to interrupt Grandpa Sam while he is praying. The children think they have a very boring grandfather. Grandpa Sam overhears the children and tells them the story of his life. He was born a Jew in Poland and to escape persecution he came to the United States. He learns to gamble to make a living but when his daughter becomes very ill he decides to lead an honest, humble life and pray every morning and night. The children are now amazed by their Grandpa Sam's story and respect his prayer time.

Keywords: author's note, boredom, culture, faith, family, forgiveness, grandparents, holidays, immigrants, Jewish, multicultural, parents, passover, photograph, prayer, religion, siblings, storytelling, stress management

Rumi: Whirling dervish | by Demi

Born in Afghanistan in the thirteenth century, Rumi settled in Turkey and became the greatest mystical poet who ever lived. Although he began his adult life as a highly respectable scholar, he found his true calling after becoming the disciple of a mysterious holy man, Shamsuddin, who taught him for three years. From Shams he learned to listen for the sacred sound of God within himself. When his creative spirit was awakened, he recited more than 50,000 rhymed couplets. He wrote about the love that resides in the soul of everyone regardless of religion or background. He founded the order…

Keywords: afghani, arabic, author's note, birthday, creativity, dancing, death, faith, god, history, learning, love, multicultural, muslim, poetry, prayer, religion, rhyme, spiritual, storytelling, turkey, wedding, wisdom

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

I was born about 10,000 years ago | by Kellogg, Steven

A young boy tells some tall tales by claiming that he's been alive for 10,000 years. He explains how he ate part of the apple with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, how he married Queen Elizabeth, and how he flew to the moon. Even though he stretches the truth quite a bit, it's fun to learn about some important events in history.

Keywords: adventures, creativity, faith, history, imagination, learning, moon, pretend, pride, royalty, storytelling

The christmas ghost | by Buck, Pearl S.

A small boy shares the spirit of Christmas with his family and neighborhood. One of the older neighbors tells him about a ghost who walks each Christmas Eve. In turn, the boy learns about friendship, believing, and remembering.

Keywords: christmas, conflict resolution, critical thinking, faith, family, friendship, ghosts, holidays, memories, neighbors, nonverbal communication, sharing, verbal communication

Shaker boy | by Ray, Mary Lyn

At age six, Celeb comes to live with the Shakers and he spends the rest of his life in their unique culture. He learns their ways, their songs, and is inspired by angels.

Keywords: angel, animals, autumn, birds, chicken, cow, dancing, death, faith, family, food, goal setting, god, hard work, helping, manners, multicultural, music, mythical, nature, nonverbal communication, nutrition, parents, school, seasons, self esteem, shakers, siblings, skills, song, spring, summer, taste, toys, verbal communication, winter, woods

I have heard of a land | by Thomas, Joyce Carol

Moving across country must have been very hard. Pioneers often picked up their belongings and moved on toward a common goal: starting a new life!

Beni's family treasury: Stories for the jewish holidays | by Zalben, Breskin Jane

Beni is so excited because he's finally old enough to really understand his Jewish heritage and the traditions of his faith. In his quest for understanding, he encounters a number of situations, from learning the beauty of togetherness after reconciling with his feuding cousin, Max, to recreating the Pukim in a play with his friends and cousins. Through all of this, Beni truly begins to see the magical feeling of togetherness and heritage that his religion encompasses.

Who is ben? | by Zolotow, Charlotte

On a dark night, Ben contemplates where he came from and where he will go after he dies.

Keywords: birth, death, faith, family, feelings, happiness, nonverbal communication, parents, peace, self esteem, verbal communication

An early american christmas | by dePaola, Tomie

A Christmas family moves into a not so spirited town. See how their joy and traditions eventually rub off on the town and gives them the Christmas spirit.

Keywords: celebration, christmas, faith, family, goal setting, history, holidays, pride, snow, verbal communication

The fourth wise man | by Summers, Susan

Atraban is the fourth wise man who is to go see the new born King of the Jews. He never meets the Messiah, but during his travels he is able to help many people with the gifts he carries for the King. After years of travel, Artaban still hasn't met his King, but before both men die Artaban hears the voice of the Messiah.

Keywords: animals, astronomy, author's note, baby, birth, camel, charity, desert, determination, egyptian, faith, family, geography, giving, god, hebrew, helping, history, horse, hunger, illness, Jewish, learning, maps, multicultural, presents, religion, stars, travel, wealth

Lost | by Johnson, Paul Brett//Lewis, Celeste

A little girl loses her dog Flag in the desert. She and her dad search for a month, but there is no sign of Flag. One day, when the girl returns home from school, she notices an old truck in her driveway. A man found Flag and brought him home!

Keywords: animals, assertiveness, celebration, critical thinking, decision making, desert, dog, faith, family, feelings, goal setting, hope, loss, love, nonverbal communication, parents, pets, sadness

Grandpa's hammer | by Kidd, Ronald

Grandpa always say that it take two things to make dreams come true: faith and a hammer. After Grandma passes away, Grandpa sets aside his hammer and nearly loses his faith. His granddaughter tries everything she can think of to bring back his faith but nothing seems to work. One day, Grandpa visits a Habitat for Humanity worksite with a neighbor and realizes that he can made dreams come true for others.

Keywords: african american, ambition, anger, appreciation, beliefs, caring, challenges, communication, coping, creativity, death, depression, determination, discovery, diversity, dreams, faith, family, fear, feelings, friendship, generations, giving, grandparents, grief, habitat, happiness, hard work, helping, hope, love, memories, multicultural, nonverbal communication, patience, sadness, self esteem, shelter, teamwork, verbal communication

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