Skip to main content
Hurray for the fourth of july
Watson, Wendy
A family shows how they enjoy celebrating the Fourth of July through a series of events like a parade, picnic, and watching fireworks.

We're making breakfast for mother
Neitzel, Shirley
It's Mother's Day so the kids are making breakfast. They remember everything from the silver tray to the jam for toast. On the way to Mother's room, things begin to fall apart. Mother loves her surprise anyway, and everyone enjoys going out for breakfast.

Day of the dead
Johnston, Tony
A Mexican family spends many days preparing for the celebration of the Day of the Dead, one of Mexico's most important holidays. They eat food, sing, dance and use flowers to celebrate and honor the family members who have passed on.

The magic dreidels: A hanukkah story
Kimmel, Eric A.
Instead of helping his family clean, Jacob plays with his new brass dreidel. Jacob's mom has had enough, so she sends Jacob to the well for a pail of water. At the well, Jacob meets a goblin who gives him two new magic dreidels.

Only at the children's table
Baron-Hall, Daria
Relatives visit for Christmas Eve dinner. With a house full of children and adults, there are two separate tables. One little girl does not want to sit at the children's table because she thinks she's too grown up. In the end, she sits with the kids and discovers the true magic of Christmas.

Jumping the broom
Wright, Courtni Crump
Despite their troublesome lives, these slaves find reason to celebrate and be happy. Lettie and her family dance, sing, feast, and play games in honor of her sister's marriage.

My mother is the most beautiful woman in the world
Reyher, Becky
Varya helps her parents Marfa and Ivan prepare the wheat for the harvest, but she loses her way. In her search for her mother, she discovers the value of an old Russian proverb about beauty and love.

We had a picnic this sunday past
Woodson, Jacqueline
Teeka and her grandmather wait fo the arrival of all their relatives at the family picnic. They both fear that Aunt Martha will show up with her dried-out apple pie. When everyone arrives, they have a wonderful feast.

An early american christmas
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.

La boda: A mexican wedding celebration
Van Laan, Nancy
Little Maria learns all about La Boda, a mexican wedding, from her grandmother, in a bilingual manner. She becomes part of the celebration and is happy to learn about and be part of her first wedding.

Hooray, a pinata!
Kleven, Elisa
It's Clara's birthday, and she wants a pinata for her party. Clara, her mom, and her friend Samson go to the pinata store and Clara chooses a cute dog. Clara grows to love the dog and will not break him open. Samson saves the day by bringing another pinata to the party!

Bright april
De Angeli, Marguerite
April Bright's family encounters all sorts of racism as African Americans. April ends up making a new friend when prejudices are overcome.

Rotten ralph
Gantos, John B.
Ralph is a really rotten cat, so bad that he is abandoned at a circus by his family. He learns the errors of his ways.

When mindy saved hanukkah
Kimmel, Eric A.
Mindy, a mouse-sized girl, bravely faces a cat in the synagogue to retrieve a candle for her tiny family's Hanukkah menorah. Her mission allows her family to celebrate their special holiday together.

Angelo goes to the carnival
Goodenow, Earle
Angelo has his first experience with an Italian carnival.

Harlequin and the gift of many colors
Charlip, Remy//Supree, B.
Harlequin doesn't have a new costume for the carnival, so each of his friends give him a piece of cloth left over from theirs. His mom sews the cloth pieces onto his old suit and he's a hit at the party.

Oliver, amanda and grandmother
Van Leeuwen, Jean
Through five short stories, Grandmother Pig shows Oliver and Amanda how much fun she is to be around.

My special best words
Steptoe, John
A young black girl shares special words during the day with her younger brother, her baby sitter, and her single father.

Love you forever
Munsch, Robert
A mother loves her son. No matter how frustrated she becomes with him, every night she says that she will love him forever. He carried this on and said the same thing to his daughter.

Little jim's gift: An appalachian christmas story
Houston, Gloria
Little Jim wants a tool set for Christmas so that he can prove to his father that he is a man. Father does not find time for Christmas until a church event opens his eyes to the season.

Friends from the other side
Anzaldua, Gloria
Prietita is a young girl who befriends a young immigrant from Mexico. He lives with his mother in a shed. When the police come, Prietita hides them so they won't be taken away. This story is in English and Spanish.

On mother's lap
Scott, Ann Herbert
A boy and all his possessions are rocking with mom. The baby awakens and wants to rock too. The boy is worried there will not be room, but there is always room on mother's lap.

Babushka baba yaga
Polacco, Patricia
Because the villagers are afraid of her, the legendary Baba Yaga disguises herself so she can become a loving grandmother.

The low-down laundry line blues
Millen, C.M.
A young girl finds herself down in the dumps, lonely, depressed, and hanging around just like the laundry line outside her window. She doesn't want to do anything and looks so pitiful sitting beside her window all alone: she's got the low-down laundry line blues. Her sister decides that something must be done to cheer her up!She uses jivey rhymes to lift her sister's mood, but to no avail, they just don't seem to work. As a last resort, she drags her lonely blues-stricken sister outside and turns the low-down laundry line into a lively jump rope to play with!Suddenly the low-down laundry line and the girl with the low-down laundry line blues become lively and upbeat.

Meet guguze
Vangheli, Spiridon
Through a collection of eight short stories, young Guguze and his family enjoy adventures from season to season.

Everybody cooks rice
Dooley, Norah
Carrie's mom sends her out looking for her little brother at dinner time. While she is looking, she stops at many of her neighbors' houses and tries their cultural dinners made with rice

Old macdonald had a farm
Pearson, Tracey Campbell
Old MacDonald has a pretty typical day of feeding his animals and doing his chores.

The enormous potato
Davis, Aubrey
A farmer plants a potato eye to grow a potato. It grows so enormous that the whole family has to work together to pull the potato from the ground. They then cook the potato for the whole town to eat it.

The stingy baker
Greeson, Janet
Jan is a stingy baker. When a woman enters his cookie shop and asks for a bakers dozen, Jan refuses to give her an extra free cookie. The woman puts an evil spell on Jan. When Jan finally gives her a bakers dozen of cookies, the spell is broken.

Bonjour, mr. satie
dePaola, Tomie
Mr. Satie has to decide whose paintings are better - Henri or Pablo. His decision ends up uniting the two artists and ending their feud.

D.W's library card
Brown, Marc
Arthur's little sister, D.W., finally gets her first library card. However, in oder to get it she must first learn to write her full name. She finds hilarious ways to take care of her first library book until Arthur shows her the tricks of the trade.

The chocolate cow
Obligado, Lilian
Pierre is worried that his father might sell Melody, his cow. Melody can no longer give milk and Pierre's father has no need for her. Pierre decides to do all he can for Melody so she will produce milk. He feeds her the best food, and she turns into a very special cow.

Simple pictures are best
Willard, Nancy
A shoemaker and his wife want to have their picture taken for their wedding anniversary. A photographer comes to their house to take their picture. The entire time, the couple keeps adding objects to their photo setting. The photographer keeps reminding them that simple pictures are best.

Uncle wizzmo's new used car
Greenblat, Rodney A.
Uncle Wizzmo goes looking for a new used car and it turns out that the journey to the car dealer is just as much fun as buying the new used car.

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.

Tucking mommy in
Loh, Morag
Two girls' mother is too tired from work to tell them a bedtime story, so the two girls tell their own story and tuck their mother in bed.

My father's luncheonette
Greenberg, Melanie Hope
A little girl enjoys going to her father's luncheonette to eat, dance, waitress, clean-up, and close.

Brave irene
Steig, William
A little girl has to go through the snow to take a dress to her mother who made it for one of her customers.

By the dawn's early light
Ackerman, Karen
Rachel and Josh's mother works the graveyard shift at the factory. The children play with their Nana and she helps them with their homework then gets them ready for bed. They share a special time with their mom in the morning before school, cherishing their time with her by the dawn's early light.

The lady who put salt in her coffee
Schwartz, Amy//Hale, Lucretia
A lady puts salt in her coffee one morning by mistake and did not know what to do. Her family calls a chemist and an herb lady. They both were unsuccessful. At last, a wise lady from Boston suggests making a fresh cup.

Mr. MacGregor's breakfast egg
MacDonald, Elizabeth
As Mr. Cameron tries to deliver corn to Mr. MacGregor, a herd of cattle gets in his way. In front of the cattle is a group of boys on their bicycles and in front of them is a bus. Mr. MacGregor has to wait a long time for his corn.

Saying goodbye to daddy
Vigna, Judith
A young girl copes with the death of her father. Her mother and grandfather help her through the painful grieving after the car accident.

When eric's mom fought cancer
Vigna, Judith
A young boy copes with his mother's cancer. Going through a range of emotions, he finally comes to more of an understanding about her illness.

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.

Abuela
Dorros, Arthur
A little girl uses her imagination to transport her and her grandmother out of a bus to view the many sites over New York City.

Mommy's office
Hazen, Barbara
A little girl goes to downtown to see the place where her mother works. She compares kindergarten to her mother's office and thinks that they are very similar

The ant bully
Nickle, John
Lucas is different than the other kids and he is often bullied by one boy in particular, Sid. Sid takes Lucas' hat and sprays him with water and to take out his frustrations, Lucas in turn bullies the ants. To teach Lucas a lesson the ants take him to their queen ant. The Queen ant has the wizard ant shrink Lucas so he can live and work as an ant so he can appreciate what they do. Lucas gathered food, defended the colony, and attended to the queen. The queen has Lucas turned back into his normal size and when Lucas wakes up, he sees that the ants have decided to teach Sid a lesson because how he is ant size.

There's a monster under my bed
Howe, James
Alex is convinced that there are monsters under his bed that want to get him. He eventually decides to confront the monster, and discovers that his frightened brother is under his bed. The boys sleep together, comforted by each other's company.

Arthur's camp-out
Hoban, Lillian
Arthur is bored one spring day so he decides to go on a field trip to collect specimens. He finds himself in some difficult situations and quickly discovers how quickly his bravery can wear off. Even though things don't go as planned, he still manages to have some fun, thanks to his friends.

Jess was the brave one
Little, Jean
Even though Clara is the oldest she is not as brave as her little sister Jess. Whatever they do, Jess is brave. Then one day Clara comes to the rescue of Jess.