Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

Tom misbehaves in church and is sent home early. He goes to play in the barn and discovers runaway slaves. He and his father help them escape and Tom learns all about freedom through the Underground Railroad.

Patty, Mickey, and Liza Sue just can't handle their freedom. The things they do frighten the adults around them. The adults decide to put them in a big brown box because they care about the youngsters. The children will have everything they need, except their freedom. Isn't that the one thing children need?

Flats the dog loved to play the blues on his guitar, but his master, A.J. Grubbs had another idea. He wanted Flats, and his friend Caleb, to become fighting dogs. Finally tired of Grubbs' abuse, Flats and Caleb run away. They decide to pursue Flats' musical career, but everywhere they go Grubbs finds them. In the end, their owner has a change of heart about Flats playing the blues.

Momma Mary goes back in time and tells stories of a unique young man named Jabe, who is responsible for creating magic among the slaves of the Plenty Plantation. He is described as a hero with the strength of fifty men, a big heart, and a wondrous gift at leading slaves away to freedom.

The country of Africa is explored from A to Z. Africa has a rich culture, many customs, and hardworking people that have lasted throughout history.

A little girl and her grandma find an injured bird, so they nurse it back to health. When the bird recovers, they let it go into the wild.

Vitita discovers a runaway slave under her porch. Vitita is determined to save the slave woman from the slave catcher. Vitita and sina Rosa furnish the woman with supplies through a mango tree. Vitita and sina Rosa come up with a plan to get the slave catcher out of town. After the slave catcher leaves, Vitita and sina Rosa introduce their new friend to the neighbors.

Alec was a slave who wanted to be free. Ms. Josephine, one of his masters and three years older than him, told Alic if he wanted to be free he needed to learn to read. Ms. Josephine taught him to read and when Alec was old enough he couragously fights in the Civil War and obtained his freedom.

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.

A cake and a lemon escape from a refrigerator to explore the world together. They see many things and decide to travel over land and sea together, forever.

A young, 8 year old, African American girl dreams of flying above her Harlem home and having the many things she sees. She speaks of her wish to have money and liberation for her family and herself.

Mama and Papa Love are two of Captain Pepper's slaves. They are going to have a baby, but they fear for it's life. With the help of the Powers of Nature, their baby is saved. For years Mama and Papa Love live peacefully until Captain Pepper threatens their child once again. By asking for help from the Powers of Nature, the slaves are able to live happily and peacefully with out any fear of Captain Pepper.

Cassie take a ride on the Underground Railroad with Harriet Tubman as her guide. She learns what steps slaves had to go through in order to reach freedom in the North.

Jovita is a brave young girl who joins the fight for religious freedom in Mexico during the Cristero War. Although girls are supposed to wear dresses and skirts, Jovita joins her brothers and father to become a revolutionary in so many ways. Jovita is a Mexican Freedom Fighter who fights dangerous battles against the government and eventually surrenders peacefully after fighting hard for six years. She is remembered by a song written in her honor.

Yertle the turtle is the king of all turtles and everything that he can see. In order to see more things, therefore becoming more powerful, he would stack turtles to stand on. Finally, the stack of turtles got so high that Yertle came crashing down and set all the other turtles free.

As a child of the civil rights movement, a little girl recounts the story of her parents growing up with Jim Crow laws which said that black people had to sit in the back of the bus, the last car of the train, and the balcony of the movie theatre. From New York to Georgia, the girl and her family moves back home to find that restaurants would not let them come in to eat. Families gather at friends houses to eat while organizing a peaceful protest to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. The people start at Brown Chapel AME Church with thousands of others - which included Jewish rabbis, Catholic priests, and Baptist ministers. It took four days to march the fifty miles as people watched them on TV. On the sixth of August, President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into the history books. The children march on to other causes.

Mentu and Twi tell the story of an African family newly arrived in the Americas. Twi never gives up on returning to her native Africa. Twi tells stories of cooking, planting, music and dancing from her native land.

Hannah and her father are slaves who decide to escape to freedom. They use the patterns in the quilt made by her mother, who passed away, to follow the Underground Railroad.

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!

Topple, the long-finned herring, learns that his difference is actually a blessing. He learns from another long-finned herring that he can fly, and in turn his seemingly unlucky fins save his life.

No woman could be braver and have more courage than Fannie Lou Hamer. For the fearless fight that Fannie demonstrated as the "the country's number one freedom-fighting woman", we learn how her story written in themed prose serves as a chronicle of her life of civil rights. From being the last born of a large Mississippi family to being a speaker at the 1964 Democratic National Convention, Fannie went on to cofound the National Women's Political Caucus. By learning that she had a right to vote, Fannie used her voice to advocate for voting rights for others.

A fence not only divides two properties -- it segregates two families because of their different cultures. Initial fears from the parents cause them to set rules that will forbid the friendship of their young daughters. Little did they know that their daughters would break the barrier as they climbed the fence together to see the world as it should be, not as it is.

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.