Browse Items · Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

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African beginnings

Haskins, James//Benson, Kathleen

Come explore and celebrate the powerful impact people of African descent have made on world history and on the American experience.

Tags

africa, african, animals, architecture, art, bodies of water, business, clothing, culture, dancing, death, desert, discrimination, donkey, egypt, europe, flood, food, geography, ghana, hard work, history, instruments, islam, leadership, lizard, maps, multicultural, music, muslim, nigerian, nonfiction, nonverbal communication, ocean, religion, river, ship, slavery, time, traditions, transportation, verbal communication, village, work, zimbabwe

Billy Twitters and his blue whale problem

Barnett, Mac

When Billy Twitters doesn't brush his teeth or finish his peas, his mother says we are going to buy you a whale. This does not worry Billy, because he knows how large blue whales are and he couldn't possibly have one delivered. To his surprise, one morning there is a blue whale sitting outside his house, and it is his responsibility. The whale causes problems at school because Billy's classmates pick him at gym. And it just gets worse: his parents give him the owner's manual for the whale. While feeding him, Billy realizes that when he's inside the whale, nobody's laughing and nobody's telling him what to do...so he decides to make himself at home!

Tags

animals, bridge, bus, cleanliness, colors, community, comparisons, critical thinking, decision making, dinosaur, feelings, five senses, food, frustration, history, hygiene, language, loneliness, numbers, parents, park, perspective, problem solving, responsibilities, school, sight, sizes, smell, teeth, time, transportation, whale

To be a drum

Coleman, Evelyn

Daddy Wes whispers to his two young children about the history of Africans forced into slavery and how the pulse of the drum has moved through them over time. Daddy Wes promises his children that as long as they can hear the heartbeat of the earth, they will be free.

Tags

africa, african, art, bodies of water, careers, colors, community, culture, dance, five senses, freedom, hearing, history, instruments, language, multicultural, music, nonverbal communication, ocean, playing, pride, rhythm, sea, ship, slavery, sounds, spiritual, storytelling, symbols, time, verbal communication, war

Can you find it, too?

Cressy, Judith

Come enjoy history through a collection of famous paintings. Each has its own personality and story. Search through each painting for objects and colors. Get imaginative and create your own stories or interpretations about the paintings.

Dinosaur discoveries

Gibbons, Gail

Go on an adventure back to the time of dinosaurs. Learn about the history of dinosaurs and the job of paleontologists. A description of specific dinosaurs is included along with an index.

Tags

animals, birds, bluejay, bones, cardinal, careers, critical thinking, dinosaur, discovery, extinction, fossil, goal setting, history, museum, nonverbal communication, ostrich, science, teeth

Wee and the wright brothers

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.

Hot air

Priceman, Marjorie

On September 19, 1783, the first flight of a hot air balloon was recorded. People gathered in Versailles to watch the first passengers: a duck, a sheep and a rooster take off. The balloon almost crashes into a steeple; duck fills the basket with water; and a bird pops a hole in the balloon before they land in the woods.

Tags

animals, balloon, birds, chicken, crowd, duck, france, history, inventions, multicultural, nonverbal communication, perspective, sheep, storytelling, transportation

Madlenka's dog

Sis, Peter

A little girl desires a dog more than anything in the world. Her parents won't allow it, so she walks her imagniary dog around the city block. The community embraces her dog with memories of their own magical pets! Look under flaps on certain pages to see people and pets.

Tags

animals, art, dog, exercise, friendship, geography, history, horse, imagination, maps, shadows, stress management, verbal communication, walking

The promise quilt

Ransom, Candice

A little girl, living in the mountaintops of Virginia, wants to go to school. Her father promises to send her when she is old enough, but he goes off to fight in the civil war. During the war the school and books are burned. Find a special way to build a new school.

Tags

books, critical thinking, decision making, family, fear, feelings, goal setting, history, loss, parents, poverty, prayer, quilt, reading, rhyme, sadness, siblings, war, writing

Just like new

Manson, Ainslie

It is a time of war and children in England won't have Christmas presents. A little girl's class decides to give gifts they love that are like new. The little girl unselfishly gives up her most cherished doll and inserts a note, and a girl from England becomes her pen pal after receiving the gift.

Tags

books, canada, charity, christmas, church, correspondence, critical thinking, decision making, dolls, empathy, england, family, feelings, food, friendship, happiness, history, holidays, maps, multicultural, nutrition, parents, sadness, ship, siblings, toys, transportation, verbal communication, war

The queen's progress: An Elizabethan alphabet

Mannis, Celeste Davidson

Queen Elizabeth I of England takes an alphabetical journey one letter at a time. Factual footnotes are written on each page. Learn how the queen travels, likes, and interacts with her people.

Tags

alphabet, animals, clothing, culture, england, garden, goal setting, history, horse, maps, multicultural, respect, rhyme, royalty, sequence

I dream of trains

Johnson, Angela

A young boy from Mississippi listens for the sound of the train whistle while doing his work as a sharecropper. As he picks cotton, he dreams of someday leaving on a train. He refers to the train whistle as a call to his soul.

Tags

accidents, careers, dreams, family, farm, friendship, geography, hard work, history, hope, multicultural, parents, slavery, sounds, spiritual, storytelling, stress management, train, transportation

Maria's comet

Hopkinson, Deborah

A little girl dreams of being an astronomer like her father. She daydreams of catching a comet by the tail to sweep the sky and stars. She tries hard to hold onto her dreams while being forced to the forefront of reality.

Tags

assertiveness, astronomy, bias, biography, bodies of water, careers, decision making, discovery, exploration, family, grandparents, history, moon, ocean, parents, planet, ship, siblings, stars, technology, transportation, vision

Miss Bridie chose a shovel

Conner, Leslie

In 1856, Miss Bridie traveled to America with only her family shovel. She finds many uses for her shovel and it proves to be the right choice. She carves her path through life with a simple everyday shovel.

Tags

aging, baby, critical thinking, death, drought, exercise, family, farm, feelings, flood, flowers, garden, happiness, history, ice, immigrants, loss, marriage, parents, plants, sadness, seasons, ship, siblings, skating, tools, transportation, travel

The red piano

Leblanc-Barroux, Andre

A young pianist is sent to a re-education camp in China. She lives for her secretive two hours of music after a long day's work. Her parents managed to send a piano to Mother Han's house and she manages to smuggle music in notebooks. One night the pianist is caught at the piano, forcing her to live through an extended-re-education while her love and talent for music are challenged.

Meet the planets

McGranaghan, John

Soar into the Solar System to witness the first Favorite Planet Competition, emceed by none other than the former-ninth planet, now known as dwarf planet Pluto. The readers become the judges after the sun can't pick a favorite and the meteors leave for a shower. Who will the lucky winning planet be? Could it be speedy-messenger Mercury, light-on-his-feet Saturn, or smoking-hot Venus? Readers learn all about each planet as Pluto announces them with short, tongue-in-cheek facts. Children will spend hours searching the art for all the references to famous scientists and people of history, space technology, constellations, art, and classic literature.

Tags

author's note, careers, colors, comparisons, competition, critical thinking, day, distance, earth, history, illustrator's note, instruments, moon, night, numbers, order, planet, planets, science, sequence, sizes, space, sun, system, technology, temperature

Garibaldi's biscuits

Steadman, Ralph

In nineteenth-century Italy, the wife of General Garibaldi bakes biscuits, as a peace offering for a defeated French army.

Tags

art, author's note, balloon, beverage, clothing, cooking, family, farm, food, history, inventions, italy, peace, ship, transportation, war

Karate hour

Nevius, Carol

A group of children practice karate. They kick, punch, chant and roll as they learn the value of self discipline, respect, and self esteem in both self and others.

Rumi: Whirling dervish

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 of the whirling dervishes who believed their spinning dances put them in touch with God and brought peace and love into the world. Although Rumi died 800 years ago, his poems are more widely read now than ever. To honor the 800th anniversary of his birth, the United Nations declared 2007 the year of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi.

Tags

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

The twelve days of Christmas

Spirin, Gennady

The Twelve days of Christmas is sung in churches, houses, and concert halls throughout the Christmas season. It is hard to imagine a Christmas celebration without it. From the partridge in the pear tree to the five golden rings to the twelve drummers drumming, carolers enjoy taking turns singing different verses. Gennady Spirin's paintings bring new life and spectacular beauty to this classic song, making it a gift to be treasured at Christmastime. An illustrator' note addresses the song's origin and history.

Tags

author's note, birds, celebration, christmas, dancing, dove, goose, history, holidays, illustrator's note, instruments, jewelry, love, music, numbers, presents, seasons, song, swan, tree, winter

First pooch: The Obamas pick a pet

Boston Weatherford, Carole

Throughout their father's twenty-two month campaign for president, Malia and Sasha Obama beg their parents for a dog. Finally, when their father becomes the forty-fourth president of the United States, he rewards their patience and good behavior in his victory speech: Malia and Sasha will get their new puppy. What type of dog will they choose? Finally, on April 14th, 2009, a new puppy moves into the White House. It is a Portuguese water dog, and the girls name him Bo.

Tags

allergies, american, animals, author's note, comparisons, decision making, dog, family, health, history, numbers, pets, president, secrets, sequence, siblings, success, united states

Inside-outside dinosaurs

Munro, Roxie

Enjoy a giant dinosaur, a flying reptile, a dinosaur with plates and spikes on its body, and even a baby dinosaur cracking out of their shells. There is a ferocious dinosaur that eats meat and vegetarian dinosaurs that hide from carnivores. Look inside the dinosaurs and you'll see a dynamic view of eight dinosaur skeletons. Look outside the dinosaurs and you'll see sweeping paintings of these creatures as they once lived on our planet.

Tags

adaptation, archeology, author's note, body parts, bones, comparisons, dinosaur, extinction, history, nonfiction, reptiles, rocks, swamp, teeth, tree

Genghis Khan

Demi

The author's interpretation of Genghis Khan's life is based upon both historical resources and Mongolian folklore.

Tags

animals, camel, china, food, history, horse, leopard, marriage, multicultural, numbers, persian, river, rules, transportation, violence, war, wedding, wolf

In the time of the drums

Siegelson, K.

Raised by his grandmother Twi, a young boy named Mentu learns of the toils and tragedies of slavery and how one day he too will have to be strong in the cotton fields. As Mentu grows, Twi shares her talks of living in Africa through the use of drums. When Twi's spirit calls her home to Africa, Mentu's day to be strong arrives.

Tags

africa, african, aging, author's note, beliefs, boat, bodies of water, customs, escape, family, fear, garden, grandparents, hard work, history, island, language, memories, mischief, music, running away, ship, slavery, spanish, storytelling, transportation, travel, verbal communication, water

Grandpa, is everything black bad?

Holman, Sandy Lynne

Montsho struggles with the dark color of his skin. Everything around him that is black is considered bad. Thankfully, Muntsho's grandfather teaches him to appreciate his black skin by telling him stories about his African heritage.

Tags

activities, africa, african, african american, animals, bedtime, colors, confusion, death, discrimination, egypt, emotions, friendship, glasses, grandparents, greek, history, identity, instruments, inventions, language, playing, pride, relationship, rhythm, royalty, self esteem, sounds, storytelling, television, traditions, understanding, witches

Before John was a jazz giant: A song of John Coltrane

Weatherford, Carole Boston

Before John became a jazz giant, he loved music, singing, instruments, and the radio. The bustling of the south and the foundation of his church and family allows John to listen and create his own music.

Tags

african american, body parts, church, cooking, dancing, five senses, history, instruments, multicultural, music, parade, poetry, radio, rhythm, spiritual, technology

Bessie Smith and the night riders

Stauffacher, Sue

Emmarene always loved to listen to Blues music. When Bessie Smith comes to town, Emmarene can't wait to hear Bessie sing. Not everyone likes Bessie though. Emmarene and Bessie Smith have to stand up against people who tried to destroy their nights. And boy, could Bessie sing on stage and off!

Tags

african american, anger, author's note, bravery, clothing, courage, dancing, discrimination, feelings, fire, flowers, happiness, history, multicultural, music, nature, night, performance, sadness, show, singing, stars

Freedom river

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.

Tags

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

Say hey: A song of Willie Mays

Mandel, Peter

Willie Mays grows up in a time when black athletes were separate from white athletes in America. But due to Willie's baseball skills, the New York Giants recruit him. Willie breaks many baseball records because of his fast running and powerful hitting power.

Tags

african american, america, author's note, baseball, body parts, careers, crowd, fame, feelings, friendship, future, happiness, history, jumping, moving, multicultural, photograph, relationship, rhythm, running, seasons, song, sports, teamwork

I was born about 10,000 years ago

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.

Tags

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

Star of fear, star of hope

Hoelstlandt, Jo

Helen doesn't understand why her best friend, Lydia, has to wear a yellow star. On the eve of Helen's birthday, Nazis begin rounding up Jews. Their friendship is lost forever.

Tags

assertiveness, bias, change, confusion, decision making, family, friendship, history, Jewish, loss, missing, nonverbal communication, parents, separation, stereotypes, stress management, verbal communication

The roman twins

Gerrard, Roy

Maximus and his twin sister Vanilla are slaves to the cruel master Slobbus Pompius. They run away when Slobbus buys Polydox the horse then quickly decides to kill him. Maximus and Vanilla go through a chariot race and an invasion of Rome before they finally gain their freedom.

Tags

animals, architecture, assertiveness, bravery, critical thinking, decision making, freedom, heroism, history, horse, peer resistance, rhyme, siblings, slavery, war, work

Homeplace

Shelby, Anne

A grandmother explains to her grandaughter the history of the house she lives in. She begins her story at the beginning when great-great-great-great grandpa built the house. She explains how they planted corn and cooked on a wood buring stove. The story ends with the way the house looks now.

Tags

animals, cow, family, farm, food, grandparents, history, horse, memories, nutrition, parents, sheep, shelter, storytelling

All those secrets of the world

Yolen, Jane

Janine's father goes off to World War II. She wonders why her mother is so upset. Janine spends the day playing with her cousin in Chesapeake Bay where she learns the secrets of near and far. Two years later her father returns and she shares her secrets with him.

Tags

conflict resolution, family, feelings, history, parents, play, sadness, secrets, war

A. lincoln and me

Borden, Louise

A young boy discovers that he shares a birthday on the same day as Abraham Lincoln's. Learn how many other common characteristics a boy shares with a past president.

Tags

appearance, appreciation, baseball, birthday, body parts, books, bus, calendar, celebration, freedom, friendship, history, individuality, learning, money, monuments, music, playground, president, reading, running, school, self confidence, self esteem, slavery, sports, teaching, transportation

The story of a castle

Goodall, John S.

This book traces the life of a castle from the twelfth to the twentieth century.

Tags

history, nonverbal communication, royalty, shelter

Popcorn at the palace

McCully, Emily Arnold

Based on real events, Maisie Ferris, a girl from the mid-1800s, and her family don't really fit in with their neighbors in the small town of Galesburg, Illinois with their new ideas. They take one of their American creations, popcorn, to England and impress everyone with their corn that turns to snow.

Tags

american, animals, assertiveness, author's note, boat, carriage, cow, creativity, dolls, english, family, farm, food, garden, history, horse, imagination, multicultural, neighbors, nutrition, pioneers, royalty, self esteem, snow, spiritual, transportation, travel

By the hanukkah light

Oberman, Sheldon

It's Hanukkah so Grandpa and Rachel get ready to light the menorrah. As the family gathers, Grandpa tells the story of how Hanukkah began. When the children ask for another story, Grandpa tells them about Hanukkah when he was a boy during World War II.

Tags

celebration, family, food, grandparents, hanukkah, history, holidays, Jewish, nutrition, peer resistance, war

Good morning, let's eat!

Badt, Karin Luisa

What's for breakfast in Switzerland?Where did the word breakfast originate?Discover the answers to these questions and many more about morning foods. In some countries, breakfast is the biggest meal of the day, and in others it is very small.

Tags

beverage, british, canadian, chinese, customs, day, differences, dutch, egyptian, exercise, food, french, history, indian, irish, israelian, italian, japanese, morning, multicultural, norwegian, nutrition, russian, swiss, traditions, vietnamese

Natural history

Goffstein, M.B.

The Earth and how humans are all interconnected is depicted through nature.

Tags

conflict resolution, decision making, environment, helping, history, love, nature, peace, peer resistance, self esteem, sympathy

The popcorn book

dePaola, Tomie

Where does popcorn come from?This book gives the history of popcorn along with some helpful hints for storing, preparing, and popping popcorn.

Tags

celebration, food, history, multicultural, native american, nutrition, plants, recipe

Pink and say

Polacco, Patricia

A wounded solider in the Civil War is nurtured back to health by an African American soldier and his mother. Together they return to the battlefield, but are destined to live different lives.

Tags

african american, bravery, death, decision making, health, helping, history, injury, multicultural, self esteem, verbal communication, war

The boston coffee party

Rappaport, Doreen

During the Revolutionary War, a group of women boycott a local merchant's store and get all the coffee in the warehouse.

Tags

assertiveness, beverage, conflict resolution, decision making, gender, goal setting, greed, history, independence day, peer resistance, refusal skills, teamwork, verbal communication, war

Katie's trunk

Turner, Ann//Himler, R.

Katie hides in her mother's wedding trunk when the British rebels comes to search her house during the American Revolution. Katie gets scared because it is hard for her to breathe. Someone finally opens the trunk so she can breathe again.

Tags

assertiveness, bravery, chaos, confusion, coping, critical thinking, decision making, english, family, fear, food, history, memories, multicultural, parents, war

Barefoot: Escape on the underground railroad

Edwards, Pamela Duncan

A boy runs along the pathway of the Underground Railroad until he needs to take a rest. While he is resting, his pursuers are getting closer. They get too close and the boy can not run from his hiding place. Is he bound to be captured or can someone or something help him?

Tags

amphibians, animals, critical thinking, deer, escape, fear, freedom, frog, hiding, history, running away, secrets, slavery, transportation, underground railroad

The great encounter: A special meeting before columbus

Piercy, Patricia A

An African American tells the story of the discovery of America from a different point of view. He brings new knowledge to an excited and interested elementary classroom while telling the historical story.

Tags

acceptance, african american, critical thinking, discovery, diversity, fear, feelings, history, multicultural, native american, nonverbal communication, school, self esteem, storytelling

I have heard of a land

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!

I am the mummy, heb-nefert

Bunting, Eve

Hef-Nefert, an Egyptian mummy, tells her story as the wife of pharaoh's brother. She and her husband are very much in love and enjoy a wonderful life together. Eventually both die and become mummies that are viewed by disbelieving people in museums.

Tags

animals, birds, cat, family, happiness, history, learning, love, marriage, money, museum, nonverbal communication, parents, royalty, self esteem, siblings, snake, wealth

What happened to patrick's dinosaurs?

Carrick, Carol

After hearing the scientific explanations for the disappearance of dinosaurs, Patrick makes up his own version of how they lived and why they went away.

Tags

critical thinking, dinosaur, extinction, history, imagination, verbal communication

A christmas story

Wildsmith, Brian

The traditional Christmas story is told through the eyes of a young girl and her donkey. They try to find Mary and Joseph and follow their trip to Bethlehelm.

Tags

animals, assertiveness, christmas, conflict resolution, critical thinking, decision making, donkey, history, holidays, lost, spiritual, storytelling, traditions, travel

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