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Fall ball
McCarty, Peter
Bobby and his friends ride the school bus home with anticipation for playing football together at the park. The fall leaves set the tone for the girls and boys as they through, pass, and run with the ball. When it gets dark at 4:30 pm, the children go home to dinner. Because it had started snowing, they all snuggle in at their houses with good things to eat, cozy pajamas, and warm blankets to watch football on the television.

What do you do with a problem?
Yamada, Kobi
A boy realizes he has a problem that he didn't ask for or want to have. He worries about the problem. He ignores the problem. And tries to understand why the problem keeps getting bigger. He uses a new perspective by turning his worry into an opportunity. His change of thinking makes his problem go away!

What do you do with an idea?
Yamada, Kobi
An idea shows up in a child's life. The child wonders how it came to be and why it stays around. Sometimes the idea makes the child think, and sometimes it wants a lot of attention. The child worries about the idea and sometimes it needs food. The child lets the idea grow into the size of a dream. The child gains the ability to see things differently by walking on his hands. Eventually, the idea becomes part of everything, and it changes the world.

Jovita wore pants: The story of a Mexican freedom fighter
Salazar, Aida
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.

The hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher goes to school
Anderson, Laurie Halse
Zoe Fleefenbacher is a memorable girl with one blue eye and one green eye. Her most interesting characteristic is her red hair which is able to do many amazing things and surprises. In first grade, Zoe's teacher has lots of rules to learn but Zoe's hair does not listen and follow those rules. No one can tame Zoe's hair - not even Zoe herself. Zoe tries scrunchies, barrettes, headbands, to name a few! But one day, Zoe's hair finally helps her teacher and her classmates learn about all the planets in the solar system. Zoe becomes a star student in first grade which makes her teacher very happy!

Catching the moon
Goldberg, Myla
On one night each month, there is no moon. The Man in the Moon pays a visit to the fisherwoman who likes to fish at night. The Man in the Moon leaves a trail of luminous footprints behind but returns the next month and the next month to have tea with the fisherwoman. During those moonless nights, turtle babies, dolphins, hermit crabs, salmons, and sharks know what to do in their life. And the local fishermen remain baffled as to why the fisherwoman continues to fish at night.

The youngest marcher: The story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a young civil rights activist
Levinson, Cynthia
Audrey is a very confident and brave nine-year-old girl who knows all about segregation. She sees how others treat black people, and she wants to speak up and go to places like anybody else. After a church service, Audrey volunteers to go to jail to make a statement about freedom. Jail was quite hard, and the food was awful. After five days, Audrey is released to go home. Two months later, the City of Birmingham Alabama wipes segregation laws off the books. From then on, Audrey Faye Hendricks is known as the "Civil Rights Queen" and the youngest known marcher in the Children's March in May 1963. Audrey can now enjoy her ice cream at the parlor counter like everybody else.

Papa's magical water-jug clock
Trejo, Jesus
Papa is working today so Jesus tags along to help him with planting, cutting grass, and trimming trees. The family business works on Saturdays too so Jesus is in charge of filling Papa's big water jug. The two work around the neighborhood with all the tools rattling in the work van, stopping to work in 14 yards. Does the water hold out for them even though Jesus splashes some water on his face and gives water to some animals. Even though Jesus panics when the water is gone by 10:30 am, Papa explains that Jesus is still part of the family business. At the end of the day, Papa says "Time and water are precious. We don't want to waste them".

Do you remember?
Smith, Sydney
A boy and his mother trade memories while lying together on the bed. In the darkness of the night, they remember things of their past. The move from their house to an apartment with their belongings is part of their memory making. The boy asks his mother if the moments of remembering could also be a memory.

How do you spell unfair? MacNolia Cox and the national spelling bee
Weatherford, Carole Boston
In 1936, an eighth grader becomes the first African American to win the spelling bee in Akron, Ohio. MacNolia gets a military band send off to the National Spelling Bee in Washington DC with her mother. MacNolia learns about racism and discrimination when she crosses into Maryland and arrives in Washington. She and another black girl are seated away from the other spellers and their families. MacNolia spells word after word with a calm and focused performance. The judges throw a curveball to stump her and MacNolia is determined out. Her triumph is that folks now learn that African American students are as smart as anyone.

No mirrors in my nana's house
By looking in her nana's eyes, this little girl sees beauty in ways that others may not see. When her grandmother reflects love back to the little girl, she discovers the beauty in herself and doesn't learn hate. The little girl finds beauty in everything.

The smart cookie
John, Jory//Oswald, Pete
Learn how to become a smart cookie when given a chance to be creative and make something unique just like you. When the day came to share something original at school, smart cookie read her poem out loud and everybody clapped and cheered. Smart cookie learned that you can be smart in many different ways and there is always more to learn!

Lin's uncommon life
Shackelford, Scott//Castle, Emily
Elinor Ostrom, also known as Lin, worked "little by little, bit by bit, family by family" in order that the world could become a better place. Lin wanted to study the way that people could share resources because she believed that "so much good can be done on so many levels". Lin was discouraged from going to graduate school but she did and studied hard until she earned her PhD degree in political science. She wanted to create a research center where people could work together and ask hard questions. With her husband, they established the Vincent and Elinor Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at the University of Indiana. With their groundbreaking research, Elinor taught people how to share common resources around the world. She also earned the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences - the first woman to do so.

Fighting for yes! The story of disability rights activist Judith Heumann
Cocca-Leffler, Maryann
Judy Heumann always hears NO from a young age. She is not allowed to attend public school because she is in a wheelchair. Then after she goes to a special school with special education students, she attends college to become a teacher. But even the New York Board of Education says NO to her becoming a teacher after she earns her teaching degree. Judy joins several other disability rights activists to ensure Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 could be signed into federal law. Their work lays the foundation for the Americans with Disabilities Act. As a living advocate for herself and others, Judy tells her story of civil rights for which she fought tirelessly. By leading and working together with others to fix problems and make changes, disabled people now have less discrimination against them.

Dancing hands: A story of friendship in filipino sign language
Que, Joanna//Marquez, Charria
The new neighbors do not use their voices to speak. Their hands move in a rhythm to express their thoughts and feelings. Mai teaches her friend to communicate using her "hands to dance". The girls share their dreams and their aspirations for careers. Sam and Mai become best friends.

An American story
Alexander, Kwame
An African American story is an American story of slavery, brutal conditions, struggle, and oppression. Remember the American story of hard work, pride, and strength in the fight for liberty as Black people stand up and speak out while "holding history in one hand and clenching hope in the other".

We are here
Charles, Tami
In a journey of progress, love and, possibilities, this prose shows the music, art, speakers, and food that have celebrated African Americans and their impact in society. With the big hands and small hands that built the Black legacy, there are countless steps of heroes who have made a contribution to the world.


Me, all alone, at the end of the world
Anderson, M. T.
A young boy loves living quietly by himself because he enjoys reading, whistling dance tunes, and listening to the wind and sounds of nature. A boisterous man shows up one day and installs an amusement park for tourists to visit and play. Eventually, he leaves to live all alone at the Top of the World where he is quite happy for the time being.

The legend of freedom hill
Altman, Linda Jacobs
A Jewish girl and an African American girl become friends during the Gold Rush in California when slavery was against the law. The two girls work together to save Miz Violet, a runaway slave, by searching for gold to buy her freedom from a slave catcher.

Puffy popovers and other get-out-of-bed breakfasts
Fauchald, Nick
Learn how to eat healthy by using the MyPyramid food model and the step-by-step sequence for cooking This recipe book uses the five main food groups to make 3 easy recipes, 7 intermediate recipes, and 4 advanced recipes for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Kids see the tools they use when cooking the recipes and enjoy lots of measuring of ingredients and follow the time needed to make the food. Bon appetite!

Head and shoulders
Borgert-Spaniol, Megan
Use the music and the song lyrics of this active song to touch your "head, shoulders, knees and toes" over and over again. Add your "eyes and ears and knees and toes" to the song and you have learned how your body parts work together to help you move and live as a human being.

How a book is made
Aliki
Turn the pages of this book to learn how an author's manuscript and the artist's pictures become a book. Publishing a book is a long hard process with many workers from editors and publishers to proofreaders and printers. Who made this book? Read about the many people and the step-by-step process for publishing a book for all to read.

The dream quilt
Ryan, Celeste
Michael has bad dreams with many animals flooding his thoughts. A special quilt from the cedar chest is pulled out to play a game with his mother each night. A square from the quilt is chosen for sending a letter into dreamland. Michael's mother kisses him good night, and Michael has a wonderful dream. After Granny Rose comes to visit, Michael starts to dream in rainbows.

Going fishing
McMillan, Bruce
A young boy from Iceland enjoys time with both of his grandfathers while fishing for two kinds of fish: Atlantic cod and Lumpfish. Photographs of the boats and fishing process bring the true joy of catching fish alive. The stamps and coins showing the two kinds of fish are emblematic of the Icelandic culture.

The grand old duke of york
Ian, Nicholas
The music and song lyrics of this children's march is a nursery rhyme from England where the Grand Old Duke of York once sent his solders off to battle. Sing along as you learn how ten thousand men marched up to the top of the hill and marched down the hill again.

The crippled lamb
Lucado, Max
A little lamb named Joshua has one leg that doesn't work well so he always limped when he walked. His best friend, Abigail, was an old cow who encouraged Josh with her voice in a kind and friendly way. Abigail also told Josh about God who has a special place for those who feel left out. When all the other sheep are moved to a new meadow, a shepherd tells Josh to go back to the stable and spend the night. Josh gains companions when a young woman with her baby, Jesus, is born in that stable. Even shepherds come to the door to see God's son.

A small miracle
Collington, Peter
This Christmas narrative is a moving visual narrative without words. A hungry, old woman leaves her home to find food in the snow but is sad to give up her treasured accordion for sale when no one gives her money for playing music in the village street. She experiences a theft in the streets and then observes vandalism in the church by a man on a motorcycle. The woman reassembles the nativity scene in the church for Christmas and later earns the mercy and support from the participants when she collapses in the snow. This story of Christmas has a surprise ending (A wordless book).


Where are my books?
Ohi, Debbie Ridpath
Spencer loves to read books every night at bedtime. He always puts the book back on the shelf before sleep. One morning, he noticed that his book was gone. A different book was missing the next day and the next day. Spencer finds his books being read by squirrels , so he helps them pick out their first book to read from his collection and also teaches them how to return books at the library so they can keep borrowing books to read. Spencer reads a book out loud to his sister and the squirrels - and everyone is happy.

Voice of freedom Fannie Lou Hamer: Spirit of the civil rights movement
Weatherford, Carole Boston
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.

My name is sangoel
Williams, Karen Lynn//Mohammed, Khadra
Sangoel feels homesick after leaving his Sudanese homeland where his father died in the war. With his mother and sister, Sangoel arrives to the United States to start a new life where they learn so many things about technology, escalators, cooking stoves, and televisions. With a clever use of writing in his new school classroom, Sangoel helps his teacher and classmates learn how to pronounce his name. He will always be a Sangoel just like "his father and grandfather and his father" before him in Africa.

You can't be too careful
Mello, Roger
The white rose starts a series of continuous storylines with deeper and deeper meanings and more and more people and animals contributing to the creative adventure of white rose escaping from her pen.

Back of the bus
Reynolds, Aaron
From the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, a young boy plays with his marble while sitting next to his mother. His mother tells the boy to stop the rolling marble and to tuck his marble inside and be quiet. This is the day that Rosa Parks sits in the front of the bus instead of the back of the bus with the boy and his mother. The boy knows his marble with its brown and golden shine in the sunlight is a symbol of change. No need to hide it no more.

New old shoes
Blessing, Charlotte
A brand-new pair of shoes begin on the playful feet of an American boy then his shoes are donated and worn on the feet of African children. The shoes are worn and used in many different ways for play and work.

Women of hope: African Americans who made a difference
Hansen, Joyce
Twelve amazingly talented women of hope are highlighted for their creative and courageous contributions to American life. Their careers as African American women reflect and demonstrate a variety of social role models for all children - role models that these twelve women did not have for showing them the way when breaking through barriers.

Happy feet: The savory ballroom lindy hoppers and me
Michelson, Richard
A father loves to dance. He also loves to retell the story about the opening of the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. He works hard and saves money so he can put up a shoe shine sign for his own business. When his son is born that day, the new club opens to a sharp-dressing, happy-dancing people from all backgrounds with black people and white people dancing together. The son is named Happy Feet, and he too dreams of dancing at the legendary ballroom someday.

Ruth and the green book
Ramsey, Calvin Alexander
Ruth and her parents drive from Chicago to Alabama to visit her grandma. Along the way, they saw signs that said "White Only" where they couldn't eat in the restaurants or use the bathroom inside. Ruth's mother had food packed for the trip, and they sang songs along the way to stay happy. They also visited a friend, Eddy, in Tennessee where Eddy and Ruth's daddy played music together. When the family drove into Georgia, a man explained "The Negro Motorist Green Book" which would list places in different states that would welcome black people who were traveling. Ruth and her family learns how to use the Green Book to find places to sleep, eat, shop, and get a haircut on their travels because Jim Crow laws were unfair and discriminatory against black people. When a 'tourist home' welcomes them for free, Ruth learns that it is important to help each other and treat others like a big family. After this lesson, she gives her Brown Bear to a little boy who was traveling away from home with his mother for the very first time. Ruth said that she no longer needed Brown Bear because she was too old now, then she told his mother about buying a Green Book for her travels.

Only passing through: The story of Sojourner Truth
Rockwell, Anne
A young woman named Isabella leads a strong and courageous life after being sold three times as a slave girl in the northeastern United States. After she is given a freedom day by a couple living nearby who knew of the 1827 New York law to set adults free, Isabella felt the "power of a nation" in court to win back her son who was unlawfully sold out of state. Isabella later heard God calling her to be a sojourner and spread her message about the value of freedom and what it had been like to be a slave. She would ask people "Is this any way to treat a human being"? Sojourner told her truth so well that she took the name Sojourner Truth and carried a white silk banner with the words "Proclaim Liberty" wherever she went.