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

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Rosa

Giovanni, Nikki

Seamstress Rosa Parks displays her quiet strength by turning her NO into a YES for change by not getting up from the neutral section of the city bus where she sat. She recited in her mind that separate sections on the bus are "unequal" for Blacks who were supposed to ride the bus in the back. Jo Ann Robinson, a professor at Alabama State, told 25 women to meet on campus after dinner to pray then print posters to boycott the buses the next day in support of Mrs. Parks. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. became the public spokesperson for the mass meeting of the Women's Political Council, the NAACP, and churches. Black people kept walking and not riding the city buses until on November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that segregation was WRONG. One year after Mrs. Rose Parks had been arrested, blacks were no longer second-class citizens and were made equal under the law.

Tags

african american, author's note, boycott, bus, careers, change, clothing, courage, feelings, flag, history, holidays, honesty, illustrator's note, justice, multicultural, nonviolent, politics, prayer, protest, signs, transportation, travel

A star shines through

Desnitskaya, Anna

A young girl and her mother find change when they leave Russia for Israel. They leave a big city apartment during the war for a different apartment with a different language and different food. They make a cardboard star by cutting and gluing it so they can place the star in the window. When the girl returns from music lessons in the evening, she recognizes the star shining brightly.

Tags

art, author's note, change, city, community, differences, food, home, language, loss, music, night, perspective, stars, war

Daughter of the light-footed people: The story of indigenous marathon champion Lorena Ramirez

Medina, Belen

Lorena Ramirez is an athlete who loves to run. Her swift footsteps echo through the copper canyons of Mexico as she runs in an ultramarathon for sixty miles. She wears a skirt sewn by her mother and rubber sandals made from tires when she runs so she can honor the Raramuri people of Chihuahua, Mexico. She wins the race against hundreds of people from other countries.

Tags

animals, author's note, ball, body parts, celebration, country, culture, family, food, goat, language, love, marathon, Mexico, multicultural, numbers, onomatopoeia, patience, persistence, photograph, pride, running, siblings

Yatandou

Whelan, Gloria

A young Mali girl, Yatandou, is eight years old and sits with women in her village for three hours to pound sticks against the millet kernels to make one day's food. Yatandou takes her goat to graze. Her brother, Madou, goes into the thickets to bring back another goat lost from the village. He gets thorns on his clothes which Yatandou pulls off. Madou and their father work the onion fields in the scorching heat and blowing red sand. Mother makes two journeys to the well each day -- morning and night. On the eve of getting a machine to grind millet in the village, a woman comes from the city to teach the girls and the women. Father complains that the women will become idle. But Madou climbs the rocks and brings home a bag of bats from the caves. Mother makes bat stew for dinner, and Father is happy.

Tags

african, anger, animals, author's note, body parts, clothing, desert, education, family, feelings, food, garden, goat, grandparents, hunger, market, money, mood, parents, shadows, sheep, time, travel, trees, village

Child of the civil rights movement

Shelton, Paula Young

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.

Tags

african american, analogy, anger, author's note, biography, car, church, civil rights, equality, family, famous, feelings, flag, freedom, grandparents, history, instruments, law, marching, multicultural, music, peace, protest, religion, restaurants, swimming, technology, television, transportation, travel, walking

The yellow bus

Long, Loren

A yellow bus drives day after day, year after year, while getting a new driver, a new route, and new passengers. Yellow bus is filled with joy while carrying people from one place to another and when being a safe space to the homeless. Yellow bus is towed into the country side to become a shelter for goats and then fish at the bottom of the river. Yellow bus lives a good life where ever she finds herself.

Tags

adaptation, animals, art, author's note, bodies of water, bus, city, community, farm, feelings, fish, flood, goat, illustrator's note, imagination, morning, night, noise, onomatopoeia, rain, river, transportation, travel, truck, weather

Remembering Rosalind Franklin: Rosalind Franklin and the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA

Tanya Lee Stone

Rosalind Franklin was a remarkable chemist who captured an image that identified the double helix of DNA in the 1950's. Her Photo 51 helped two of her male colleagues to win the Nobel Prize but Rosalind did not know this ethical overstep before she died of ovarian cancer at a young age of 37. Rosalind's life as a young woman is chronicled from England to Norway and France where she had a zest for life and demonstrated her many skills and talents. If it weren't for Rosalind, we would not know the scientific secrets of life. Her main discovery is that DNA created different patterns when it is wet versus dry. In May 1952, Rosalind's X-ray diffraction images became the important Photo 51. Let us not forget Rosalind Franklin!

Tags

author's note, beach, camera, careers, clothing, england, family, french, friendship, german, history, intelligent, Jewish, language, math, measurement, photographs, research, science, technology, X-ray

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.

Tags

animals, author's note, birds, bodies of water, cave, church, clothing, courage, death, dog, dreams, family, fight, fire, freedom, government, history, home, hope, horse, illustrator's note, justice, loss, memories, mexican, Mexico, multicultural, nature, parents, persistence, photography, plan, plants, running, secrets, shelter, siblings, stars, war

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.

Tags

african american, author's note, children, church, civil rights, comparison, discrimination, equality, faith, family, food, freedom, grandparents, history, marching, multicultural, parents, prison, recipe, signs, timeline

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.

Tags

advocacy, author's note, bus, careers, celebration, civil rights, disability, disappointment, family, fight, government, graduation, health, homework, law, microphone, organizations, parents, persistence, school, signs, teamwork, technology, telephone, transportation, writing

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.

Tags

author's note, birds, body parts, butterfly, careers, communication, deafness, differences, disability, dreams, earth, filipino, friendship, gestures, insects, language, learning, multicultural, nature, neighbors, observation, plan, rhythm, sign language

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.

Tags

african american, art, author's note, body parts, careers, clothing, culture, history, illustrator's note, instrument, music, pride, rhythm, space

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.

Tags

african american, animals, author's note, book, custom, faith, family, fox, freedom, friendship, games, gold rush, hard work, history, horses, Jewish, multicultural, parents, slavery, teamwork

That flag

Brown, Tameka Fryer

Tags

anger, author's note, bias, change, clothing, comparisons, conversation, differences, family, feelings, flag, friendship, games, hatred, history, illustrator's note, jump rope, learning, museum, neighbors, parents, quiet, racism, reading, recess, respect, sadness, school, technology, television, war

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.

Tags

african, author's note, careers, change, culture, drawing, family, grandparents, identity, learning, parents, problem solving, refugee, school, sudanese, technology, television, transition, travel

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.

Tags

africa, animals, author's note, balance, biking, birds, boat, body parts, change, chicken, china, cleanliness, clothing, colors, crow, decision making, dog, italy, jumping, market, ocean, play, portugal, running, scarecrows, school, shoes, signs, soccer, taiwan, transportation, travel, truck

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.

Tags

african american, author's note, body parts, business, car, cleanliness, clothing, community, dance, dancing, feelings, friendship, happiness, hard work, history, language, multicultural, music, new baby, party, performance, shoes, signs

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.

Tags

african american, anger, author's note, books, car, conversation, discrimination, family, fear, feelings, food, friendship, grandparents, happiness, instruments, law, learning, literacy, map, multicultural, music, oppression, parents, reading, signs, singing, storytelling, toy, transportation, travel

Harlem at four

Datcher, Michael

Tags

african american, author's note, body parts, buildings, camera, culture, equality, history, instrument, justice, love, migration, music, neighbors, parents, pride, social justice, subway, train, transportation

A different pond

Phi, Bao

A young boy accompanies his dad to catch fish for food before the sunrises and before other family members awake. The dad tells the bait man at the all-night store that he is starting a second job. The boy meets a Hmong man and a black man who are also fishing -- but this time, it is just the boy and his dad under the starlit sky. The boy learns to make a fire and to bait his hook and to honor the stories of his Dad as he explains how life was in Vietnam when he was a boy. When they return home, the dad and mom head to work while the boy looks after his brothers and sisters.

Tags

african american, author's note, bicycle, bodies of water, counting, feelings, fire, fishing, food, hard work, hmong, illustrator's note, language, learning, loss, morning, multicultural, photograph, pond, poverty, refugee, responsibilities, sadness, siblings, sleep, storytelling, teeth, tree, vietnamese, war, work

Magic: Once upon a faraway land

Ortega, Mirelle

Once upon a faraway land in Mexico, a young girl highlights her grandfather's pineapple farm, her mom's wool blanket weaving, and her dad's sketches for making stone buildings. She reflects on the way that magic can change things for better and for worse. She loves the beautiful music and sounds that are woven together for people to dance. She also admires her fingertips as an artist when blank pages become pictures to share with others.

Tags

author's note, body parts, careers, celebration, dancing, Day of the Dead, drawing, farm, food, fruit, games, holidays, magic, Mexico, music, party, sewing, storytelling, traditions, weather, weaving

The case for loving: The fight for interracial marriage

Alko, Selina

Mildred and Richard Loving wanted to love each other with freedom without having to be legally limited by where they lived as husband and wife based on the color of their skin. Marriages between people of different races were against the law in 17 states. In those states, interracial marriage was illegal. So Mildred and Richard got married in Washington DC then moved to Virginia where their marriage certificate hung on the wall of their home. The police did not honor the certificate so the Lovings were taken away and locked up in jail. They moved away from their families back to Washington DC where they had three children. The Lovings took their case all the way to the Supreme Court and won on June 12, 1967. Richard had his courageous message read aloud in court. The message was: "Tell the court I love my wife and it is just unfair that I can't live with her in Virginia". From that day, it was unconstitutional to make marriage a crime because of race.

Tags

author's note, change, children, civil rights, courage, emotions, equality, government, growing up, history, law, love, marriage, perspective, prejudice, travel

Still dreaming = Seguimos sonando

Martinez, Claudia Guadalupe

Many workers from Mexico leave their homeland with their families to a land of opportunity where they dream to live a life without borders. A young boy and his parents drive their car far away until there are no city lights. Papa sings a sweet sad song on the side of the road where there are other people at a campfire. The boy eventually learns that the laborers worked in Alaska, Los Angeles, Michigan, Minnesota, Kansas, and Chicago, and they cross the border together to find answers to their dreams.

Tags

america, author's note, border, butterfly, California, car, farmer, fishing, food, geography, hard work, history, immigrants, language, maps, Mexico, moon, music, neighbors, newspaper, opportunity, ship, sleep, spanish, stars, train, transportation, travel

A land of books: Dreams of young Mexihcah word painters

Topnatiuh, Duncan

Aztec artists living in Mesoamerica painted beautifully crafted books to keep the knowledge, culture, and history of the Mexihcah (also known as the Aztec). The process of making paper and obtaining dyes from plants, animals, and rocks is explained, then the way that a painter of words and images will share their work to be sung by a reader in a land of books.

Tags

art, author's note, books, calendar, careers, colors, culture, history, images, interpretation, language, native american, nature, sequence

Plants can't sit still

Hirsch, Rebecca E.

Plants can wiggle, whirl, and hide. Some plants can bloom by the moon and other plants sleep at night. Plants can walk up a wall and climb a fence. All plants just can't sit still and are always actively moving. Come to learn about seeds built for travel as they whirl, float, and glide into action and take a ride on humans and animals.

Tags

author's note, growth, life, nonverbal communication, plants, variety, verbs, wildlife

Big dreams, small fish

Cohen, Paula

In this New York neighborhood, a store sells gefilte fish but no one wants to buy it. Shirley's family thinks she is too young to help market the gefilte fish. In a timely moment, Shirley gives a surprise to each customer who buys something from the store. The customers come back eager for gefilte fish - much to her parents' surprise.

Tags

animals, author's note, cat, cleanliness, culture, family, fish, food, glossary, Jewish, language, leadership, market, money, neighbors, numbers, photograph, problem solving, recipe, Yiddish

Where wonder grows

Gonzalez, Xelena

When Grandma goes to her garden, her grandchildren follow so they can gather magic rocks and relics from nature. They use the rocks to learn more about the world and earth. And the rocks are used to send songs and prayers through the air to their ancestors. Down into the water, they dive to see the rocks. Grandma reminds her granddaughters that "water names and breaks even the biggest rocks, very slowly, over time. So when life feels too hard, just remember to go with the flow".

Tags

author's note, bodies of water, colors, earth, fish, garden, grandparents, multicultural, mystery, native american, nature, night, perspective, rocks, shells, space, traditions

Mary wears what she wants

Negley, Keith

One day, a young girl named Mary decided to wear pants instead of dresses at a time when girls always wore dresses. Mary took her very daring idea into town where she was challenged by people for wearing boys clothes. Mary reminded them that "Im wearing MY clothes".

Tags

alphabet, appreciation, author's note, change, clothing, feelings, gymnastics, history, imagination, school, sleep, worry

The notebook keeper: A story of kindness from the border

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.

Tags

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

All my stripes: A story for children with autism

Rudolph, Shaina & Royer, Danielle

Zane worries that his "autism stripes" makes him stand out from his peers. Zane's mom helps him understand the different ways that he unique from other kids his age. Whether it is art, math, or science class, Zane learns to do his best. And his mom reminds him to use his pilot stripe, caring stripe, honesty stripe, and curiosity stripe to be himself at school.

Tags

author's note, autism, caring, communication, curiosity, differences, direction, fear, feelings, food, honesty, learning, love, perspective, school, science, zebra

Ida B. Wells, voice of truth

Duster, Michelle

Ira B. Wells was an educator, feminist, and anti-lynching civil rights leader who founded many important clubs for African Americans. Even when faced with threats and criticisms, Ida B. Wells still kept writing, speaking, and traveling to challenge the racist and sexist norms of her time and leading the fight for justice and equality as a leader who made a difference for us all.

Tags

african american, author's note, careers, change, children, correspondence, courage, education, equality, justice, leadership, loss, marriage, multicultural, newspaper, organizations, photograph, politics, racism, slavery, suffrage, teaching, technology, train, transportation, travel, truth

Crown: An ode to the fresh cut

Barnes, Derrick

A boy goes to the barbershop to get a haircut. As he sits there, he notices everyone around him, gaining confidence with each unique style. Once his haircut is complete, the boy feels ready to accomplish anything with a newfound conviction and trust in himself.

Tags

african american, author's note, body parts, careers, confidence, friendship, instruments, multicultural, music, perspective, pride, self confidence

Sweet justice: Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery bus boycott

Rockliff, Mara

Georgia Gilmore heard about Mrs. Rosa Parks who had been arrested when she wouldn't give up her seat to a black man on a city bus in 1955. But something was also cooking in Montgomery, Alabama about the same time -- a woman who cooked to feed and fund the people willing to participate in the Montgomery fun boycott. Georgia knew there was no justice under segregation so she boycotted the arrest of Mrs. Parks by staying off the city buses for one day. In order to get others to stay off the buses for one day, Georgia cooked and sold her crispy chicken, sandwiches, cakes, and pies to pay off the fines that people got when participating in the boycott. After testifying in court, Dr. Martin Luther King encouraged Georgia to keep cooking. On December 20, 1956, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that segregated buses were unconstitutional.

Tags

african american, author's note, boycott, bus, change, church, civil rights, courage, food, government, history, justice, law, leadership, money, multicultural, perspective, segregation, transportation

All-of-a-kind family hanukkah

Jenkins, Emily

Gertie, the youngest of five children, wants to help her mother cook for their family dinner on the first night of Hanukkah in New York City’s Lower East Side. After many attempts of trying to help in the busy kitchen, Gertie is sent to her room by her mother and is eventually called down for dinner by her dad. In order to get her to come downstairs, Gertie’s father asks for her helping to light the candles of the menorah for the first time and Gertie happily accepts the offer.

Tags

author's note, body parts, books, celebration, cooking, family, fire, food, freedom, frustration, hanukkah, hebrew, helping, history, holidays, illustrator's note, Jewish, learning, numbers, nutrition, parents, preparation, siblings, singing, traditions

Action! How movies began

McCarthy, Meghan

Movies are an important part of our society today, but they have not always been what we see in theaters. From the Kinetoscope to black and white film, and from soundless productions to special effects, the movie industry has evolved over time to make what we see and enjoy today!

Tags

african american, author's note, careers, colors, emotions, five senses, generations, history, inventions, movies, multicultural, nonfiction, photograph, photography, sequence, shadows, sounds, technology, time, vision

Fry bread: A Native American family story

Maillard, Kevin Noble

Children help a Native American grandmother make fry bread while learning about the history, social ways, food, art, and politics of America's 573 recognized Indian tribes.

Tags

america, art, author's note, baking, colors, diversity, family, five senses, food, friendship, geography, heritage, history, native american, nutrition, preparation, recipe, sounds, storytelling, variety

Boycott blues: How Rosa Parks inspired a nation

Pinkney, Andrea Davis

Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus because of her race, sparking a social movement to end segregation enforced by the Jim Crow laws.Following the arrest of Rosa Park, her supporters refused to ride the community bus system during the Montgomery bus boycott. Despite the struggles of this protest, the Jim Crow laws were eventually overturned due to the spark that Rosa Parks ignited to motivate a generation to stay resolute in their pursuit of justice.

Tags

aggression, ambition, america, author's note, beliefs, boycott, bravery, challenges, change, conflict, courage, determination, discrimination, history, music, onomatopoeia, prejudice, protest, walking

A home in the barn

Brown, Margaret Wise

In the winter, it is too cold for the animals to be outside but the barn is warm. All the horses, cattle, mice, birds, and cats stay there together to keep away from the cold. Even though there are a lot of animals in the barn, they all get along and help to keep each other warm.

Tags

african american, animals, author's note, baby, barn, birds, birth, bluejay, cardinal, cat, chicken, cold, community, cow, dog, farm, goat, horse, insects, mouse, multicultural, night, onomatopoeia, pig, pony, problem solving, rhyme, rhythm, sparrow, squirrel, time, wasp, winter

Seven spools of thread

Medearis, Angela

Whether working on their family farm or eating dinner, the seven Ashanti brothers always fight amongst themselves to the dismay of their father. However, when their father passed away, the seven Ashanti brothers were tasked with creating gold from seven different color spools of thread. After completing this seemingly impossible task by working together, the brothers taught their community the value of the lessons they learned.

Tags

african, argument, author's note, colors, communication, community, culture, fable, farm, ghana, language, peace, problem solving, siblings, success, support, teamwork, vocabulary, weaving

The coquies still sing: A story of home, hope, and rebuilding

Gonzalez, Karina Nicole

After a terrible hurricane, the family garden is gone and there's no electricity or running water. The mango tree still stands brown and bare, and the native tree frogs stop singing their song. As the family starts the island clean up around their Puerto Rican home, the native coqui's song begins a slow resurgence months after the devastation of Hurricane Maria.

Tags

amphibians, animals, author's note, books, destruction, electricity, emergency, feelings, frog, garden, grandparents, hope, hurricane, illustrator's note, light, love, neighbors, plants, puerto rico, radio, rain, seed, song, stars, tree, weather

Quinnie blue

Johnson, Dinah

Hattie wonders about the activities of her grandmother Quinnie Blue when she was little. Trips to Carolina, singing, eating, reciting poems, and braiding hair with her family come to mind.

Tags

african american, author's note, body parts, celebration, church, easter, family, food, games, generations, grandparents, identity, instruments, multicultural, music, nutrition, picnic, song, traditions, trees

Hello lighthouse

Blackall, Sophie

A lighthouse keeper fills the lamp, trims the wick, and keeps a logbook while living in the lighthouse. The tender regularly brings him food and supplies from the mainland, even bringing the keeper's wife to join him. One day, the keeper is asked to leave the newly automated lighthouse because his work is no longer needed, but his family will always cherish their time there.

Tags

author's note, bodies of water, careers, correspondence, family, fishing, fog, loneliness, new baby, ocean, photograph, pregnancy, rescue, ship, sun, transportation, weather, wind, writing

Farmhouse

Blackall, Sophie

A farmhouse where twelve children grow up holds evidence of their stories long after they are gone.

Tags

animals, art, author's note, bedtime, books, chores, conflict, correspondence, cow, family, farm, food, home, instruments, music, photography, plants, playing, seasons, siblings, sleep, tree

Stitch by stitch: Cleve Jones and the AIDS memorial quilt

Sanders, Rob

Cleve Jones was an advocate for gay rights and showed support for his community through volunteering, protesting, and creating artwork. As a part of his work, Cleve made the NAME Project AIDS Memorial Quilt to recognize and remember members of the LGBTQ+ community who lost their lives to this disease. This project shows the interconnectedness of a suffering community and the importance of staying together to fight for what is right.

Tags

aids, author's note, bully, change, community, courage, discrimination, diseases, emotions, glossary, government, health, history, homosexuality, law, love, memories, monuments, numbers, politics, sequence, sewing, sexuality, symbols, time

Lizzie demands a seat! Elizabeth Jennings fights for streetcar rights

Anderson, Beth

One hundred years before Rosa Parks took her stand, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Jennings tried to board a streetcar in New York City on her way to church. Though there were plenty of empty seats, she was denied entry, assaulted, and threatened all because of her race -- even though New York was a free state at that time. Lizzie decided to fight back. She told her story, took her case to court -- where future president Chester Arthur represented her -- and won! Her victory was the first recorded in the fight for equal rights on public transportation, and Lizzie's case set a precedent.

Tags

african american, author's note, beauty, clothing, conflict, conflict resolution, courage, decision making, history, law, nonverbal communication, persistence, politics, spiritual, transportation, verbal communication, writing

All different now: Juneteenth, the first day of freedom

Johnson, Angela

A young girl wakes up on what she believes to be a normal day, working with her family to complete the daily tasks of her work as a slave. Then, everyone is told that slavery has been abolished and that now they are finally free people. The young girl celebrates with her family and community, excited by the prospects of what their future, independent life will bring.

Tags

author's note, bodies of water, celebration, community, depression, discrimination, farm, five senses, freedom, illustrator's note, ocean, picnic, prejudice, racism, slavery, storytelling, vocabulary

Imagine!

Colon, Raul

A young boy living in New York City rides his skateboard to the Museum of Modern Art where he meets figures in paintings. Soon after, these characters leave their paintings and spend the day with the boy, going to a hot dog stand and riding roller coasters together. Eventually, the characters must return to their paintings and, in order to remember them, the boy makes his own artwork and goes to bed dreaming of the day he had.

Tags

art, author's note, bedtime, bridge, community, imagination, monuments, museum, park, singing, skateboarding, sleep, subway, taxi

The sea maidens of Japan

Bell, Lili

Kiyomi's mother, Okaasan, is an ama diver who harvests shellfish from the deep ocean in Japan. As a young girl, Kiyomi practices with her mom to become an ama diver, but she is very afraid of the sea. Kiyomi gains the strength to overcome this fear and become a diver when she swims with the star turtle, an animal she helped to save when it was born.

Tags

author's note, beach, birds, bodies of water, careers, community, courage, diving, emotions, encouragement, fear, feelings, fishing, fog, identification, japan, night, ocean, parents, safety, sea, swimming, traditions, turtle

Silent days, silent dreams

Say, Allen

Bob shares the life story of his Uncle Jim, a deaf artist with immense talent and determination to find ways to communicate. During his childhood, Uncle Jim’s parents were unsupportive of his passion for art and they sent him to the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind with his sister. Bob never learned to speak, read, write, or use sign language. Ultimately, Bob went to art school where he shared his Uncle Jim’s work which was displayed in a gallery and sold to the public.

Tags

accomplishment, alphabet, art, author's note, beauty, biography, books, communication, coping, correspondence, deafness, dedication, determination, disability, farm, history, library, literacy, photograph, running away, school, siblings, signs, symbols

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