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

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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.

Tags

argument, baking, behavior, books, careers, community, continent, curiosity, divorce, economics, education, family, garden, government, grandparents, hard work, investigation, music, nature, parents, perspective, research, respect, rules, school, stuttering, teamwork, timeline, travel, writing

Before, now

Salmieri, Daniel

Tags

animals, balloon, beach, bicycles, birds, bodies of water, books, buildings, car, careers, change, concert, dog, five senses, food, life, lightning, microscope, music, opposites, park, picnic, planet, playing, sand, technology, train, transportation, tree, umbrella, weather

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.

Tags

animals, books, habit, library, literacy, lost, missing, parents, reading, rules, squirrel

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.

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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

Schomburg: The man who built a library

Weatherford, Carole Boston

Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance stood an Afro-Puerto Rican named Arturo Schomburg. This law clerk's life's passion was to collect books, letters, music, and art from Africa and the African diaspora and to bring light to the achievements of people of African descent through the ages. When Schomburg's collection became so big it began to overflow his house (and his wife threatened to mutiny), he turned to the New York Public Library, where he created and curated a collection that was the cornerstone of a new Negro Division. A century later, his groundbreaking collection, known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has become a beacon to scholars all over the world.

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african american, art, books, careers, generations, history, library, multicultural, numbers, puerto rican, reading, research, respect

Someone builds the dream

Wheeler, Lisa

Many skilled workers, craftsmen, and tradesmen help to build each dream of a community in order for it to become a house, a park, or a bridge. After many many examples of how dreams are made and constructed, you learn how an author and illustrator are also a dream team that makes a book for you.

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books, bridge, buildings, careers, computer, construction, dreams, energy, hard work, library, machines, playground, reading, science, teamwork, technology, tools, tractor, transportation, truck

"L" is for library

Terry, Sonya

Children with a friendly tabby cat, a dog, and ducklings move through the library stacks from A-Z as they discover many things to do and see in a library. You can learn about the Caldecott award, the Dewey Decimal System, and URL Web address.

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alphabet, animals, birds, books, calendar, cat, children, computer, dog, duck, library, onomatopoeia, sequence, technology

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.

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

The tower of life: How Yaffa Eliach rebuilt her town in stories and photographs

Stiefel, Chana

Yaffa loved helping her Grandma Alte in her photography studio in Poland. Many people had their photographs made during special events and celebrations, then they were mailed overseas to relatives before the Jewish New Year. After the Holocaust when 3500 Jewish souls were murdered by Nazi soldiers, Yaffa worked for 17 years to recover 6000 photographs and stories about people from Eishyshok, which is now a different town in Lithuania. Yaffa became a professor of history who rebuilt the lives of those lost by connecting with their loved one's photographs from six continents.

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books, careers, chicken, children, communication, correspondence, death, history, museum, photograph, photography, Poland, polish, time, travel, united states, war

Blue

Seeger, Laura Vaccaro

A boy and his dog go through their lives together and experience different things associated with the color blue. Whether they are playing with blue butterflies or picking blue blueberries together, they love spending time with each other. One day, the boy’s dog passes away and, with time, he gets a new puppy to share his life with.

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activities, animals, baby, balloon, beach, birds, bodies of water, books, butterfly, cardinal, colors, companion, death, dog, feelings, insects, loss, love, play, rain, reading, relationship, running, sadness, sea, sledding, sleep, snow, transportation, wagon, weather

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.

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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

A library book for bear

Becker, Bonny

Although he sees no need for more books to read, Bear agrees to accompany Mouse to the library.

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adventures, animals, bear, books, five senses, library, mouse, skating, sounds

The museum of everything

Perkins, Lynne Rae

Through the eyes and thoughts of a child, an imagination opens up to wonderment and original dreams. Many things can be happening all at once and that can be overwhelming. Places for hiding and spaces for shadows makes this geographical experience an artistic escape depicting a museum of everything.

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activities, art, awareness, bodies of water, books, concepts, construction, creativity, daydreaming, geography, imagination, investigation, island, museum, perspective, seasons, shadows, sizes, uniqueness

Lola loves stories

McQuinn, Anna

Lola and her dad go to the library on Saturdays to pick out books to read during the week. Every time Lola reads a book, she acts it out the next day. If she reads about building, she becomes a builder. If Lola reads a book about fairies, she becomes a fairy. What will Lola be next?

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acting, african american, animals, baby, bedtime, books, buildings, clothing, companion, cow, creativity, Days of The Week, family, imagination, library, love, multicultural, parents, reading, relationship, routine, royalty, shoes, storytelling, tiger, tools, travel, wilderness

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.

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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

Farmhouse

Blackall, Sophie

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

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

What happens next

Hughes, Susan

Bully B. makes a student feel uncomfortable at school by making fun of him and calling him mean names. This student goes home and acts like he is fine, but his mother is able to tell that this is not true and she suggests that her son talks to the bully. With this advice, he talks to Bully B. and expresses how her behavior makes him feel and explains how similar they actually are, ending their negative relationship.

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.

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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

The hard-times jar

Smothers, Ethel Footman

Emma is a book-loving girl whose parents are poor migrant workers. She decides to pick apples to add money to the hard-times jar. But this year, she attends school which happens to have a whole library of books. Emma's mom reminds her of something important when she eventually follows the rules.

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books, family, farmer, hard work, learning, money, parents, reading, rules, school

Sunday week

Johnson, Dinah

A community describes each day of their weekly routine. The community is constantly looking forward to their Sunday traditions. Sunday is rich with family time, the Lord, and storytelling.

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african american, books, car, careers, choir, church, Days of The Week, exercise, faith, family, god, hard work, hunger, jumping, love, market, multicultural, music, neighbors, newspaper, practice, prayer, promise, quiet, reading fish, rest, routine, school, sequence, singing, spiritual, traditions, transportation, travel

Annie Rose is my little sister

Hughes, Shirley

A little boy and his baby sister do everything together. They each have friends of their own, but spend time doing things mostly with one another.

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anger, beach, bodies of water, books, diving, exercise, exploration, family, feelings, flowers, friendship, games, happiness, love, ocean, parents, reading, relationship, siblings, swimming, toys, verbal communication

Arturo escribe un cuento

Brown, Marc

A teacher gives Arthur and his class a writing assignment. Arthur goes from one topic to the next, thinking each one is not exciting enough. Each new topic becomes more funny than the last, until he writes his last copy.

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aardvark, animals, books, critical thinking, family, grandparents, language, letters, library, parents, rabbit, restaurant, school, siblings, spanish, writing

Guji Guji

Chen Chih-Yuan

A rolling egg finds a home in a duck nest. It wasn't until three crocodiles find Guji Guji that she may not be a duck. The crocodiles ask Guji Guji to trap his family for them to eat. Instead Guji Guji, with the help of his duck family, drop heavy rocks into the crocodiles open mouths.

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animals, birds, books, comparisons, crocodile, duck, family, feelings, fight, food, loyalty, reading

My librarian is a camel: How books are brought to children around the world

Ruurs, Margriet

Examine many different kinds of libraries from all around the world. Unlike the typical library room or building, many libraries are a bus, boat, train, or camel. Each type is different, but they all serve the same important purpose of delivering books to people, no matter where they live.

The shaking bag

Battle-Lavert, Gwendolyn

Though Miss Annie Mae doesn't always have much food for herself or her dog Effie Lucille, she faithfully feeds the birds in the lawn. One day a stranger comes to visit. He shakes many special surprises for her out of the old seed bag to reward her for all her generosity.

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african american, animals, birds, books, dog, fantasy, fire, food, hunger, kindness, multicultural, noise, nutrition, plants, poverty, raven, sharing, sounds, spiritual, unselfish

Please bury me in the library

Lewis, J. Patrick

This unique collection of prose utilizes a variety of poetry styles and play on word techniques. Learn about reading, words, and libraries as gardens with unsurpassed growing excitement.

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books, imagination, library, poetry, reading, rhyme, rhythm, vocabulary

Hip, hug, hooray!

Tangvald, Christine

Do you know how many types of hugs there are? Look and learn how hugs are imporatant everywhere and everyday.

Tags

activities, affection, animals, baby, bath, beach, bedtime, birds, birthday, books, caring, celebration, church, cleanliness, climbing, dog, family, feelings, food, friendship, glasses, god, grandparents, happiness, hygiene, lake, library, love, night, parents, party, picnic, playground, rabbit, rain, reading, religion, sand, seasons, sheep, snow, soccer, sports, squirrel, storytelling, summer, swimming, tree, umbrella, weather, winter

Oh say can you say?

Seuss, Dr.

Oh say can you say is filled with tongue twisters to make the reading fun and challenging. The story features pages of rhymes ranging from animals to people.

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beach, birds, boat, bones, books, christmas, colors, dinosaur, dog, duck, family, fish, island, money, monkey, music, parrot, pig, poetry, rain, reading, rhyme, storm, travel, umbrella, water, whale

The underbed

Hoellworth, Cathryn Clinton

Tucker is unable to fall asleep at night until his mom helps him scare away the underbed that Tucker says is living under his bed.

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bedtime, books, counting, family, fear, feelings, gymnastics, jumping, parents, reading, sports

May'naise sandwiches & sunshine tea

Belton, Sandra

Big Mama shares family memories of her childhood with her grandchild about a special friendship she had with Bettie Jean. Little Miss and Big Mama share the pages of a scrapbook which tells the favorite story of May'naise sandwiches and sunshine tea.

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african american, books, careers, clothing, dancing, dentist, doctor, dreams, flowers, food, friendship, garden, hunger, imagination, memories, nutrition, parents, photograph, picnic, play, rain, running, school, sun, teaching, technology, telephone, tree, water

Alec's primer

Pitts-Walter, Mildred

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.

Do not open this book!

Muntean, Michaela

A pig tries to dissuade the readers from opening the book because it is not finished yet. However, as the reader turns the pages, a frustrated pig realizes the book is being written after all.

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accidents, animals, books, conflict, conflict resolution, disobedience, feelings, frustration, pig, reading, writing

Hannah is my name

Yang, Belle

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.

Lucy's quiet book

Medearis, Angela Shelf

An annoyed Lucy decides to go the library to get away from her brothers. The librarian gives her a book to quiet her brothers down. Once Lucy begins to read to her brothers, they quiet down and Lucy learns the positive effects of books.

Wally the wordworm

Fadiman, Clifton

Wally the worm is intrigued by different words. He looks up new, complex words in the dictionary instead of the words he already knows.

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books, insects, learning, rhyme, self esteem, spelling, verbal communication, worm

Freedom school, yes!

Littlesugar, Amy

Jolie shows courage in her community by protecting the school that will educate her and others. Jolie is afraid others will burn down the school. Jolie never gives up hope, and learns about famous African Americans who were brave and made a difference in their community, just like Jolie.

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african american, anger, art, body parts, books, bravery, buildings, careers, change, church, community, courage, education, family, fire, freedom, god, hard work, history, music, neighbors, poetry, quilt, relationship, religion, running, school, slavery, song, spiritual, stars, teaching

Grandpa's face

Greenfield, Eloise

Tamika loves spending time with her Grandfather. They enjoy walking, talking, and going to theatre together. One day, Tamika gets afraid while watching her Grandfather rehearse for a play. Tamika learns about different emotions, and especially that her Grandfather will always love her.

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actor, african american, aging, anger, body parts, books, communication, creativity, exercise, family, fear, feelings, food, friendship, generations, glasses, grandparents, imagination, love, nonverbal communication, nutrition, parents, relationship, storytelling, theatre, tree, walking, worry

Oh, brother!

Grimes, Nikki

Xavier feels sad, angry, and jealous towards his new step brother, Chris. Xavier soon realizes that Chris is coping with loneliness and resentment too. The pain over losing a parent to divorce forms a special band between Xavier and Chris so they promise each other, that no one will ever leave. Through short vignettes, the story ends with Our family is a song we sing, and we can add new notes anytime we like.

Tags

african american, aggression, anger, apology, baby, baseball, bedtime, behavior, books, celebration, change, chores, climbing, comparisons, conflict, conflict resolution, divorce, emotions, family, fear, feelings, friendship, fun, games, hispanic, jealousy, mountains, multicultural, parents, photograph, playing, pregnancy, relationship, rhythm, school, self esteem, siblings, sports, stepfather, stepmother, sympathy, technology, telephone, verbal communication, wedding

The secret Olivia told me

Joy, N.

Olivia develops interpersonal skills by realizing how her words affect her friends. Olivia and her best friend realize the importance of honesty and trust in their friendship.

Tags

african american, balloon, basketball, body parts, books, buildings, colors, excitement, feelings, friendship, italian, jumping, multicultural, playing, relationship, secrets, siblings, soccer, sports, telephone, truth, worry

Mr. George Baker

Hest, Amy

Harry enjoys spending time with his older next door neighbor, Mr. Baker. Harry likes to wait for the bus with Mr. George Baker. Harry learns about Mr. Baker's life as a musician and learns that a person is never too old to learn to read.

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african american, aging, autumn, body parts, books, bus, clothing, dancing, education, embarrassment, friendship, fun, generations, happiness, hard work, instruments, learning, love, marriage, multicultural, music, school, seasons, shoes, tobacco, transportation, walking

Ella takes the cake

D'Amico, Carmela & D'Amico, Steven

There's nothing more that Ella wants than to be a good helper. Ella can't help but feel inadequate when her mother won't let her help with a lot of the bakery chores because they're dangerous. When Mr. Banjo forgets an important delivery ,though, Ella proves herself by saving the day...and the cake.

Tags

animals, bicycle, birthday, books, business, celebration, escape, family, flood, helping, library, luck, maps, persistence, responsibilities, safety, vacation, village

Leo in the library

Mkatshaw, Dumazile

Leo was in the class watching ants crawl on the wall when his teacher asked on what animal he would be doing his project. He could only think of ants, about which he knew nothing. Leo goes to the library looking for a book and causes a terrible mess. Leo must find his book about ants, but he doesnﾒt know what it would look like.

The red book

Lehman, Barbara

A friendship forms when two boys from different parts of the world find a magical red book. The boy from the urban city decides to use balloons to fly to the island where his new friend lives, but he accidentally drops the red book along the way. The boy on the island is disappointed when he can no longer view his city companion in the pages of the book, but is relieved when he lands on the beach instead! Back in the city, the red book is discovered by a man riding his bike on the street (A wordless book).

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adventures, balloon, beach, bicycle, bodies of water, books, cold, correspondence, decision making, disappointment, discovery, emotions, excitement, feelings, fly, friendship, goal setting, happiness, island, maps, nonverbal communication, photograph, relationship, sadness, sand, school, sight, sky, snow, sun, surprises, transportation, travel, walking, weather

Louanne pig in the talent show

Carlson, Nancy

Louanne's school is putting on a talent show. There's only one problem though: Louanne doesn't have a talent. When an unexpected turn of events causes Louanne to step up to the plate, she discovers her hidden talent: saving the day!

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acrobat, acting, animals, bear, books, dancing, feelings, happiness, helping, instruments, performance, pig, practice, rabbit, reading, sadness, success, telephone

A slimy story

Knudsen, Michelle

Dan runs into a problem when he has no money and no time to buy his mom a birthday present. He canﾒt think of anything and feels hopeless. One day, a bully puts a slimy, gross worm in Danﾒs pocket on the walk to school. His teacher, Mrs. Stewart, places the worm in a jar, and all the children become interested. Dan even starts to like the worm and decides to give it to his mom to help her garden. She thinks the worm is a great gift.

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birthday, books, bully, celebration, challenges, conflict resolution, confusion, critical thinking, excitement, family, feelings, friendship, insects, library, parents, presents, resolution, school, science, siblings, teaching, worm, worry

The monster behind the wall

Herbert, Barbara N.

Danny moves to a new house and discovers a monster on the other side of their garden wall. The monster throws Dannyﾒs soccer ball back to him, talks, plays, and eats candy with Danny. At school the next day, Danny plays soccer and gets tripped. Both boys yell nasty names at each other. Then, Danny goes home to talk to the monster, Fred, but he wasnﾒt there. Later, a huge thunderstorm tears down the wall, and Danny sees that ﾓFredﾔ is the child that tripped him during soccer. They become fast friends, tear the wall down, and play soccer together

Zoom

Banyai, Istvan

These artistic scenes aren't what you might think. Each is really a picture within a picture. Images zoom in and out from different perspectives and scenes from land, sea, and air in this wordless book.

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airplane, animals, art, boat, books, colors, desert, farm, island, perspective, photograph, planet, sky, swimming, transportation, travel

Literature links for nutrition and health

Ubbes, Valerie A.//Spillman, Diana M.

Provides elementary teachers and teacher preparation faculty with an integrated curriculum model for teaching nutrition and health concepts to children in grades 1, 2, & 3. Twelve focused themes in five units use 227 picture books to teach about variety, moderation, energy, time, patterns, age, culture, behavior, and prevention. The National Health Education Standards are aligned to the literature-based units and a tri-assessment model is promoted. Twenty eight feature books are highlighted and supported by lessons which include questions using Bloom's Taxonomy, additional teaching connections called Across the Curriculum, and Solo Work, Small Group Work, and Whole Class Work for each lesson.

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books, food, nutrition

Supersister

Cadena, Beth

Supersister is always thinking of ways she can help her pregnant mother. In the morning on the way to school, she forgets two things: to tie her mother's shoes and to give her mother a kiss. Throughout the day, she does all her chores and thinks of new ways to help her mother. At the end of the day she forgets the same two things, but when she remembers her mother says, Like I always say, you're going to be a super sister.

Tags

assertiveness, baby, bedtime, books, critical thinking, exercise, family, five senses, goal setting, helping, nonverbal communication, numbers, pets, playground, pregnancy, reading, school, self esteem, siblings, sounds, teacher

Vacation in the village: A story from west africa

Njeng, Pierre Yves

A boy discovers and takes pride in the customs of his people when he visits his family's village in West Africa.

Tags

affection, africa, books, boredom, buildings, construction, customs, discovery, dreams, family, fear, feelings, fish, fishing, forest, friendship, games, grandparents, happiness, history, hunting, multicultural, parents, reptiles, school, siblings, storytelling, traditions, train, transportation, travel, turtle, vacation, village, work, worry

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