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

Tags: culture

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Making magic windows

Garza, Carmen Lomas

Papel picado, the art of cut paper, is shown. Learn how to hold the tissue paper and scissors. A few papel picado projects are explained including how to make papel picado with a craft knife.

Tags

art, communication, creativity, culture, drawing, flowers, images, mexican american, multicultural, pattern, repetition, safety, shapes, stars

There are so many families who do different things. Different families eat different foods, enjoy different activities, speak different languages, and live in different dwellings. There is always a family that is just right for you.

Imagine a house

Gustafson, Angela

Take a walk through 15 countries around the world and learn about different types of dwellings. A brief geographical tour is taken when you traverse the pages of real-life photographs and maps.

Mommy far, mommy near: An adoption story

Peacock, Carol Antoinette

Elizabeth is a young Chinese girl who has been adopted by an American family. Elizabeth begins to question her adoption and wonders why her mommy in China did not keep her. Elizabeth's mother explains the adoption to her and loves that she has a mother who is far away and one who is close.

Metropolitan cow

Egan, Tim

Bennett Gibbons, the only calf in his neighborhood, often feels very bored and alone. When the Andersons, a family of pigs, move in next-door, Bennett instantly becomes friends with Webster, the youngest Anderson. Come join Bennett and Webster in the joy and pains of friendship.

Tags

acceptance, adventures, anger, animals, apology, beliefs, boredom, caring, courage, cow, culture, equality, family, feelings, forgiveness, friendship, fun, happiness, loneliness, neighbors, nonverbal communication, parents, pig, play, sadness, self esteem, stereotypes, verbal communication

Something beautiful

Wyeth, Sharon Dennis

A little girl looks out her window only to see broken glass and trash in the court yard. She remembers her mother once told her everyone should have something beautiful. She sets out to look for something beautiful in her neighborhood.

Stranger in the mirror

Say, Allen

Sam, a young Asian American boy, realizes first hand what it is like to be an old man. He wakes up one morning with a much older look, but is the same young boy on the inside. He has a difficult time convincing his family and friends that he is the same boy they all know.

Tags

acceptance, aging, appearance, asian american, change, conflict resolution, confusion, coping, culture, differences, doctor, dreams, exercise, family, feelings, generations, health, identity, loneliness, mirror, parents, running away, sadness, school, siblings, skating, stereotypes, teasing

So far from the sea

Bunting, Eve

Laura and her family are moving, so they are coming to visit the Manzanar War Relocation Center one last time. Years ago, this center was used to house anyone living in the United States that were of Japanese descent. These people were forced to leave their homes and come to the center because Japan bombed the United States. The center is bare now except for all of the memories and the cemetary, including her grandfather's grave.

Tags

acceptance, airplane, american, anger, anticipation, assertiveness, author's note, awareness, bias, bravery, change, citizen, cold, community, conflict, confusion, critical thinking, crow, culture, death, differences, discrimination, diversity, family, fear, feelings, flowers, forgiveness, generations, ghosts, grandparents, growing up, history, illness, japanese, loss, memories, monuments, mountains, moving, prison, sea, sky, snow, survival, verbal communication, war

Journey home

McKay, Lawrence

Mai is going along with her mom to Vietnam, where mom hopes to find her mother and father, who were separated during the Vietnam War. There Mia learns about where her mom came from and gains a new sense of identity and feeling of home.

Tags

acceptance, airplane, beliefs, birthday, celebration, culture, divorce, family, foster care, identification, multicultural, orphan, religion, transportation, travel, vietnamese, war

Mei-mei loves the morning

Holloway, Tsubakiyama Margaret

Join in the adventure as Mei-mei and her grandfather enjoy the morning in a big city in China. Along the busy streets, they ride on a bicycle through the round moon gate to the park to meet friends. While at the park, they hang their songbird's cage, practice tai-chi, and drink tea before they peddle home.

Tags

activities, animals, asian, beverage, bicycle, biking, birds, china, chinese, contentment, culture, customs, exercise, family, food, generations, grandparents, happiness, morning, multicultural, nonverbal communication, nutrition, park, pig, transportation

What do I say?

Simon, Norma

Manuel is a Puerto Rican child living in a large American city. Follow along with him throughout the day as various situations arise and Manuel asks, What do I say?. All of his questions and answers are offered in English and Spanish.

Tags

activities, assertiveness, culture, differences, english, food, games, health, hygiene, kindness, language, learning, listening, manners, multicultural, music, nutrition, play, puerto rican, school, sleep, spanish, teeth, toys, verbal communication

You can't take a balloon into the metropolitan museum

Weitzman, Jacqueline

A little girl spends a day with her grandma at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When the little girl decides to bring along her bright yellow balloon, a security guard sees her and quickly tells her that she can't bring it in. He assures her he will watch over it as she views the exhibits, but the task ends up being more work than he ever imagined. (A Wordless Book).

Tags

adventures, african, animals, art, balloon, beauty, birds, boat, chaos, clowns, collection, culture, disappearance, dog, egyptian, escape, exercise, frustration, grandparents, history, humor, instruments, multicultural, museum, music, observation, park, performance, pigeon, relief, skating, transportation, travel, wedding, zoo

Chidi only likes blue: An African book of colors

Onyefuln, Ifeoma

Nneka and Chidi, two children of a Nigerian village, play a game called Colors. Chidi only likes the color blue, so Nneka shows him all the other colors in the village. She shows Chidi how beautiful and colorful their African lifestyle is. The colors yellow, pink, red, gold are seen, but Chidi only likes blue best of all!

Tags

african, ceremony, colors, culture, family, flowers, food, games, grandparents, hygiene, nigerian, nonverbal communication, parents, photograph, plants, sand, self esteem, siblings, teeth, verbal communication, wish

The drums of Noto Hanto

James, J. Alison

This true story tells the tale of a Japanese village defeating their enemy samurai. The villagers use their minds instead of weapons to scare the samurai. Wearing wild masks, setting fires on the beach, and playing the drums of Noto Hanto, kept the village safe.

This land is your land

Guthrie, Woody

The traditional lyrics of the popular song, This Land Is Your Land, are combined with painted illustrations that represent the words and meaning of the song. America and her countryside are portrayed in a positive light through the text and illustrations.

Tags

american, author's note, beach, bodies of water, culture, desert, folktale, forest, habitat, history, lyrics, maps, music, ocean, patriotism, poetry, rhyme, song

The peddler's gift

Schur, Maxine Rose

Shnook the peddler arrives in the town of Korovenko with his assortment of beautiful, hand-carved dreidels. Leibush notices on that is left behind and makes excuses for keeping it. He soon realizes that the peddlers ways may be a cover for wisdom and forgiveness. As Hanukkah approaches, Shnook leaves Leibush a gift that will last a lifetime.

The sleeping lady

Dixon, Ann

Nekatla and Susitha are a young couple preparing to wed. THe wedding is put on hold when war breaks out, and Nekatla must travel to another village to try to restore peace. Susitha waits on a grassy hill for Nekatla to return, and she falls asleep. Nekatla is killed in war, and Susitha never awakens and is now known as the sleeping lady.

Tags

adventures, anger, author's note, bravery, celebration, communication, conflict resolution, culture, death, decision making, dreams, fable, feelings, happiness, history, hope, loss, love, nonverbal communication, relationship, sleep, snow, teamwork, verbal communication, violence, war, weather, wedding, worry

Home to medicine mountain

Santiago, Chiori

Benny Lee and his brother Stanley must leave their famiy and Indian tribe to go to a boarding school run by the government. At school, the boys must wear uncomfortable clothes, speak English only, and learn lessons in a classroom. The boys visit their family and tribe in their dreams at night. Whem summer comes, the boys do not have a ticket to go home so they figure out a plan to get home to Medicine Mountain.

Erandi's braids

Madrigan, Antonio Hernandez

Erandi has thick, long, beautiful hair that her mother braids each morning. One day while making dinner with her mother, Erandi hears voices from the street offering money for the women's hair. Mama' explains that the hair buyers would pay well for Erandi's braids. That day they go fishing and mama' discovers that they need a new fishing net badly but they do not have money for one. The next day is Erandi's birthday and Erandi picks out a new dress for her present. On the way home mama' and Erandi stop at the barber shop where Erandi allows the barber to cut her hair so her mama' can afford a new net.

Tags

author's note, birthday, body parts, clothing, critical thinking, culture, decision making, dolls, embarrassment, fish, fishing, food, language, market, mexican, multicultural, nutrition, playing, poverty, pride, recreation

The house of wisdom

Heide, Florence Parry//Gilliland, Judith Heide

The House of Wisdom, an ancient library in Baghdad, is the center for new ideas and a quest for knowledge from all parts of the world. As scholars study and translate the ancient manuscripts, one boy, Ishaq, learns the wisdom on Aristotle through his expedition and a special book.

Tags

africa, animals, arab, author's note, books, camel, critical thinking, culture, greek, history, language, library, market, multicultural, reading, russian, ship, time, transportation, travel, wealth

A boy named giotto

Guarnieri, Paolo

Dreams really do come true for Giotto, a young shepard boy, who is mindless of his chores and duties because of his strong passion and talent for painting. Although he loses a sheep, Giotto's curiosity and persistence lead him to find someone who can unlock the door to his artistic future.

A gift for abuelita: Celebrating the day of the dead

Luenn, Nancy

Rosita and her grandmother are very close. Rosita's grandmother teaches Rosita how to braid, garden, and make tortillas. When Rosita's grandmother dies, Rosita feels a great loss without her around and misses her terribly. Her family tells Rosita that she can make a gift to give to her grandmother on the Day of the Dead. Rosita braids a cord that is filled with love and memories for her grandmother.

Tags

author's note, change, culture, death, family, food, garden, grandparents, language, loss, love, mexican american, multicultural, nutrition, parents, presents, reunion, siblings, spanish, stress management, traditions, verbal communication

Tea with milk

Say, Allen

Masoko's life changes dramatically when her parents move from California back to their native country, Japan. Masako feels like she will never belong in this new country where her life is so completely different.

Tags

change, clothing, culture, customs, differences, family, food, homesickness, independence, japanese, language, loss, love, market, marriage, multicultural, nutrition, parents, relationship, travel

Bonjour, lonnie

Ringgold, Faith

Lonnie is an orphan who learns his family heritage through the help of the Love Bird. He eventually finds his adoptive parents.

Tags

adoption, african american, author's note, birds, culture, family, french, grandparents, Jewish, language, love, multicultural, orphan, parents, war

A promise is a promise

Munsch, Robert//Kusugak, Michael

A little girl wants to go fishing in the icy cracks of the ocean but her parents tell her it is too dangerous. She promises that she will not go, but what happens when she breaks her promise?

Bonaparte

Chall, Marsha Wilson

Jean Claude is going to boarding school, but no dogs are allowed at La School d'Excellence. Poor Bonaparte must find a way to be with Jean Claude!

Tags

animals, architecture, assertiveness, bedtime, careers, caring, compromise, critical thinking, culture, determination, disappointment, dog, family, feelings, food, french, friendship, frustration, happiness, health, instruments, loneliness, love, monuments, multicultural, music, nutrition, parents, pets, problem solving, rules, sadness, school

Beni's family treasury: Stories for the jewish holidays

Zalben, Breskin Jane

Beni is so excited because he's finally old enough to really understand his Jewish heritage and the traditions of his faith. In his quest for understanding, he encounters a number of situations, from learning the beauty of togetherness after reconciling with his feuding cousin, Max, to recreating the Pukim in a play with his friends and cousins. Through all of this, Beni truly begins to see the magical feeling of togetherness and heritage that his religion encompasses.

A hanukkah treasury

Kimmel, Eric

Hanukkah is to me the time for lighting the menorah, spinning the dreidel, and remembering heros from the past. Poetry, music, and recipes help keep the Hanukkah tradition alive!

Tags

acceptance, accomplishment, adventures, ambition, american, animals, anticipation, appreciation, assertiveness, beliefs, bias, bravery, celebration, ceremony, challenges, change, charity, closeness, communication, conflict, conflict resolution, cooking, courage, critical thinking, culture, customs, decision making, destruction, determination, discrimination, elephant, family, feelings, folktale, food, freedom, games, goal setting, god, grandparents, grief, hanukkah, happiness, hebrew, heroism, history, holidays, hope, immigrants, independence, individuality, israelian, Jewish, kindness, language, love, loyalty, memories, miracle, moose, moving, multicultural, music, parents, peace, pilgrims, poetry, polish, politics, poverty, prayer, prejudice, presents, racism, religion, russian, sadness, secrets, siblings, snow, song, spiritual, storytelling, toys, traditions, war, weather

Faraway drums

Kroll, Virginia

Jamila has the important responsibility of watching her little sister when their mom goes to work. While trying to ignore unfamiliar creepy sounds, Jamila comforts her sister and herself by recalling their grandmother's stories about their native homeland, Africa.

Mama rocks, papa sings

Van Laan, Nancy

A new baby learns how to count to ten. With each experience, the baby and her parents sing in Creole. Come along to enjoy the sights and sounds of the Haitian culture.

Tags

affection, awareness, baby, beliefs, careers, carnival, celebration, creole, culture, dancing, exercise, family, five senses, food, history, language, multicultural, music, numbers, nutrition, rhythm, sounds, verbal communication

Fruits: A caribbean counting poem

Bloom, Valerie

Counting fruit can be fun, especially if you get to eat it when you're done! From half a pawpaw to ten bananas, these two sisters count it all. They forget one thing though -- eating too much can make you sick!

Tags

caribbean, counting, culture, family, five senses, food, fruit, language, nutrition, overeating, parents, poetry, sharing, siblings, smell, taste, verbal communication

Bread is for eating

Gershator, David//Gershator, Phillis

When a little boy leaves bread on his plate, his mother reminds him how important bread is and the hard work that goes into making it. Through a song, children learn why they should not waste food, and how to be thankful for grain and bread.

Tags

appreciation, awareness, careers, critical thinking, culture, decision making, farm, farmer, food, health, hispanic, hunger, language, machines, money, multicultural, music, nature, nonverbal communication, nutrition, parents, plants, poverty, rain, rainbow, snow, song, spanish, storytelling, sun, teaching, verbal communication, weather, winter

The big box

Morrison, Toni//Morrison, Slade

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

Tags

animals, beaver, behavior, birds, caring, culture, family, farm, food, freedom, games, health, love, misbehavior, nature, nonverbal communication, nutrition, owl, parents, playing, presents, rabbit, rhyme, rules, school, seagull, toys

A very important day

Herold, Maggie Rugg

A snowstorm adds to the wonder and excitement of this very important day during which 219 people become U.S. citizens.

Gabriella's song

Fleming, Candace

When Gabriella begins to hum a tune, the inhabitants of Venice begin to hum along too. The tune makes some happy, others sad, and some even swoon. The power of music is clearly portrayed in this story.

Tags

culture, feelings, happiness, italian, love, moods, multicultural, music, nonverbal communication, sadness, song

Happy to be nappy

Hooks, Bell

A whimsical rhythm of sweet jive jumps from watercolored illustrations on different pages to portray portraits of little girls who celebrate their African American culture. Hooray for the frizzy, fuzzy, nappy, twisty hair!Hooray for the sizzling semblance and fantastic flare that shines in every hair on every head. Beauty lies everywhere.

Tags

african american, appearance, appreciation, awareness, beauty, body parts, caring, celebration, child care, cleanliness, closeness, colors, comparisons, confidence, creativity, culture, day, differences, family, feelings, fun, happiness, health, hope, images, individuality, multicultural, parents, play, pride, rhythm, self confidence, self esteem, shapes

Yoshi's feast

Kijikawa, Kimiko

Yoshi is a fan maker in the city of Yedo. His favorite food in the whole world is broiled eels. Every night, his neighbor Sabu goes off to catch eels, broils them on his hibachi, and waits for customers, but they never come. Yoshi thinks that Sabu should share the leftover eels with him, but he is too greedy to give Sabu any of his money. Yoshi continues to sit day after day smelling Sabu's eels, but never buying any of them. Finally, Sabu presents Yoshi with a bill for smelling his eels. Yoshi dances around the town shaking his money box and tells Sabu that he will charge his for listening to his money. After all this nonsense, the tow finally agree to share what both of them have and sit down for a friendly meal of broiled eels.

Tags

asian, assertiveness, clothing, conflict resolution, cooking, culture, dancing, decision making, exercise, fish, fishing, food, friendship, goal setting, greed, hunger, japanese, kindness, money, multicultural, nutrition, selfishness, sharing, smell, sounds, verbal communication

Isla

Dorros, Arthur

Rosalba and her grandmother go for an adventure. They fly from New York to la Isla. They fly over la Isla stopping to visit all of grandmother's favorite spots from her childhood. Some things have changed but not everything has.

Tags

aging, airplane, change, critical thinking, culture, family, grandparents, imagination, island, multicultural, sharing, spanish, transportation, travel

The paper dragon

Davol, Margueritte W.

Sui-Jen, the dragon, is awakened and begins to destroy everything. Mi Fei is the only person brave and wise enough to put the dragon back to sleep. Mi Fei needs courage, heroism, and wisdom to save his village from the dragon.

Tags

art, assertiveness, bravery, challenges, chinese, community, conflict resolution, courage, critical thinking, culture, dragons, heroism, love, loyalty, multicultural, neighbors, verbal communication

Mr. Chu

Keating, Norma

Through Mr. Chu, the reader learns about Chinese food, music, traditions, and celebrations including the Chinese New Year.

Tags

celebration, chinese, culture, food, holidays, multicultural, music, new year, nutrition, traditions

Big red lollipop

Khan, Rukhsana

Rubina is excited to get her first invite to a birthday party! However when she asks Ami whether she can go, Ami tells her she has to take her younger sister, Sana. After Sana ruins the party, Rubina has to learn how to overcome her anger and forgive her little sister.

Together in pinecone patch

Yezerski, Thomas

Keara and Stefan are from Ireland and Poland, respectively, and each tell the stories of their families. They meet in the United States in Pinecone Patch, PA. They overcome deep stereotypes and prejudices to be married and bring two families together.

Heroes

Mochizuki, Ken

Donnie is always the bad guy when he plays war with his friends. They think because Donnie is Japanese American that he should be the enemy. When his father and uncle take a trip to school, they prove they can be heroes too.

Weslandia

Fleischman, Paul

Wesley never really fits in at school. Even his parents think he is odd. One summer though, he creates his own civilization. Everyone develops a new respect for Wesley by the time he returns to school in the fall.

Tags

bully, clothing, creativity, culture, differences, exploration, flowers, food, friendship, games, garden, inventions, language, learning, nutrition, peer resistance, plants, problem solving, school, seasons, self esteem, shelter, sleep, sports, summer, time, work

Winter rescue

Valgardson, W.D.

Thor wants to stay inside and watch cartoons on T.V. One day his grandfather needs help ice fishing and Thor is volunterred to help. Thor goes with grandfather, and the two ice fish for the entire day in the bitter cold. Thor ends up saving a man who falls through the ice.

Tags

accidents, bodies of water, clothing, cold, culture, emergency, fishing, food, ice, injury, lake, neighbors, nutrition, recreation, rescue, snow, storytelling, technology, television, weather, wind, winter

Hush harbor: Praying in secret

Evans, Freddi Williams

Simmy is both excited and nervous for his job as Scout during the community meeting. Simmy is excited because this means the elders trust him, but he is nervous because slaves are not supposed to gather and sing together. Simmy must be very careful and listen for the master during the meeting.

Tags

african american, anger, anticipation, author's note, bravery, cabin, closeness, communication, cooking, creativity, creek, critical thinking, culture, dancing, death, faith, family, folktale, forest, friendship, hard work, hearing, hope, horse, listening, missing, multicultural, music, nonverbal communication, prayer, relief, religion, rhythm, river, running away, safety, secrets, slavery, song, spiritual, storytelling, woods, worry

Creativity

Steptoe, John

Charles speaks English and Hector speaks Spanish. They learn that even though they speak different languages, they both come from African ancestors. Charles helps Hector adjust to life in the U.S. through fun activities.

Tags

africa, african american, basketball, clothing, cooking, creativity, culture, curiosity, english, family, fishing, friendship, helping, home, identity, immigrants, language, learning, moving, multicultural, parents, puerto rican, relationship, school, slavery, spanish, sports

Mama Elizabeti

Strure-Bodeen, Stephanie

Elizabeti has been taking care of her rock doll, Eva, and is not worried when it comes time for her to take care of Obedi, her younger brother. Throughout the day, Elizabeti quickly finds out Obedi is a handful compared to her rock doll Eva, but is rewarded with Obedi's love at the end of a difficult day.

Tags

african, baby, change, child care, critical thinking, culture, dolls, family, helping, love, multicultural, parents, siblings, stress management, toys

Safari journal

Talbot, Hudson

Carey is a young boy who goes on vacation to Kenya with his aunt. While there he learns about the culture and all of the animals.

Tags

african, airplane, animals, birds, buffalo, car, cattle, critical thinking, crocodile, culture, decision making, desert, egret, elephant, giraffe, goat, habitat, hunting, hyena, kenyan, leopard, lion, multicultural, observation, rhinoceros, safari, stress management, transportation, vacation, verbal communication, village, wilderness, wildlife

Meet the gizmos

Tocco, John V.

Pong, a young Chinese Gizmo, journeys to the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time. She is welcomed by Gizmos from other parts of the world, such as Russia, Africa and America. The other Pong is given a tour of the station while sharing the creative and imaginary world of the other Gizmos. The Gizmos do a fabulous job in working as a team to welcome Pong into her new space.

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