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

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.

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


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

Strong
Kearney, Rob & Rosewood, Eric
Rob dreams of becoming a champion strongman because his favorite sport was weightlifting. But there are lots of ways to be strong because he had to learn to overcome unkind words and criticisms for how he liked to dress in rainbow clothing with strong, bold colors. He trained hard and lifted huge tires, boulders, sandbags, and cars, so he could become the strongest man in the world. And one day we did just that by lifting a log over this head and was named the strongest person in North America!

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.

I am you: A book about ubuntu
Moahloli, Refiloe
Ubuntu is an ancient philosophy from many African cultures. The word promotes the idea that a person is known through other people - a concept of shared humanity, compassion, and oneness. Observe the many ways that we are all connected.

Here we are: Notes for living on planet earth
Jeffers, Oliver
The Earth is a large planet made of land, water and the sky. Given its size, Earth is home to humans and animals alike. However, there is only one Earth and we all maintain a responsibility to care for the planet and each other.

We found a hat
Klassen, Jon
Two turtles find a hat that looks good on both of them, but with fairness in mind, they decide to leave it be - until night falls and one of the turtles changes its mind.

Autism and me: Sibling stories
Shapiro, Ouisie
Publisher's Abstract: "If you see a kid with autism on the street, don't yell at her if she's doing something wrong. She can't help it. Autism is really challenging," explains Christian, who tells about life with his sister, Mary Gwen, a beautiful girl who loves to swim. In these moving photo essays, Christian and many other kids tell what it's like to live with siblings who have autism. Sometimes they can't talk much. Sometimes they have tantrums. It can be tough for a family, but there are happy surprises, too. "Autism has helped us to become a better family," adds Christian. "It teaches us patience and understanding."

Different: Just like me
Mitchell, Lori
The visit to Grammie's house is a week away, and April can't wait! She comes across different people who look differently, sense differences, and move differently. Regardless of their differences, April can find ways she is like these other people. Finally, it is time to visit Grammie. Grammie's flowers from her garden are all different, and April is not allowed to pick her favorite flower. April realizes this is like all things and people. She learns to appreciate the differences in all things and people.

Sophie's squash
Miller, Pat, Zietlow
Sophie buys a squash at the farmer's market. The squash's name is Bernice, and she is Sophie's best friend. Bernice starts look unhealthy, so Sophie plants her in the ground. The next year, Bernice makes two new squash for Sophie to befriend.

Two homes
Masurel, Claire
Alex has two homes because his parents are divorced. Alex has everything he needs at both houses. Although some things are different with each parent, Alex loves his mommy and daddy. He knows they love him too, no matter where they are, together or apart.

Crickwing
Cannon, Janell
Crickwing is different from all the other cockroaches. He likes to create sculptures and has a twisted wing. Crickwing is tired of being bullied by the bigger animals in the forest and mistakenly takes his anger out on the leaf-cutter ants, learning a valuable lesson in return.

Slowly, slowly, slowly, said the sloth
Carle, Eric
Slowly, slowly, slowly... the sloth moves through the day. Many animals are curious as to why the sloth is so slow, quiet, boring, and lazy!? In a short description of the sloth written and provided by Jane Goodall at the beginning of the book, she states that sloths are delightful, gentle, peace-loving creatures.

Halmoni and the picnic
Choi, Sook Nyul
Yunmi wants her grandmother, Halmoni to feel at home in New York City. However, Halmoni is having trouble adjusting to the American customs that differ so much from the customs of her native Korea. Yunmi's friends suggest that Halmoni chaperone the annual class picnic to Central Park. It may be an opportunity to open-up and feel comfortable in her new home.

I like me!
Carlson, Nancy
A very fine pig lists all the good qualities she sees in herself, along with what helps her cope when she's feeling low. She points out that nothing is better than being yourself. She paints, rides her bike, reads good books, and takes care of herself.


Sister Anne's hands
Lorbiecki, Mary Beth
Anna begins her second year of school in the early '60's. Her new teacher, Sister Anne, is different from other teachers because she has a different skin color. She inspires students all around her and overcomes challenges. Students learn what respect and tolerance are, and everyone learns from one another.

Frankie Stein
Schaefer, Lola
Frankie is born to Mr. and Mrs. Frank N. Stein and grows up with monster changes to his hair and skin with his parents' help. Frankie learns how to walk like a Frankenstein and learns about his family tree so he can become more scary.

Brown bear, brown bear: What do you see?
Martin, Bill
Through a repeating phrase what do you see?, animals of different colors fulfill the intellectual and social dimensions of health. In the end, a mother looks at a variety of children.

Molly's family
Garden, Nancy
When Molly draws a picture of her family, some students in her class say that her family is weird. They tell her she can't have two mommies. After talking to her teacher and her family, she realizes all families are different and that she is lucky to have two mommies.

For sure! For sure!
Andersen, Hans Christian
Did you know that chickens gossip too? Come read about one chick that plucks out her feathers, supposedly to look good and impress her rooster. After one of her feathers is plucker, an owl sees her actions and spreads the word. The story gets turned around and exaggerated especially when the newspaper prints it.

Hunter bunny saves Easter
Weaver, Alexis Rae
Hunter Bunny, made fun of because of his limp leg, meets Clark, the duck who has trouble seeing and the two become best friends. The night before Easter, the two find the Easter bunny lying on the ground and it is now up to them to deliver the baskets around town. After successfully saving Easter, the return to the forest to find all the animals praising and cheering for them.

George hogglesberry grade school alien
Wilson, Sarah
When George begins a new school different from his old planet, he is worried he won't fit in. When the school play comes around, he thinks of a perfect costume to impress his classmates.

Odd velvet
Whitcomb, Mary E.
Velvet is different from all her other classmates. After thinking she is quite odd, that students decide she's not reall that different after all. They admire Velvet's picture of an apple and love going to her unique birthday party.

The shape of me and other stuff
Seuss, Dr.
Read and explore the uniqueness of everything around us. Everything and everyone has their own body shape, and we should be proud of the one we have.

Best best colors
Hoffman, Eric
Nate finds it difficult to decide which color is his favorite. Every time he sees a new color, he likes it better than the other. He learns that he can have more than one favorite color.

Trudi & Pia
Hegi, Ursula
Trudi dreams of being tall and feels there are no other dwarfs like her until she meets Pia who teaches her to accept the way she is and that she is not alone. Pia talks about when other drawfs from around the world in Russia, Italy, France and Portugal, Trudi learns to feel normal and beautiful.

Goose's story
Best, Cari
A young girl and her dog care for an injured goose with one leg. They encourage her to learn to walk, swim, and fly. When they goose leaves for winter, they search for her everyday. A year later the goose returns with a mate and with seven baby geese.

Duck, duck, goose?
Arnold, Katya
A goose wishes to look different than all the other geese so she travels to all the different birds she envies and switches one of her body parts for theirs. She later learns she is unable to perform the same things the other birds can even with her new look, and she begins to appreciate her own qualities.

Shades of black:  A celebration of our children
Pinkey, Sandra L.
Common traits of African Americans are correlated with illuminating photographs. Traits such as skin color, hair texture, and eye color are described. Discover the diversity among the African American culture and how this culture is unique to others.

Ugh

Ugh

Yorkins, Arthur
Many, many years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, there was a boy named Ugh who was looked down on and treated like a slave by his siblings. Ugh tells them he will be famous one day. After seeing a wheel, he invents the bicycle, and because of this becomes the boy king.

Corduroy
Freeman, Don
Corduroy lives in the toy department of a big store. He is a little lonely bear whom no one wants to buy. One day a little girl comes along and thinks that he is perfect. She comes back the next day and buys him with the money that she has in her piggy bank.

Monster looks for a house
Blance, Ellen // Cook, Ann
A friendly purple monster comes to a new city to look for a new place to live. Since this monster is different from others in the city, he must hunt for a house that fits him. After looking at many houses, he finally finds one that he can live in comfortably.

Grey mouse
de Vries, Anke
Grey Mouse is feeling lonely, so she decides to change her color in order to feel better about herself. However, all of the other animals laugh at her each time she does this. She finally realizes that she is happiest with her natural grey color when she finds other mice friends that look like her.

Arthur's pen pal
Hoban, Lillian
Arthur longs to be his pen pal's big brother, so they can wrestle and do karate. He does not like having to jump rope with his little sister. But one day, he learns something very surprising about his pen pal.

Chipper's choices
Boegehold, Betty
Chipper makes up five stories, riddles, and songs for his friends so they can have something to do when the winter season comes.

Cocoa ice
Appelbaum, Diana
A young girl from Maine and a young girl from Santa Domingo learn about each other's home through Jacob the Sailor. The girl from Santa Domingo describes how to make chocolate, and the girl from Maine tells about making ice.

Funny walks
Hindley, Judy
Everyone does things a little differently, even when walking. Some people walk slowly and others walk quickly. As long as we move along, it doesn't matter how we walk.

The hallo-wiener
Pilkey, Dav
Oscar is teased by the other dogs because of his oblong shape. He soon proves that a dog his shape can do things that other dogs cannot.

The little fireman
Brown, Margaret Wise
A small fireman and a large fireman attempt to fight fires of comparable dimensions to their size.

Arthur's eyes
Brown, Marc
Arthur's friends tease him when he gets glasses. Soon other children get glasses, and Arthur learns to wear his glasses with pride.

Be quiet, Marina!
DeBear, Kristen
Marina and Moira are very much alike, and yet very different. They like to play with one another, but often have conflicts. They learn to work through their differences and become the best of friends.

Ella the elegant elephant
D'Amico, Carmela & D'Amica, Steven
Ella is the new elephant at school and is worried about fitting in. to feel more comfortable, Ella wears the lucky hat her grandmother gave her. Much to her dismay., Ella's lucky hat cause much teasing to come her way. In the end, through, it is Ella's lucky hat that saves the day when the bully gets into trouble and is forced to have a change of heart.

A country far away
Gray, Nigel
This is a story comparing two young boys who live in Africa and the United States. Their lives are identical even though they live in different countries.

I like myself!
Beaumont, Karen
An African American girl tells about the characteristics she likes about herself and the different circumstances in which she likes herself. She is proud of herself no matter where she is or what silly things she is doing. She knows what really counts is inside her and shares this knowledge in an energetic story with imaginative illustrations.

Kofi and his magic
Angelou, Maya
A young Ashanti boy describes some of the wonders of his life in and around the West African village of Bonwire.

Tudley didn't know
Himmelman, John
A painted turtle, Dudley, adopts other animalsメ behaviors ヨsimply because he doesnメt know he canメt! Tudley flies like a bird, sings like a katydid, hops like a frog, and glows like a firefly. He uses all his special behaviors to help other animals. Will Tudley's friends help him when he needs help?