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The runaway wok
Compestine, Ying Chang
Ming lives in a poor family. He goes to the market to trade and receive food so he and his neighbors can share a Chinese new year feast. Instead of buying food, Ming chooses a magical wok. The wok rounds up the food and prized possessions of the rich to bring food to Ming's family and poor neighbors. Ming celebrates a wonderful new year, and he sells more woks to help other poor families.

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.

Mr. Tanen's tie trouble
Cocca-Leffler, Maryann
The principal of Lynnhurst School, Mr. Tanen, is known for his unbelievable collection of 975 ties. He has a tie for every occasion! When the plan for the new playground falls through, everyone is shocked to see Mr. Tannen part with his beloved ties as he auctions them off so that the children at Lynnhurst School can enjoy their new playground.

I have an olive tree
Bunting, Eve
On Sophia's seventh birthday, her grandfather gave her an olive tree. Sophia is a little disappointed by the gift and doesn't understand why her grandfather would give her an olive tree that she can't even see. After all, it is Greece and she lives in California! It isn't until her grandfather passes away that Sophia truly understands the importance and meaning of the gift when she and her mother visit the olive tree in Greece.

Ruby's wish
Bridges, Shirin Yim
Ruby is known for wearing red and being an exceptionally bright student. Even during a time in China when ...most girls were never taught to read and write. However, Ruby's grandfather hires a teacher to come to the house, making it possible for any grandchild living in the house to learn. This initiates a desire in Ruby to attend university, a place that women in China were not encouraged to go.\r\n*Based on a true story of the author's grandmother.

Armadilly chili
Ketteman, Helen
Billie decides to make armadilly chili. She asks her friends to help her but they are all busy and do not want to help. After Billie makes the chili, all of her friends knock on her door. Billie will not let them eat because they wouldn't help. She soon realizes her chili is missing something: her friends!

The parrot tico tango
Witte, Anna
Set in a Rainforest of Costa Rica, greediness consumes a parrot named Tico Tango. However, what comes around goes around, and as Tico Tango finds out in this morally centered text, sometimes getting everything you want is not what you need.

Sleds on boston common: A story from the american revolution
Borden, Louise
It's 1774 and British troops are occupying Boston. King George closes Boston Harbor to punish people who speak out against his laws. Henry, a young boy from Boston, hopes to try out his new sled on his birthday. But when he and his brothers and sister get to the hill they find that the troops have set up camp there. After building up enough courage, Henry asks General Gage to move his troops because Boston Common is for everyone. Being a kind man of his word, General Gage agrees and the children can once again sled.

Allie's basketball dream
Barber, Barbara
Allie loves basketball, but she is often the only girl on the court. Buddy and other boys tease Allie about playing basketball. Allie believes in her ability and keeps practicing so that one day she can be better at basketball than the boys!

A seed was planted/ Sembre una semilla
Palazeti, Toulla
A wonderful cycle of giving begins when a single seed is planted and sprouts are passed along from one person to the next. An entire community is touched.

The magic rocks
Herbert, Barbara N.
An African woman struggles to find firewood so that she can cook for her family. While cooking porridge, an old weak man came along asking for food. Because she felt sorry for him, she gave him the porridge. In return, he gave her some magic rocks that would turn to gold. However, the woman couldnï¾’t get them to change. When her family came home to realize they had nothing to eat, her husband was angry and threw the rocks in the fading fire. The family fell asleep hungry and cold. In the morning, they woke to a burning fire and porridge cooking. The family found more rocks and called them coal.

Emeka's gift: An african counting story
Onyefulu, Ifeoma
As Emeka sets off to visit his grandmother in the next village, he wonders what he can take her for a present. He passes through the market and sees lots of things Granny would like - there were four brooms, five big hats to keep the sun off, six necklaces, eight water pots. But with no money, Emeka can not buy anything. Will Granny understand?

The talking cloth
Mitchell, Rhonda
Aunt Phoebe has a collection of many wonderful things, each having an interesting story. The little girl's favorite thing is an adinkra cloth from Ghana. It has many colors and symbols to represent feelings, faith, power, and love.

Spaghetti eddie
SanAngelo, Ryan
Eddie loves spaghetti. He eats it all the time. While running an errand for his mother, Eddie helps several neighbors by using his spaghetti noodles as a shoestring, a fishing net, and guitar strings. Eddie even stops a robber with a meat ball.

Dona flor
Mora, Pat
A vicious animal is causing panic among the villagers. Done Flor, a giant woman with a heart of gold, helps find the reason behind the mysterious beast.

Start saving Henry
Carlson, Nancy
Henry gets $5 every week for his allowance, but he spends it immediately on something that catches his eye. One day he sees Super Robot Dude, but his mother won't buy it for him and tells him he has to save his allowance. Whenever Henry is close to $30, something happens to make him lose his money again. One day, his grandma has a surprise for Henry, and he learns that working hard to save money will pay off in the end!

Welcome dede!: An African naming ceremony
Onyefulu, Ifeoma
Amarlai has a new baby cousin and he can't wait for her to be given a name. A tradtional African name will tell people where she comes from and which child she is in the family.

The tooth witch
Karlin, Nurit
The tooth witch is bored with her job after 600 years. One night she gets sloppy and drops the bag of teeth, so her friends get her a helper, Abra Cadabra. Abra Cadabra decides to leave gifts for children whose teeth she takes. She scatters the teeth across the sky to make stars and becomes the tooth fairy.

All the cats in the world
Levitin, Sonia
Mikila, a poor old woman, goes down to the seaside cliffs each day to feed scraps to many hungry cats. She encounters harassment from the old man who controls the lighthouse. The man taunts her, claiming she will never feed all the cats in the world. But Mikila's faithfulness and determination teach the man a lesson.

The three robbers
Ungerer, Tomi
Three robbers terrorize a countryside until they meet a young girl named Tiffany. After meeting the girl, they change their ways. The three robbers use their loot to build an orphanage where all of the lost, unhappy, and abandoned children can live.


The chief's blanket
Chanin, Michael
After the rain, Flower longs for a day when she will see the great chief. When she has to make a blanket for him, she doubts her weaving skills. With her grandmother's love and encouragement, Flower makes the blanket. Will the chief ever receive such a gift?

The river that gave gifts: An afro american story
Humphrey, Margo
When Yanava and her friends find out that Neema, the elder woman of the town, is losing her sight they decide to make special gifts for her. While sitting next to the river pondering over what to give Neema, Yanava is called to put her hands in the river. The river helps her hands produce a rainbow, which gives Neema the light she needs to see.

A sky full of dragons
Wright, Mildred Whatley
Lee Chow's grandfather shows him the wonderful items in the magic Chest of Dragons. What Lee Chow really wants is marbles and the Chest of Dragons cannot provide them. Fortunately, the Spring Festival creates good times, friends, and the beautiful marbles Lee Chow desires.

Gifts
Bogart, Jo Ellen
Whenever Grandma goes on a trip, she brings back a present. Sometimes it's something tangible and other times it's just a memory. No matter what Grandma brings, it's always special and can be shared.

How the second grade got $8,20550 to visit the statue of liberty
Zimelman, Nathan
Tells the triumphs and setbacks of the second grade as they try a variety of fundraisers to save money for a trip to the Statue of Liberty.

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.

Auntie claus
Primavera, Elise
Sophie, a spoiled child, is very excited to get lots of presents on Christmas even though she has everything. She follows her Auntie Claus on a business trip and finds out she is Santa's sister. Sophie learns from this experience that giving is better than receiving.

The oldest elf
Stevenson, James
Elwyn, Santa's oldest elf, enjoys making toys for all the little girls and boys. Unfortunately, this year Elwyn is too late in finishing his toys, and Santa has already left for the North Pole. Luckily, Blitzen, the oldest reindeer, takes Elwyn and his toys and delivers them.

Something from nothing
Gilman, Phoebe
Joseph's grandfather makes him a wonderful blanket when he is born. As Joseph gets older, the blanket gets older too. However, his grandfather creates something special from the blanket each year.

Come to my party
Richardson, Judith Benet
All the animals of the jungle are sleeping when a loud roar comes from a leopard who is having a birthday party. As a team, the animals of the jungle work together to create a present to bring to the party.

The magician
Shulevitz, Uri
A magician, who is actually the prophet Elijah, comes to town. He gives an old, poor couple dinner and a soft place to sit during the Passover celebration. The reason the couple is chosen is because they are unselfish and they do not think that they are that bad off, since they have each other.

The clown of god: An old story
dePaola, Tomie
Giovanni loves to juggle. He juggles every day to make people laugh. He goes to great extremes to turn peoples' frowns upside down.

A chair for my mother
Williams, Vera B.
There is a jar that a mother saves all her change in from work. When the jar is finally full, she buys a chair that is very comfortable. This is important because all of her furniture was destroyed in a fire.

Giving
Hughes, Shirley
A young girl talks about how she gives to others and how others give too. She describes the difference between good giving and bad giving.

Hester
Barton, Byron
Hester was going to have a halloween party. Before the party, she decided to go trick-or-treating. She ended up flying around on a broom with an old lady. Hester ends up giving her broom to the old lady.

A birthday for frances
Hoban, Russell
Frances buys a candy bar for Gloria's birthday then thinks about how she can keep it or eat part of it. However, her heart softens and she decides Gloria should have it all.

Arthur's christmas cookies
Hoban, Lillian
Arthur decides to bake some cookies for his parents for their Christmas presents. Even though they turn out badly, Arthur finds another way to make wonderful presents out of his cookies.

100th day worries
Cuyler, Margery
When her teacher tells the class that everyone must bring in collections of 100 for the 100th day of school, Jessica begins to worry. What will she bring in?Her family finally helps her come up with a special collection.

The worry stone
Dengler, Marianna
When growing up, Amanda loved her Grandfather and his stories. But now that Amanda is old, she feels lonely. One day at the park she befriends a lonely boy. She is able to give the boy something very special. Then he gives her something in return.

Things i like about grandma
Haskins, Francine
A grandmother and granddaughter have a special relationship together. They share moments of teaching, sharing, and bonding.

The hickory chair
Fraustino, Lisa Rowe
Louis is born blind. He and his Gran play hide-and-seek or just sit and tell stories in her favorite old hickory chair. When Gran dies, her memory lives on through the gifts she leaves behind for her family.

The mother's day mice
Bunting, Eve
It is Mother's Day and three little mice go out into the meadow to get their mother a present. One little mouse cannot find a present, so he makes up a song and sings it to his mother.

The crystal apple
McDermott, Beverly B.
Three sisters work in the fields all day. Their father goes to market and bring each of them a gift. Marusha receives a crystal apple, but her sisters break it. She realizes that she did not need it, because she has her imagination so she forgives her sisters.

Exactly alike
Ness, Evaline
Elizabeth has four brothers who look exactly alike and she cannot tell who is who. Though her brothers make fun of her, she decides to be nice and share her toys with all of them. In return, they are nice to her and tell her their names.

Happy father's day
Kroll, Steven
Six children and their mother all pitch in to make Father's Day special for their father. They finish his chores for him, give him homemade gifts, and take him to see his favorite baseball team.

Poppleton in spring
Rylant, Cynthia
Spring is coming, spring is coming!Spring cleaning on Poppleton's mind. Poppelton's friend, Cherry Sue, is cleaning too. Poppelton is looking for a bike, but there are so many decisions to make. A red one, a blue one- maybe he'll just walk. Poppleton wants to sleep outside in the new spring air. Can he last the night and discover new things around him?

Minnie maloney & macaroni
Stamaty, Mark Alan
Ever since Minnie Maloney was a little girl she has been buying seven boxes of macaroni for good luck. Her sister Molly told her it was the only way to ward off bad luck. Find out if Minnie can get even with Molly for her trickery.

Anna's secret friend
Tsutsui, Yoriko
Anna moves to a new house close to the mountains. After a couple of days she feels lonely and misses all of her friends. Anna keeps hearing noises at the front door and finds flowers, a letter, and a paper doll. One day Anna opens the door in enough time to meet a girl her age and they become friends.

The jolly christmas postman
Ahlberg, Allan//Ahlberg, Janet
Santa's postman visits various nursery rhyme characters to deliver letters from Santa.