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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.

My parents won't stop talking
Hunsinger, Emma & Walden, Tillie
Waiting is hard, and every kid knows it's not fun. Molly wants to go the park but her parents have started talking with the neighbors for a very long time.

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."

Two grooms on a cake: The story of America's first gay wedding
Sanders, Rob
Michael and Jack met and fell in love, growing closer over time. Even though no one had done it before, Michael and Jack wanted to get married, and although it was difficult, they were the first same-sex couple to marry in America legally. Today, they are still married and work to ensure that other same-sex couples can also get married.

My tooth is about to fall out
Maccarone, Grace
A little girl describes her wiggly tooth and all the places where she doesn't want it to fall out. Then, while she is eating spaghetti, the tooth falls into her bowl and a giant hole is left in her mouth. That night, she places the tooth that fell out under her pillow, and the Tooth Fairy leaves her a nice little surprise for her in the morning!

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.

Zinnia's flower garden
Wellington, Monica
Zinnia plants nine different types of flowers seeds and waits for them to grow. Zinnia waters and cares for the garden each day and writes in her journal to document the progress. The garden blossoms into flowers. Zinnia sells her flowers before autumn and winter comes.

The day I had to play with my sister
Bonsall, Crosby
A boy has a hard time dealing with his younger sister while teaching her the rules of hide-and-seek. She just won't listen! Uggh...being a big brother can be tough!

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.

When Catherine the Great and I were eight!
Best, Cari
Sara, her mother, and Russian grandmother Catherine the Great, pile into Mr. Minsky's car along with a few of their other neighbors. They make their way to the beach to escape the heat of the hot summer day. Although they find it takes longer than planned to reach the beach, everyone has fun along the way.

The chocolate-covered-cookie tantrum
Blumenthal, Deborah
As Sophie walks home from the park with her mother, she sees another little girl eating a chocolate-covered-cookie. Sophie's mother does not have any cookies to give her and will not allow Sophie to eat cookies so close to supper time. Sophie is outraged and throws a temper tantrum! Sophie learns that not eating a cookie before supper isn't so bad after all.

The patchwork quilt
Flournoy, Valerie
Tanya loves spending time with her Grandma. Grandma teaches Tanya the importance of using old scraps of material to make unique and warm quilts. One day Grandma gets sick before the quilt is complete. Tanya must help Grandma finish the quilt.

The story of frog  belly rat bone
Ering, Timothy Basil
A boy discovers an unexpected treasure at the junk yard. After some of the treasure is stolen, he makes a creature to stand guard. As they patiently wait, their treasure blooms into a gorgeous garden for them to enjoy.

Kumak's fish: A tall tale from the far north
Bania, Michael
One morning, Kumak and his family pack their fishing gear for an antarctic ice fishing adventure. With patience, the family fishes until Kumak finally catches a strong fish. The whole Alaskan community comes running to help Kumak and his family pull the fish out of the water. The community celebrates their new food supply when they see each fish holding on to the fist infront of it.

Oliver the mighty pig
Van Leeuwen, Jean
Oliver gets a new cape for his birthday and becomes Mighty Pig to the rescue in four short stories adout his adventures. Oliver fights fires and braves dragons during his quest to save everyone from danger until he has to conquer the hardest task of all which is to have patience while his cape is being washed.

Doodler doodling
Gelman, Rita
A girl ponders what she will draw on her lined paper with her multicolored pen. She draws people in action. The girl mixes and changes the actions of the people in her drawings. She is proud of her drawings.

Let's talk about needing attention
Berry, Joy
A girl names Casey tries all the wrong ways to get attention from her Mom and Dad. Eventually she finds solutions for achieving attention the right way and learns how to help others as well.

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.

Leo: the little st. bernard
L'Hommediev, Dorthy K.
Leo wants to be a working dog for the monks at the Hospice. When they do not choose him, he decides to runaway to the Hospice. On his way up the mountain he encounters Angelena, a cashmere goat. Together they set out on a snowy and dangerous adventure.

Making room for uncle joe
Litchfield, Ada B.
Uncle Joe has Down Syndrome and must leave his home at the hospital because it's closing. He goes to live with his sister and her family. His family learns to live with him and to love him.

The best nest
Mueller, Doris
Long ago, magpie nests were the envy of all other birds. To help the other birds, Maggie Magpie patiently explains how to build a nest. But some birds are impatient and fly off without listening to all the directions, which is why, to this day, bird nests come in all different shapes and sizes. This clever retelling of an old English folktale teaches the importance of careful listening.

Henry the impatient heron
Love, Donna
Henry the heron can't stand still. He is always moving, and it drives everyone crazy. All herons have to stand still to catch their food, so how will Henry ever be able to eat on his own? Henry learns a valuable lesson from the King of Camouflage, which teaches the importance of just being still.

The heroic symphony
Harwell-Celenza, Anna
Ludwig Van Beethoven learns he is going deaf. He is an accomplished and promising young pianist and this devastates him. Beethoven realizes his condition is actually leading to his destiny not his downfall. In creating his symphony no. 3 he searches for a hero on which to base his musical inspiration. He eventually realizes it is about him!

Silver threads
Skrypuch, Marsha Forchuk
Ivan and Anna flee from Ukraine and sail to Canada where they are promised land for farming. They begin a new life, but Canada soon joins World War I. Ivan tries to fight for Canada in the war, but they take him as a prisoner instead. Years pass and Anna waits alone until Ivan finally returns to the farm from an internment camp

The balloon sailors
Swanson, Diana
When bickering princes take the throne, the kingdom is split in two by a wall so that each brother rules half. The kingdom is divided and it is illegal for people to cross the wall. Since Tamala and Abalon are forbidden to see their grandmother and cousin on the other side of the wall, they decide to float over it in a hot air balloon. They work with their parents to collect materials, build the balloon, and wait for the perfect weather conditions. The family departs during the night, escapes military fire from soldiers, and surprises their relatives in the morning. This adventure is loosely based on the true story of two East German families sailing over the Berlin Wall in their own hot air balloon in 1979.

What the animals were waiting for
London, Jonathan
The story of the dramatic cycles of life on the African savanna, one of the last great, wild places on earth.

Here comes our bride
Onyefulu, Ifeoma
Ekinadose wants his Uncle Osaere to get married - then he can go to a wedding. One day, he sees people welcomed into his grandfather's house. They come to collect their bride - and Edinadose will be going, not just to one wedding ceremony, but two!

April fool! Watch out at school!
DeGroat, Diane
It's April Fool's Day so Gilbert is excited to trick his friends. Throughout the day, his friends keep on tricking him, but he can't seem to trick anyone else. Gilbert doesn't give up though: he has one more trick in mind. The rest of the afternoon, he's extra nice to Lewis. Lewis gets so nervous about what Gilbert's trick is, the other classmates manage to trick him. At the end of the day, Lewis finds out Gilbert didn't have a trick after all. He had been tricked!

Cherry free
Bond, Ruskin
A girl from India gathers cherries and plants a cherry seed. She takes care of the cherry tree even when experiencing many problems. The girl watches the tree grow up as her grandfather watches her grow up.

Recycle every day!
Wallace, Nancy Elizabeth
Through a poster contest at school, Minna and her family discover many ways they can recycle. Many of the other contestants' posters demonstrate ways to recycle, however Minna ultimately wins the contest through her poster that reminds everyone to re-re-remember, re-re-recycle every day.

It's hard to share my teacher
Prestine, Joan Singleton
Josh is having a hard time learning to share in school. He is especially frustrated when his teacher is busy helping other students. He wants to share his artwork with his teacher and his classmates. He ends up learning why sharing is so important.

Sachiko means happiness
Sakai, Kimiko
Sachiko dreads evening and the thought of sitting with her grandmother who has Alzheimer's Disease. With patience and kindness, she is able to make her grandmother feel better.

The lady's chair and the ottoman
Tennyson, Noel
A little ottoman has always desired to be near the lady's chair. After being patient, the ottoman is at last reunited with the lady's chair.

When the tide is low
Cole, Sheila
A child wants to go to the beach, but her mom will not let her because the tide is too high. When the tide is low again, they are able to go to the beach.

The music in derrick's heart
Battle-Lavert, Gwoddolyn
Derrick, a young African American boy, learns to make music on the harmonica. Uncle Booker T., a talented musician, spends each day, one hot summer, teaching Derrick the art of playing the harmonica. Finally, after much practice and determination, Derrick discovers the secret of Uncle Booker T.'s music: it comes from the heart.

Call me ahnighito
Conrad, Pam
Ahnighito is a large meteorite that wants to be recognized and remembered, but it is stuck in Greenland all alone and and cold. Once discovered, Ahnighito slowly makes his way to New York where he is put on display in a museum for all to see.


Aunt nancy and old man trouble
Root, Phyllis
Aunt Nancy won't be bothered by Old Man Trouble and his mean tricks. Instead, she turns every bad situation into a good one, ruining his fun so he'll leave her alone.

Sometimes i feel awful
Prestine, Joan Singleton
A young girl has a day full of different moods. Although she starts out happy, she begins to feel different throughout the day. She does not want to share with her friend and gets upset when he plays with her toys. She learns what she should have said to make her family and friends understand.

Dealing with dealing with feelings: I'm frustrated
Crary, Elizabeth
Unable to rollerskate like his brother and sister, Alex becomes frustrated. What should he do?Keep practicing, give up, or set goals?Alex's mom gives him eight suggestions of how to deal with his problem. After working really hard, Alex learns how to skate and deal with his frustration!

When will sarah come?
Howard, Elizabeth F.
Jonathon's big sister Sarah is off to her first day of school. While she's gone, Jonathon tries to keep himself busy until she returns. He builds blocks with his grandma, rides his fire truck, and blows bubbles. He hears many sounds outside, but none of them are Sarah. When will Sarah come?Finally, Jonathon sees a yellow school bus. Sarah is finally home and now they can play together.

It's my birthday too!
Jonell, Lynne//Mathers, Petra
It is Christopher's birthday and his family is getting ready for his birthday party. Chirstopher's little brother, Robbie, wants to have a birthday too. Christopher tells Robbie that he can't come to his party and that he would rather have a puppy than a brother. Robbie acts like a puppy during the party and Christopher decides he likes having a little brother after all.

Sara loves her big brother
Hooker, Ruth
Sara is two years old and loves her big brother. Although her brother is very patient, sometimes he just wishes she would go away.

First pink light
Greenfield, Eloise
Tyree, a young boy, waits patiently all night long for the return of his father.

Mandy's grandmother
Skorpen, Leisel
When her grandmother comes to town, Mandy thinks she is sad and mean. After awhile, they begin to understand one another and learn from each other.

Babushka's doll
Polacco, Patricia
After a long day with an impatient doll, Natasha learns that she cannot be so demanding of her grandmother. Natasha gains an understanding and appreciation of her grandmother.

Not the piano, mrs. medley
Levine, Evan
A grandmother and grandson go the beach together. The grandmother against her grandson's wishes, deems it necessary to bring just about everything -- just in case. Finally when they end up at the beach, they realize that they have everything except their bathing suits.

Lucille's snowsuit
Lasky, Kathryn
Lucille wants desperately to go out and play with her older brother and sister in the snow. As Lucille works at putting on her snowsuit, she gets stuck, frustrated and hot. Her patience is wearing thin as she waits on her mom to help. Finally, Lucille joins the snow fun, but does her bad mood go away?

Harriet, you'll drive me wild!
Fox, Mem
Harriet is a very busy little girl. She loves to play and be silly. When she makes messes in the house, her mother does not know what to do with her. Harriet spills her juice, drips paint on the floor, and dribbles jam on her pants. What will Harriet do next?How will her mom react?

The wild christmas reindeer
Brett, Jan
Teeka has been asked by Santa to get his reindeer ready to fly on Christmas Eve. Once she works with them, her strong hand does more harm than good. Teeka finds that she may need a gentler touch to get the reindeer ready.