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The littlest matryoshka
Bliss, Corinne Denias
Nikolai shipped his last carved matryoshka from Russia to a toy store in America. While on display, one of the six dolls gets bumped from the shelf and begins a great adventure away from her sisters. She survived the snow, the stream, a bird, and a cat before being found by the very girl who had bought her sisters, and they were all together once again.

The three legged cat
Mahy, Margaret
Mrs. Gimble's cat is dreaming of seeing the world while she only wants him to sleep and not eat. Her brother stops to visit and upon leaving, he mistakes his hat for the cat. The cat gets to see the world and she doesn't have to feed the cat.

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.

Baboushka and the three kings
Robbins, Ruth
As Baboushka cleans her hut one evening, three gentlemen visit and ask if she would like to go with them to where a child is born. She declines, but decides to go the next morning. Much to her dismay, she cannot find the child. As legend goes, each year she sets out in search of the child.

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.

The nose
Gogol, Nikolai
A barber finds a nose in his bread and goes on a journey to discover how it got there.

My mother is the most beautiful woman in the world
Reyher, Becky
Varya helps her parents Marfa and Ivan prepare the wheat for the harvest, but she loses her way. In her search for her mother, she discovers the value of an old Russian proverb about beauty and love.

Uncle vova's tree
Polacco, Patricia
A Russian family gathers together to celebrate Christmas in the Russian tradition.

The keeping quilt
Polacco, Patricia
When a Russian family moves to America they decide that in order to keep their heritage, a quilt that has been added on to by generation after generation, will be their way of keeping them together.

My grandmother's journey
Cech, John
Karie's grandmother tells her about her hard life in Russia during World War II. This is a true story.

Molly's pilgrim
Cohen, Barbara
Molly brings a pilgrim doll that's a replica of her mother when she left Russia to school. Only with this doll do the other students learn the true meaning of a pilgrim.

How does a czar eat potatoes?
Rose, Anne
The life of a peasant farmer and the czar are compared and contrasted by the peasant's child.


Hopscotch around the world
Lankford, Mary D.
Nineteen different ways of playing hopscotch from around the world are presented along with directions, drawings of the different patterns, and a brief history of the game.

Annushka's voyage
Tarbescu, Edith
When Tanya and Annushka's mother dies, their father has no choice but to leave Russia for the streets paved with gold. Several years later, the girls' father sends two tickets for their own voyage to America. Before the girls leave, their grandmother gives them each a Sabbath candlestick which will light their way to the New World. Tanya and Annushka's voyage is filled with many sick and sleepless nights. The girls unite with their father by raising their candlesticks.

Another celebrated dancing bear
Scheffrin-Falk, Gladys
Max is a dancing bear and his best friend, Boris, is sad and envious of him. Max teaches Boris to dance and each of them enjoys the time that they spend together. Boris is happy again.

Shoes, shoes, shoes
Morris, Ann
A rhyme about shoes from all over the world ranges from new shoes to work shoes, game shoes to fun shoes.

Starring mirette and bellini
McCully, Emily Arnold
Young Mirette and the Great Bellini are high wire partners in Paris. While performing on a tour of Europe, they visit Russia where the people are not free. Bellini speaks to them about freedom during their act and is arrested. Then it is up to Mirette to be brave and rescue him from prison.

Good morning, let's eat!
Badt, Karin Luisa
What's for breakfast in Switzerland?Where did the word breakfast originate?Discover the answers to these questions and many more about morning foods. In some countries, breakfast is the biggest meal of the day, and in others it is very small.

Pumpkins: A story for a field
Ray, Mary Lyn
A man is sad to see a beautiful field become a residential development, so he raises money to buy the field by growing pumpkins and selling them all over the world.

The miracle of the potato latkes
Penn, Malka
Tanta Golda is a Russian woman who makes the most delicious potato latkes in Russia. This year, there is only one tiny potato from the harvest. Tanta doesn't know what to do. When a beggar comes to her door, she feeds him the one potato. The beggar brings her good luck, and there are potato latkes for everyone!

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.

Mung-mung
Park, Linda Sue
Animal sounds in different languages such as Turkish, Chinese and Hindu are shared. Open the flap to find out what animal it is.

Three cheers for catherine the great!
Best, Cari
A family moves from Russia to America. The grandma of the family has a birthday and she does not want presents. Her grand-daughter spends hours trying to figure out the perfect no present for her grandma.

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.