Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

Ruth and her parents drive from Chicago to Alabama to visit her grandma. Along the way, they saw signs that said "White Only" where they couldn't eat in the restaurants or use the bathroom inside. Ruth's mother had food packed for the trip, and they sang songs along the way to stay happy. They also visited a friend, Eddy, in Tennessee where Eddy and Ruth's daddy played music together. When the family drove into Georgia, a man explained "The Negro Motorist Green Book" which would list places in different states that would welcome black people who were traveling. Ruth and her family learns how to use the Green Book to find places to sleep, eat, shop, and get a haircut on their travels because Jim Crow laws were unfair and discriminatory against black people. When a 'tourist home' welcomes them for free, Ruth learns that it is important to help each other and treat others like a big family. After this lesson, she gives her Brown Bear to a little boy who was traveling away from home with his mother for the very first time. Ruth said that she no longer needed Brown Bear because she was too old now, then she told his mother about buying a Green Book for her travels.

A young woman named Isabella leads a strong and courageous life after being sold three times as a slave girl in the northeastern United States. After she is given a freedom day by a couple living nearby who knew of the 1827 New York law to set adults free, Isabella felt the "power of a nation" in court to win back her son who was unlawfully sold out of state. Isabella later heard God calling her to be a sojourner and spread her message about the value of freedom and what it had been like to be a slave. She would ask people "Is this any way to treat a human being"? Sojourner told her truth so well that she took the name Sojourner Truth and carried a white silk banner with the words "Proclaim Liberty" wherever she went.

As a young Tlingit girl collects a variety of wild berries over the seasons in Alaska, she sings with her grandmother as she learns to speak to the land and listen when the land speaks back. Have you ever heard of dogberry, swamp berry, thimbleberry, lingonberry, or bunchberry?

There are seven billion people living in this world. Each person is different and uniquely original. See all the ways that people can move, act, do and be. People come in different colors, shapes, and sizes, and they wear a variety of clothing and feel a variety of emotions. People believe in different things. Not one of them is just like you.

The Great Poochini lives with his owner, Hersh, and leaves at night to sing in the opera. Due to his talent, the Great Poochini is the lead singer and, on the night of the premiere, he is unable to leave his home. Then, after a robber breaks into Hersh's home and the Great Poochini scares him away, he makes it to the opera just in time for the show.

Gertie, the youngest of five children, wants to help her mother cook for their family dinner on the first night of Hanukkah in New York City’s Lower East Side. After many attempts of trying to help in the busy kitchen, Gertie is sent to her room by her mother and is eventually called down for dinner by her dad. In order to get her to come downstairs, Gertie’s father asks for her helping to light the candles of the menorah for the first time and Gertie happily accepts the offer.

Black American Spirituals are a representation of the resilience and bravery of enslaved Blacks. Although these songs represent suffering and sadness, they also demonstrate creativity, heritage, and expression. Ultimately, spirituals connect people to each other, their culture, and their goals.

Just as her ancestors were forced to leave Spain during the Inquisition, Flory flees Europe for a new life in the United States, bringing with her a precious harmonica and a passion for Ladino music.

Two boys find a house that is abandoned and old. They wonder who might have lived there and where they had gone. Although it remains a mystery, the boys return to their home and enjoy a warm dinner with their family while leaving the abandoned house alone.

Black American Spirituals are a representation of the resilience and bravery of enslaved Blacks. Although these songs represent suffering and sadness, they also demonstrate creativity, heritage, and expression. Ultimately, Spirituals connect people to each other, their culture, and their goals.

A young boy living in New York City rides his skateboard to the Museum of Modern Art where he meets figures in paintings. Soon after, these characters leave their paintings and spend the day with the boy, going to a hot dog stand and riding roller coasters together. Eventually, the characters must return to their paintings and, in order to remember them, the boy makes his own artwork and goes to bed dreaming of the day he had.

A young boy and his parents fill their home singing with the gramophone using music as a language of family love. When the Nazis invade Poland, the family is separated by adults and children into two concentration camps. The boy plays a harmonica his father gave him to bring back memories of this parents dancing to music by the composer Schubert. A commandant orders the boy to play his harmonica which he does, but not for the commandant. He tries to play loudly to comfort the starving people in the concentration camp.

A brother and sister are taken into foster care with their Aunt Gracie. Aunt Gracie welcomes the kids with delicious treats and teaches them how to cook. The kids go to visit their mother and then they return to their Aunt Gracie.

A community describes each day of their weekly routine. The community is constantly looking forward to their Sunday traditions. Sunday is rich with family time, the Lord, and storytelling.

Miguel and his father set out to sell their homemade pastries in the near by villages. Since money was scarce, Miguel's father decided that kindness was more important than money and was later repaid.

Rosa has not seen her mother in three years. Rosa's mother works to save money in America until she is finally able to come home for Navidad. The whole family can now celebrate the Christmas holiday in the small town in Mexico.

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.

A young, ambitious boy spends a lot of time with his grandfather learning how to sing and follow in the footsteps of his father who travels with a Chinese opera troupe. Wei, the little boy, loves to go to the opera and watch his father perform hoping one day, he too, will be a star. Through difficult times and financial loss, a young boy comes to the rescue of both his father and his cultural background.

Children from all backgrounds move and dance to different rhythms of their culture. Dances range from tap to folk dances and from Native American dance to Tibetan dance. There are many forms, types, and styles of dance a person can do to express their emotions. There are different dances for men, women, animals, and puppets too!

Florrie is named after a famous African American actress of the 1920's. Florrie learns the importance of working hard. Having big dreams will help Florrie and her family achieve anything. They learn that the Tree of Hope reflects the glory days of Harlem's Lafayette Theatre- a time when a black man shines through the Great Depression.

Lift every voice puts pictures to the African American National Anthem. The lyrics tell the story of Black people's past struggles and the hope that Blacks will continue to have towards their future.

A zoo prepares for Zoo Day. But things do not go according to plan. The llamas won't quit spitting; the giraffes are drooling; and the zebras aren't happy at all with their stripes! Meanwhile, the zookeepers scurry this way and that, clean up poop, ring mealtime bells, and try to get the animals bathed. Will the zookeeper end up spending the night at the zoo? Will Zoo Day go off without a hitch, or will the dancing monkeys take over? This fun story is an adaptation of the classic, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Gustavo wants to be in the family mariachi band, but he cannot play the violines, trompetas, or guitarrones. He finds his place in the band with his singing talent.

Ogbo are a special part of village life in Nigeria, uniting children of the same age in a lifelong fellowship - a group with whom they celebrate festivals, share day-to-day chores, and face the challenges of growing up. A young girl named Obioma helps us understand what belonging to an ogbo means. Growing, working, and relaxing together, the ogbo weave the fabric of village life.

Join in with this storybook rhyme about exploring the body parts and what they do! From your hands, to your feet, and from your ears to your nose, learn about body actions and senses through rhyme, alliteration and a fun steady beat!

Amina and her parents take a trip to Mali to visit family. On the way, Amina realizes that her tooth is loose! While visiting her father's family, Amina loses the tooth and places it under a calabash tree. She receives a hen and a rooster from the African Tooth Fairy.

Hilda Mae Heifer, the cow, was singing, running, and having a good old time. Suddenly from out of nowhere a hard flying cow pie whacks her in the head. It causes her to lose her moo. She forgets what sound she makes. She meets a goose, chickens, a pig, and a cat and copies their sounds until she becomes familiar with her own sound again.

Emmarene always loved to listen to Blues music. When Bessie Smith comes to town, Emmarene can't wait to hear Bessie sing. Not everyone likes Bessie though. Emmarene and Bessie Smith have to stand up against people who tried to destroy their nights. And boy, could Bessie sing on stage and off!

Anna spends the day in her garden. She picks beets, potatoes, rhubarb, radishes, lettuce, carrots, peas, tomatoes, cherries, onions, cabbage, leek, herbs, and nasturtium. Anna likes to sing as she picks her vegetables.

Minski was a great scientist whose best invention was his singing. Through this one invention, he becomes a great man.

A poor, old, but happy shoemaker sings all day long to keep his rich neighbor from sleeping. A rich man gives the shoemaker a bag of gold to keep quiet. The gold causes him to worry constantly and the shoemaker loses all his friends. The shoemaker realizes he is unhappy, returns the gold, and decides to go back to making shoes and friends.

Two sisters leave their friends to go to a family birthday party. When the girls get to the party, they play games with lots of children and eat lots of good food and birthday cake. They have so much fun at the party that they don't want to leave!