Skip to main content
  • Tags: spelling
How do you spell unfair? MacNolia Cox and the national spelling bee
Weatherford, Carole Boston
In 1936, an eighth grader becomes the first African American to win the spelling bee in Akron, Ohio. MacNolia gets a military band send off to the National Spelling Bee in Washington DC with her mother. MacNolia learns about racism and discrimination when she crosses into Maryland and arrives in Washington. She and another black girl are seated away from the other spellers and their families. MacNolia spells word after word with a calm and focused performance. The judges throw a curveball to stump her and MacNolia is determined out. Her triumph is that folks now learn that African American students are as smart as anyone.

How a book is made
Aliki
Turn the pages of this book to learn how an author's manuscript and the artist's pictures become a book. Publishing a book is a long hard process with many workers from editors and publishers to proofreaders and printers. Who made this book? Read about the many people and the step-by-step process for publishing a book for all to read.

Suddenly alligator: An adverbial tale
Walton, Rick
A young boy decides it is time to buy a new pair of socks to replace the smelly one's he's worn for three years. He travels to town via the swamp discovering items he's lots along the way. He encounters an alligator and a chase ensues. The alligator gets hold of the boys' shoe and when the shoe cocmes off, the odor from the socks, stuns the alligator. The boy continues on his way to buy new socks. With each step along his journey, he experiences an adverbial action.

Wally the wordworm
Fadiman, Clifton
Wally the worm is intrigued by different words. He looks up new, complex words in the dictionary instead of the words he already knows.

Sense suspense: A guessing game for the five senses
McMillan, Bruce
Which of your five senses are you likely to use when you look at the photos?Learn English by reading the words printed in black and learn Spanish by reading the words in blue.

Toby, where are you?
Steig, William
Toby just loves to hide from his parents in every part of the house. This time, will they find him, or will they give up the search?

Arthur's teacher trouble
Brown, Marc
Arthur goes to school on the first day and finds out he has the meanest teacher. The hardwork that Arthur does enables him to win the spelling bee.

Good luck, mrs. k.!
Borden, Louise
Mrs. K teaches Ann's third grade class. In class they are explorers, scientists, poets, and astronauts. They are always learning something new. One day, Mrs. K doesn't come to school. The students learn that she is in the hospital with cancer. For the rest of the year the third grade has a substitute. On the last day of school, Mrs. K comes back to surprise her students.

Harold and the purple crayon
Johnson, Crockett
A little boy creates his own adventure by drawing with purple crayon. He explores forests, oceans and cities by drawing pictures and putting himself in those pictures. After all the adventures, he finally follows the moon back home.

Headlines
Hall, Malcolm
A printing press, run by animals, has a mystery. Someone is stealing the letters which ends up making very confusing headlines.

Arthur's prize reader
Hoban, Lillian
Arthur loses the Super Chimp Club contest. But because he helped her learn to read, Arthur's sister wins the first grade reading contest and a prize for both of them.

A cake for herbie
Mathers, Petra
Lottie's friend Herbie loves to use words in a poetic and unique way, but it takes special friends to understand how special he is. Will Herbie come up with the prize winning poem in the contest in order to win a delicious cake?

Look out kindergarten, here I come
Carlson, Nancy
Henry can't wait for his first day of kindergarten to begin!He imagines all the wonderful things that he and his classmates will do. When he arrives at school, Henry becomes frightened that he will get lost and won't enjoy all of his new classmates. When his teacher invites him in and shows him all the neat activities, Henry realizes again how much fun kindergarten will be!

The bird house
Rylant, Cynthia
A young girl goes everyday to watch the amazing blue house that an old woman lives in. The house is always surrounded by birds and one great barred owl. When the old woman finds the young homeless girl, she takes her in to live in the beautiful house.