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An American story
Alexander, Kwame
An African American story is an American story of slavery, brutal conditions, struggle, and oppression. Remember the American story of hard work, pride, and strength in the fight for liberty as Black people stand up and speak out while "holding history in one hand and clenching hope in the other".


A different pond
Phi, Bao
A young boy accompanies his dad to catch fish for food before the sunrises and before other family members awake. The dad tells the bait man at the all-night store that he is starting a second job. The boy meets a Hmong man and a black man who are also fishing -- but this time, it is just the boy and his dad under the starlit sky. The boy learns to make a fire and to bait his hook and to honor the stories of his Dad as he explains how life was in Vietnam when he was a boy. When they return home, the dad and mom head to work while the boy looks after his brothers and sisters.

From the tops of the trees
Yang, Kao Kalia
Four year old Kalia wants to know what is beyond the fences of the Ban Sinai Refugee Camp where many Hmong families are held in Thailand after fleeing the Secret War in Laos. Kalia and her cousins play together by racing with chickens and riding a pet dog. One day, Kalia's father picks her up to hold her in his arms as he climbs a tall tree in the camp. This gives Kalia a chance to see a new and different world.

The tower of life: How Yaffa Eliach rebuilt her town in stories and photographs
Stiefel, Chana
Yaffa loved helping her Grandma Alte in her photography studio in Poland. Many people had their photographs made during special events and celebrations, then they were mailed overseas to relatives before the Jewish New Year. After the Holocaust when 3500 Jewish souls were murdered by Nazi soldiers, Yaffa worked for 17 years to recover 6000 photographs and stories about people from Eishyshok, which is now a different town in Lithuania. Yaffa became a professor of history who rebuilt the lives of those lost by connecting with their loved one's photographs from six continents.

The key from Spain: Flory Jagoda and her music
Levy, Debbie
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.

Harmonica
Johnston, Tony
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.

How I learned geography
Shulevitz, Uri
A war occurs and a boy and his family must flee from their homeland. Food is scarce and there is no entertainment. One day, Father brings home a map. The little boy studies the map. He learns geography and allows his imagination to take him to faraway places. He forgets about his hunger and his sadness.

Sybil's night ride
Winnick, Karen B.
A brave girl takes a brave journey on a horse through the night. Find out how her brave actions helped America while at war with the British.

Who was the woman who wore the hat?
Patz, Nancy
In the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam, a lone hat is on display in a glass case. It is all that remains of a woman's life. A pictorial and poetic view of this hat, worn during the Holocaust, is poignantly expressed.

Coming on home soon
Woodson, Jacqueline
A girl says goodbye to her mother who is heading to find work in the city. The girl waits everyday for her mother's letter that says she will be coming home. All the while, the girl remembers her mother loves her more than snow or rain.

Alec's primer
Pitts-Walter, Mildred
Alec was a slave who wanted to be free. Ms. Josephine, one of his masters and three years older than him, told Alic if he wanted to be free he needed to learn to read. Ms. Josephine taught him to read and when Alec was old enough he couragously fights in the Civil War and obtained his freedom.

Old home day
Hall, Donald
From the time when only plants and animals lived there, to the modern bicentennial celebration, the people who called the fictional village of Blackwater home remember its history.

The snow goose
Gallico, Mary//Gallico, Paul
A young, naive girl attempts to understand her environment in the midst of war. She does this through the love of the birds who live in this area.

Sami and the time of troubles
Heide, Florence Parry//Gilliland, Judith Heide
Sami lives with his family in Beriut. Once it was one of the most splendid cities in the world but today it is a place of ruin and trouble. Living in violence allows Sami to look at all the good memories when troubles arrive. In the end, Sami learns a great deal about fighting.

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.

Sweet dried apples: A vietnamese wartime childhood
Breckler, Rosemary
It is wartime in Vietnam, and a little girl who lives in the country is faced with the prospect of her father leaving for the army. Her father, the village herb doctor, comes to stay with them until he dies. Their village is bombed and the little girl and her family must flee Vietnam.

Racing against the odds: The story of Wendell Scott, stock car racing's African-American champion
Weatherford, Carole Boston
Wendell O. Scott made history as the only black driver to win a race in a NASCAR Grand National division. Using secondhand Fords that he fixed up in his garage, he competed in five hundred races in NASCAR'S top division. This is the story of a man who worked full time while racing on the side. A man who didn't just dust the competition, he blazed the trail.

The silence in the mountains
Rosenberg, Liz
Iskander and his family live in Lebanon until war breaks out. Then, they are forced to flee the country they love to live in American where there is no war. However, Iskander is homesick. To help him feel better, each of his family members do something special to make him feel better.

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

Memorial
Crew, Gary
Storytime is a great time to recollect and gain lessons on past events. Take a stand with a young boy as he tries to preserve a memory.

We

We

Schertle, Alice
Describes the emergence of humankind out of Africa, charting the course of human development from seven million years ago to today, highlighting the development of diversity among peoples and our ability to invent and discover.

Shadow
Brown, Marcia
The village storytellers and shamans of African expound on the important, mysterious, haunted, and enchanted life of shadows.

To be a drum
Coleman, Evelyn
Daddy Wes whispers to his two young children about the history of Africans forced into slavery and how the pulse of the drum has moved through them over time. Daddy Wes promises his children that as long as they can hear the heartbeat of the earth, they will be free.

The promise quilt
Ransom, Candice
A little girl, living in the mountaintops of Virginia, wants to go to school. Her father promises to send her when she is old enough, but he goes off to fight in the civil war. During the war the school and books are burned. Find a special way to build a new school.

Just like new
Manson, Ainslie
It is a time of war and children in England won't have Christmas presents. A little girl's class decides to give gifts they love that are like new. The little girl unselfishly gives up her most cherished doll and inserts a note, and a girl from England becomes her pen pal after receiving the gift.

The legend of mulan: A herione of anvient china
Jiang, Wei and Jiang, Cheng An
War breaks out in China and the men are summoned from each family to come fight. A young girl secretly disguises herself as a boy and fights in her brother's place. She has colorful adventures.

The enemy: A book about peace
Bloch, Serge//Cali, Davide
There are two soldiers, each in a hole, with an order to kill the other. They both are tired and want the war to end. Finally one gives up and goes off to kill the other, only to find he has done the same. He sees that the other soldier is more like himself than he thought. In a desperate measure to end the war he doesn't understand, he launches a message in a bottle to the other hold.

Garibaldi's biscuits
Steadman, Ralph
In nineteenth-century Italy, the wife of General Garibaldi bakes biscuits, as a peace offering for a defeated French army.

Boats speeding! Sailing! Cruising!
Hubbell, Patricia
Illustrations and rhyming text celebrate different kinds of boats and what they can do.

Letters to a soldier
Falvey, David// Mrs. Julie Hutt's fourth-grade class
A collection of letters written by Mrs. Julie Hutt's fourth grade class to 1st Lieutenant David Falvey during his tour in Iraq. Read the students' letter to Lieutenant Falvey and his responses back to each individual student. Pictures of the letters, students, and Lieutenant Falvey's safe arrival back to the states are included!

Genghis Khan
Demi
The author's interpretation of Genghis Khan's life is based upon both historical resources and Mongolian folklore.

Let the celebrations begin
Wild, Margaret//Vivas, Julie
Miram and the women of the camp make toys for children from material scraps and buttons. They plan for a celebration when the soldiers come to free them from the German camp.

Drummer hoff
Emberley, Barbara
This story is a folk song which depicts seven soldiers building a cannon. Drummer Hoff is the one soldier who shoots the cannon.

The roman twins
Gerrard, Roy
Maximus and his twin sister Vanilla are slaves to the cruel master Slobbus Pompius. They run away when Slobbus buys Polydox the horse then quickly decides to kill him. Maximus and Vanilla go through a chariot race and an invasion of Rome before they finally gain their freedom.

All those secrets of the world
Yolen, Jane
Janine's father goes off to World War II. She wonders why her mother is so upset. Janine spends the day playing with her cousin in Chesapeake Bay where she learns the secrets of near and far. Two years later her father returns and she shares her secrets with him.

Peacebound trains
Balgassi, Haemi
Sumi, a young Korean girl, lives with her grandmother when her mother goes off to the army. Sumi watches the train go by each day, wishing her mother would come home soon. The train reminds her grandmother of the days of war when she had to leave her own husband.

Heroes
Mochizuki, Ken
Donnie is always the bad guy when he plays war with his friends. They think because Donnie is Japanese American that he should be the enemy. When his father and uncle take a trip to school, they prove they can be heroes too.

The old pirate of central park
Priest, Robert
An old pirate who lives in New York City takes a walk in Central Park and spends time with other old pirates. One day, when he brings his ship to sail on the pond, he meets the retired Queen. A battle ensues between vessels. Chaos reigns until a truce is called. Now the Old Pirate and the Old Queen spend time together at the pond every day as Retirates.

The duck in the gun
Cowley, Joy
A duck makes her nest in an army's cannon and will not come out. The war is postponed until the army gets the duck out. This postponement is just long enough for the two sides to become friends.

By the hanukkah light
Oberman, Sheldon
It's Hanukkah so Grandpa and Rachel get ready to light the menorrah. As the family gathers, Grandpa tells the story of how Hanukkah began. When the children ask for another story, Grandpa tells them about Hanukkah when he was a boy during World War II.

War and peas
Foreman, Michael
The lion king goes to his neighbor to ask for help during a drought. The neighboring king refuses to help and even rages war on some beggars. The neighboring king loses because he is overweight. When it begins to rain, seeds grow into food to be shared by all.

Pink and say
Polacco, Patricia
A wounded solider in the Civil War is nurtured back to health by an African American soldier and his mother. Together they return to the battlefield, but are destined to live different lives.

The little weaver of tahi-yen village
Tuyet, Tran Khanh
Hien is a young Vietnamese girl who lives in a bombed village. She must cope with the deaths of her mother and grandmother, and is flown to the United States to have a special operation on her injured throat. She meets two nice Americans who give her a weaving loom and becomes known as the Little Weaver of Thai-Yen village.

The foxes of chironupp island
Takahashi, Hiroyuki
An old man and his wife return every spring to Chironupp Island, an island off the coast of Japan. Right before the war, the couple befriends a young fox cub, Tiny.

The boston coffee party
Rappaport, Doreen
During the Revolutionary War, a group of women boycott a local merchant's store and get all the coffee in the warehouse.

Katie's trunk
Turner, Ann//Himler, R.
Katie hides in her mother's wedding trunk when the British rebels comes to search her house during the American Revolution. Katie gets scared because it is hard for her to breathe. Someone finally opens the trunk so she can breathe again.

Yankee doodle
Kellogg, Steven
A young boy accompanies Yankee Doodle on travels through the battle fields of the Revolutionary War. Sing through the verses of Yankee Doodle as you journey with them.

Baseball saved us
Mochizuki, Ken
Shorty and his family are sent to an American camp after an attack on Pearl Harbor because they are Japanese-American. To help keep their spirits up, the people at the camp make a baseball field and play games. Shorty learns how to believe in himself, even when others do not treat him nicely.

A long way to go
Oneal, Zibby
During World War I in Europe, a girl named Lisa struggles because she feels that girls also deserve the right to vote. She is determined to prove this to others.