California Recommended Literature List
Grades 3 – 5
The following titles have been drawn from California’s recommended literature lists. There are 13 lists of reading materials for each span of grade levels (K – 2, 3 – 5, and 6 – 8) which correspond to the achievement level of each student as measured on the California Standards Test. Each list is made up of a collection of titles that are slightly more difficult to read than the titles on the list before it. List #1 contains the most easy-to-read titles, while list #13+ is made up of the most difficult or sophisticated titles. The list numbers do NOT correspond to grade levels.
The first section of this list includes books designated as NP. The NP (non-prose) designation is indicated rather than a list number if the book includes nonstandard prose. These are books of pictures, poems, plays, and songs, or books with incorrect or no punctuation. The NP books are included on all lists 1 through 13+, regardless of reading ability level.
Books are listed as Fiction or Non-Fiction, and specific genres are noted when applicable.
Autobiography
Biography
Mystery
Narrative Non-Fiction
Drama
Fable
Fiction in Verse
Folklore
Historical Fiction
Humor
Poetry
Realistic Fiction
Science Fiction
Short Story
Tall Tale
When there are strong cross-curricular connections, these are also noted as follows:
ELA (English Language Arts)/Vocabulary
ELA/Literary Elements
ELA/Writing
H-SS (History-Social Science)
Science
PE (Physical Education
VPA (Visual and Performing Arts)
NOTE: Some books are also included on the
Grades K – 2 List and/or the Grades 6 – 8 List.
These are noted with the following symbols:
Grade K – 2 List: *
Grade 6 – 8 List: +

Title
Advice for a Frog
Author
Alice Schertle
Beauty of the Beast:
Poems from the
Animal Kingdom +
Jack Prelutsky
Black Cat *
Christopher
Meyers
Bringing the Rain to
Kapiti Plain *
Verna Aardema
Casey at the Bat: A
Ballad of the Republic
Sung in the Year 1888
+
Ernest L. Thayer
Celebrating America:
A Collection of Poems and Images of the
American Spirit +
Laura Whipple
(compiler)
Child’s Garden of
Verses, A *
Robert Louis
Stevenson
Dancing Teepees:
Poems of American
Indian Youth
Don’t Read This
Book, Whatever You
Do!
Virginia Sneve,
Driving Hawk
Kali Dakos
Summary
This selection depicts 14 exotic and/or endangered animals through poetry and larger-than-life paintings. Finely crafted verse features word play matched by the imaginative illustrations on double-page layouts. Included are pleas for environmental awareness and comments about each animal's status as of 1995. California author and illustrator.
Vibrant watercolor illustrations bring to life 20 poems about insects, sea creatures, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals and support a wide variety of poetic styles, including haiku and humor. The poems found in this collection are for science teachers and animal lovers.
Traveling along quiet city streets, over rooftops, and into the subway, a sleek black cat explores the city. The book's use of a simple rhyming refrain encourages children's participation. Paint is layered on photographs that form the backgrounds and cutouts of a cat are added.
Kapiti Plain is in serious need of water, and Ki-pat, the herdsman, finds a way to bring down the rain. Folk-art illustrations and a catchy, rhythmic
"this-is-the-house-that-Jack-built" text make this a popular read-aloud book. Listeners can take parts in the book and be involved in the retelling of the story.
Thayer's timeless ballad of the nineteenth-century baseball star is illustrated to look like a newly discovered, 100-year-old scrapbook. The illustrator uses sepia tones to weave real and photographically realistic reproductions of artifacts - such as period baseball cards, tickets, advertisements, and other memorabilia - into the narrative to present a portrait of a bygone era.
The blend of artistry in both print and visual media highlight this anthology. More than 60 poems celebrate the land, the people, and the spirit of America.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Poetry,
Science
Poetry,
ELA/Vocabulary,
Science
Poetry,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Folklore,
Science
Poetry,
H-SS,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Poetry,
VPA
Stevenson's poems in this collection reflect the fantasy of childhood dreams and perceptions. More than 70 full-color and black-and-white illustrations enhance the text. These poems are especially suited for memorization by students.
Native Americans did not have a written language, the poems in this book are taken from the oral traditions of various tribes. The theme of the collection is youth; and the soft pastel-and-watercolor illustrations use traditional Indian designs as well as modern interpretations of the individual poems.
Humorous short poems depict the ups and downs of school life. Many of the poems are based on the author's experiences as an elementary school teacher. See other books by this author/teacher.
Poetry,
VPA
Poetry,
H-SS,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Humor,
Poetry

Falling Up * +
Festivals
Title
Flicker Flash
Author Summary
Shel Silverstein
Myra Cohn
Livingston
Joan Bransfield
Graham
Amy Cohn, (editor)
This third (and last) collection of Silverstein's irreverent verse is accompanied by his signature pen-and-ink drawings that defy convention.
The verses present a child's-eye view of the world and humorous musings about such things as people zoos, no thank-yous, gnomes, gnats, and gnus.
Fourteen festivals from around the world are described through individual poems and illustrated with vibrant paintings that symbolize the festival or holiday. Included are Ramadan and Id-Ul-Fitr, Now-Ruz, Mardi Gras,
Kwanzaa, Tet Nguyen-Dan, and Arbor Day. A comprehensive glossary describes the meaning and significance of each festival and holiday.
The concept of light in its many forms is presented, from candles and lightbulbs to lightning and fireflies. Each of the 23 selections is a concrete poem that seems to flicker and flash off the pages. Brightly colored geometric shapes are prominent in the illustrations.
More than 140 folk songs, tales, poems, and stories tell the history of
America and reflect its multicultural society. Illustrations are provided by award-winning artists.
From Sea to Shining
Sea: A Treasury of
American Folklore and Folksongs
Gold Fever
Good Books, Good
Times!
Graphic Alphabet
Grassroots: Poems by
Carl Sandburg +
Great Frog Race and
Other Poems, The * +
Hailstones and Halibut
Bones +
Verla Kay
Lee Bennett
Hopkins (selector)
David Pelletier
Carl Sandburg
Kristine O’Connell
George
Mary O’Neill
In terse verse the author tells the story of Jasper, who leaves his farm in the Midwest to fulfill his dream of discovering gold in California. After many mishaps and no discoveries, Jasper calls it quits and returns to his family. Very succinct but descriptive text accompanied by colored pencil drawings give the reader much information about the California Gold
Rush. This book is an excellent resource for the fourth-grade California studies. California author and setting.
This short volume presents 14 poems by favorite children's poets that relate to books, words, and reading. Included are such poets as Jack
Prelutsky, David McCord, and Myra Cohn Livingston.
This unique alphabet book uses computer imagery in which each letter of the alphabet interprets a single word. This book won the Caldecott Honor for striking, sophisticated artwork.
Fourteen poems, written by one of America's premier poets, depict the life, activities, themes, and settings of the Midwest. The illustrations by award–winning painter Wendell Minor reflect both the beauty of the
Midwest and the words of Carl Sandburg.
These poems deal with many familiar aspects of indoor and outdoor life, such as frogs and dragonflies, wind and rain, a visit to the tree farm, and the garden hose. Warm oil painting illustrations of the rural landscape illustrate the thoughts in the poem. California author.
Originally published in 1961 and revised with new artwork in 1989, this edition features vivid full-color illustrations. The poems are the same, written in rich rhythmic language that describes all the components of the rainbow of colors around us.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Humor,
Poetry,
ELA/Writing
Poetry,
H-SS
Poetry,
Science
Folklore,
VPA
Poetry,
H-SS,
ELA/Writing
Poetry;
ELA/Vocabulary,
Literacy/Motivation
VPA
Poetry,
H-SS,
VPA
Poetry,
ELA/Writing,
Science
Poetry,
ELA/Vocabulary,
ELA/Writing,
VPA

Title Author Summary
Harlem
Honey, I Love and
Other Poems * +
If I Were in Charge of the World and Other
Worries: Poems for
Children and Their
Parents
In Daddy’s Arms I
Am Tall: African
Americans
Celebrating Fathers
Iron Horses
Knock at a Star: A
Child’s Introduction to
Poetry +
Walter Dean Myers
Eloise Greenfield
Judith Viorst
Javaka Steptoe
(illustrator)
Verla Kay
X. J. Kennedy,
Dorothy Kennedy
This poetry book reveals the richness and diversity of the African
American experience through verses filled with hope and "colors loud enough to be heard." It is illustrated by the author's son.
This delightful collection of rhythmic poems is about things the poet loves and includes a powerful poem about Harriet Tubman. Most of the poems are written from a child's point of view, with illustrations depicting
African Americans. This book is useful to inspire students to write their own poetry.
From a young person's perspective, 41 poems about ordinary, everyday things are presented. Grouped under such headings as "Cats and Other
People," "Thanks and No Thanks," and "Wicked Thoughts," the rhymes turn secrets, worries, wishes, jealousy, envy, fairytales and bullies into objects of amusement. The poems are embellished by detailed pen-andink illustrations.
This collection of poetry by African American writers is presented as a tribute to the influence African American fathers have on their children and grandchildren. The book features images created from torn paper, cutpaper with pastel, applique, collage, and a variety of found objects, including coins, insects, floorboards, seashells, and a real fish dipped in paint. Bits of information on the contributing poets are appended.
Simple but strong rhyming text is used to tell the story of the race to build the transcontinental railroad in the mid-1800s. For example, "Thumping, bumping, Ties and rails. Clanging banging, Spikes and nails." The illustrations, done in scratchboard and watercolors, blend with the text perfectly. California author and setting.
This book is an appealing collection of American and English poetry. The revised edition is one of the best introductions to poetry available for children.
Light in the Attic, A
* +
Lucky Thing, A
Maples in the Mist:
Children’s Poems from the Tang Dynasty * +
My Very First Mother
Goose
Shel Silverstein
Alice Schertle
Minfong Ho
Iona Opie (editor)
This second collection of Silverstein's irreverent verse features an entertaining cast that includes Backward Bill, Sour Face Ann, the Quick-
Digesting Gink, a Gooloo bird, and the Meehoo with an Exactlywatt. The text is accompanied by humorous pen-and-ink drawings.
Thirteen poems, rhyming and free verse, celebrate the sounds, smells, and movements of natural life on a farm. The poems are accompanied by warm and whimsical watercolor paintings. California author.
Translations of poems from 14 Tang dynasty poets (A.D. 618-907) are featured in this volume of cultural treasures. The blend of art and words makes this book exceptional for classroom use.
In this oversized book, more than 60 nursery rhymes are presented with warmth and humor. The illustrations are filled with Wells' familiar book characters that perfectly evoke, and add to the message of, the nursery rhyme. For all ages.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Poetry,
H-SS
Poetry,
ELA/Writing,
H-SS
Humor,
Poetry,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Includes Non-
Fiction
Poetry
Poetry,
ELA/Writing,
H-SS
Poetry,
ELA/Writing
Humor,
Poetry,
ELA/Writing
Poetry
Poetry,
ELA/Writing
Fiction

Title
New Kid on the Block
+
Author
Jack Prelutsky
Summary
This group of more than 100 humorous poems for young people varies in subject and includes jellyfish stew and a wolf at the laundromat. Lively pen-and-ink sketches illustrate the zany poems.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Humor,
Poetry,
ELA/Writing,
ELA/Vocabulary
Noah’s Ark *
Nobody Owns the
Sky: The Story of
“Brave Bessie”
Coleman
Old Elm Speaks: Tree
Poems * +
Jerry Pinkney
Reeve Lindbergh
Kristine O’Connell
George
Outside, Inside Poems Arnold Adoff
Pushing Up the Sky:
Seven Native Plays for Children
Quotations for Kids +
Random House Book of Poetry for Children,
The * +
Joseph Bruchac
J. A. Senn
(compiler)
Jack Prelutsky
(selector)
Retells the biblical story of the great flood and how Noah and his family faithfully responded to God's call to save life on the Earth. Spectacular pencil-and-watercolor illustrations bring detail of the crowds of animals and of the drowned Earth.
This inspirational story, told in rhyme, is about the first African American woman aviator, Bessie Coleman. She began to dream of flying as a child in the cotton fields of Texas and, despite many obstacles, never lost sight of her goal. The book could be useful in lessons about women's studies and African American history.
Original tree poems full of imagery and description are complemented by rich, warm oil painting illustrations. This volume forgoes humor to focus on poetry, including free verse, rhyme, and haiku. California author.
These poems are about such experiences as standing in baseball shoes or expressing one's thoughts and feelings about being young and growing.
The drawings are in black-and-white.
This collection of seven Native American plays is adapted from different traditional tales and is filled with heroes and tricksters, comedy and drama. The plays are suitable for elementary audiences.
This collection acquaints readers with over 2,000 quotations selected specifically with young people in mind. The quotations were selected from a wide range of sources, including children's literature, the Bible, songs, historical documents, advertising slogans, poems, folklore, speeches, interviews, and biographical works. Entries are easy to access because they are alphabetically arranged within the topics and are also indexed by subject and source. Cartoonlike illustrations add to the fun of this unusual book.
This volume of poetry contains a poem for every occasion, interest level, and teaching unit in the elementary school curriculum. The poems are arranged by theme, and each theme is introduced by an original Prelutsky poem. The poetry is by both American and English poets.
Sector 7 * David Wiesner
A young boy's field trip to the Empire State Building turns surreal when fog envelops the observation deck and a friendly cloud assumes the role of tour guide. The pair's wordless adventure leads to Sector 7, the Cloud
Dispatch Center, where the mischievous twosome meddle with cloud assignments and designs. Watercolors of varying size and placement enhance the mood of the story.
Poetry,
ELA/Writing,
Science
Poetry,
ELA/Writing
Drama,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Poetry;
ELA/Vocabulary,
H-SS,
Science,
VPA
Science
Non-Fiction
Biography,
H-SS
ELA/Writing

Sierra +
Title
Sing a Song of
Popcorn: Every
Child’s Book of
Poems
Suitcase of Seaweed,
A +
This Land is Your
Land *
Tuesday *
Author
Diane Siebert
Beatrice Schenk de
Regniers (editor)
Janet Wong
Woody Guthrie
David Wiesner
Summary
The majesty of California's Sierra Nevada is introduced through the voice of one mountain speaking of the beauty and timelessness of the range and its inhabitants. The reverential tone of the verse is well supported by oneand-a-half page acrylic paintings of varying perspectives and compositions of the mountainous region.
This wide selection of children's poetry includes old favorites, limericks, humorous verse, and poems from many cultures. Each section of poems is illustrated by a different Caldecott artist. Biographical notes on the nine illustrators are appended. The work is indexed by title, first line, and author.
This collection portrays the diversity of the author's Korean, Chinese, and
American background through her poetry. Free and rhymed verse about family, being Asian, and general life experiences are divided into sections and prefaced by brief family histories. California author.
The words of one of America's most popular folk songs are enhanced by colorful folk-art illustrations of Americans and their land, past and present. A wealth of United States cultural and social history are packed into each page. Also includes Woody Guthrie scrapbook, maps, the musical score of the song, and a tribute to Woody Guthrie, written by Pete
Seeger.
This nearly wordless picture book shows lily pads and frogs rising from a pond on a Tuesday evening. The frogs sail around town on the lily pads until they fall to the ground at sunrise and the adventure comes to an end.
Large, detailed watercolors in rich purples, blues, and greens draw readers into this fantastic world of frog flight.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Poetry,
ELA/Writing,
H-SS,
Science
Poetry,
ELA/Writing
Poetry,
ELA/Writing
Folklore,
Poetry;
H-SS,
VPA
Fantasy

If * +
Title
Sachiko Means
Happiness *
Virgie Goes to School
With Us Boys
Yo! Yes! *
Z was Zapped: A Play in Twenty-Six Acts
Author
Sarah Perry
Kimiko Sakai
Elizabeth
Fitzgerald Howard
Chris Raschka
Chris Van Allsburg
Summary
This deceptively simple text with imaginative illustrations contemplates such possibilities as "If music could be held” .and more profound thoughts, such as "If ugly were beautiful” Young children can enjoy this book on an imaginative level; older children may enjoy it on a philosophical level.
A Japanese girl is frustrated when she helps take care of her grandmother, who has Alzheimer's disease. Sachiko expresses honest feelings of frustration and anger as she sees the changes that affect her grandmother.
Soft pastel drawings are accented with Japanese banners.
Virgie yearns to read just like her brothers. But they have to walk seven miles each Monday morning and stay all week at the Quaker school.
Virgie convinces her family that it is important that she also learn to read and write. As Virgie is made welcome by the teachers, her joy abounds, and she vows to read every book in the school.
Two boys, one African American and one Caucasian, meet as strangers on a city street, strike up a conversation, and form a special friendship. Told in just 19 words, this story features simple, cartoonlike illustrations in full color.
Twenty-six letters that encounter zany mishaps are portrayed as puzzles.
Rich vocabulary extends the fun in this whimsical story featuring dramatic black-and-white illustrations. This selection can be used for prediction exercises.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
ELA/Writing,
VPA
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS,
ELA/Vocabulary
VPA
Drama,
ELA/Vocabulary,
VPA

Title
Anansi the Spider: A
Tale from the Ashanti
Clara and the
Bookwagon
Raisel’s Riddle
Author
Gerald McDermott
(retold)
Nancy Smiler
Levinson
Erica Silverman
Summary
In this traditional tale from West Africa, the spider Anansi sets out on a long journey. Threatened by Fish and Falcon, he is saved from terrible fates by his sons. But which of his six sons should he reward? The solution to his predicament is also an explanation for how the moon was placed in the sky.
Clara, a young farm girl, borrows her first library book from a traveling book wagon. Her world is transformed as she explores the limitless possibilities of reading. Her dream of learning about life beyond her rural
1905 Maryland home is fulfilled. California author.
This Jewish holiday-themed version of the Cinderella story features an independent-thinking heroine and places emphasis on wisdom and virtue rather than on outward appearances. Raisel is portrayed as a scholar who prudently uses the wishes granted her. Instead of passing the traditional glass slipper test, she turns the tables and challenges the "prince" (rabbi's son) with a riddle! Large page-and-a-half illustrations vary in points-ofview, supporting this book's nontraditional telling of a familiar fairy tale.
California author.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Folklore,
ELA/Vocabulary
Historical Fiction,
H-SS,
Literacy/Motivation
Folklore,
ELA/Literary
Elements

Title
Cam Jansen and the
Ghostly Mystery
Color *
Day’s Work, A *
Drinking Gourd: A
Story of the
Underground
Railroad, A
Freedom River
Hill of Fire
Ira Sleeps Over
Author
David A. Adler
Ruth Heller
Eve Bunting
F. N. Monjo
Doreen Rappaport
Thomas Lewis
Bernard Waber
Red-Eyed Tree Frog * Joy Cowley
Shoeshine Girl Clyde Bulla
Summary
Cam witnesses a robbery and uses her intellect and photographic memory to identify the disguised thief and solve the case. This book is part of a good mystery series for beginning readers.
This rhyming concept book shows young readers how artwork gets reproduced from pictures to the printed page. Included are different art media and an explanation of how colors are mixed to create other colors.
Also included are a four-page, acetate printer's proof and a sample finished work. See other books by this California author.
Francisco and his grandfather from Mexico solicit work as gardeners and find themselves picking the wrong plants. Although they are desperate for work, Francisco learns from his grandfather that it is more important to be honest about one's mistakes than it is to make money. This thoughtful story includes strong watercolor illustrations. California author and setting.
Tommy, the son of an Underground Railroad conductor, deliberately misleads the marshal and his posse in order to help his father lead an
African American family to Canada, where they will find their first taste of freedom. This I Can Read selection is set in mid-nineteenth-century
America.
This book tells the true story of John Parker, an ex-slave who became a successful businessman in Ripley, Ohio. This story chronicles just one of many incidents in which Parker helped families to escape from Kentucky, a slave state, across the river to freedom in Ohio. Dramatic collage illustrations use cut and torn papers and photographs combined with watercolors.
Based on an actual eruption of the Paricutin Volcano in Mexico, this short chapter book in an easy-to-read format tells the story of a farmer and his son and how they escaped the fire and smoke.
Excited about an invitation to spend the night at his friend Reggie's house,
Ira must decide whether to take his teddy bear with him. He has never slept without it before, but what would Reggie think? This story of family rivalry and friendship is enhanced by dialogue that is spare and authentic.
Close-up photographs depict the nocturnal adventures of a red-eyed tree frog. Simple text supports the frog's close encounters with predators.
A summer job at her aunt's helps ten-year-old Sarah to become more selfreliant and understanding. California author.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Mystery
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS,
ELA/Literary
Elemenst,
VPA
Realistic Fiction,
Science
Humor
Fiction
Narrative
Nonfiction;
ELA/Vocabulary,
VPA
Science

Title
Smoky Night
Snowshoe Thompson
Nancy Smiler
Levinson
Stringbean’s Trip to the Shining Sea
Wagon Wheels
Author
Eve Bunting
Vera B. Williams
Barbara Brenner
Walter Wick’s Optical
Tricks
Walter Wick
What Do Authors Do? Eileen Christelow
Summary
When the Los Angeles riots break out in the streets of their neighborhood, a young boy and his mother learn the value of getting along with others no matter what their background or ethnicity. California author, illustrator, and setting.
This story is based on an actual incident in the early 1850s. John
Thompson skis across the Sierra Nevada from Placerville to Carson City to deliver the mail - thus starting a new tradition and earning him the name "Snowshoe Thompson." This selection is useful for lessons in
California history. California author and setting.
This scrapbook features postcard and photo replicating reflects those that
Stringbean and his brother Fred mail to their family in Jeloway, Kansas, as they travel west on a cross-country odyssey. The detailed watercolor, marker, and colored-pencil illustrations in folk-art style bring the journey to life in this imaginary and humorous slice of Americana.
The Muldie family, black pioneers, leave the South after the Civil War and travel west to homestead. Mama dies along the way, but the family persists, sustaining themselves through harsh winters and prairie fires.
Later, Father sets off to find better land, leaving the children to join him
- which they do after walking almost 150 miles. The book is based on a true story.
Fifteen optical illusions are created by using photographic trickery. The accompanying text challenges readers to discover the secrets of each visual puzzle. Explanations of each layout are appended, providing everyone the opportunity to "see" the illusions.
Cartoon illustrations inform readers how an author makes a picture book or a chapter book. The book is humorous, yet very informative. This selection is useful for teaching writing.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
ELA/Writing,
Science
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Science
ELA/Writing

Angel Child, Dragon
Child *
Book *
Title
Arrow to the Sun: A
Pueblo Indian Tale
Aunt Clara Brown:
Official Pioneer
Chang’s Paper Pony
Cockroach Cooties
Dave at Night +
Farolitas of Christmas,
The
Fly Away Home
Author
Michele Maria
Surat
Gerald McDermott
Linda Lowery
George Ella Brown
Eleanor B. Coerr
Laurence Yep
Gail Carson Levine
Rudolfo A. Anaya
Eve Bunting
Summary
Ut, a Vietnamese girl attending school in the United States, is lonely for her mother, who remains in Vietnam. Then she makes a new friend, who presents her with a wonderful gift. Soft watercolor illustrations support this tender story.
A Pueblo Indian boy is the son of the Sun God and wishes to meet his father. He is shaped into an arrow and shot toward the Sun. He meets several tests while on his quest and then returns to Earth to teach man of the Sun's spirit. The vibrant artwork holds great appeal for all ages. This selection is also available in Spanish.
Former slave Clara Brown bought her freedom in 1859 and traveled to
Colorado in search of the daughter who had been sold away from her years before. Driven by a desire to find her child and a passion to help others, Clara used her newfound wealth to help other freed slaves start over.
Celebrating the pleasures of reading, the author uses the quiet metaphors of a tree, a door, a farm, and other objects in poetic text to show the magic of a book. Softly blurred watercolors by Peter Catalanotto support and highlight the text. This selection is useful for English–language arts instruction in metaphors and figurative language.
During the California Gold Rush, Chang wanted a pony, but couldn't afford one until a friend found a solution. An author's note is appended, detailing historical background. The story has a connection to fourthgrade history/social science.
Two contemporary Chinese brothers living in the Chinatown section of
San Francisco discover that the key to dealing with the school bully,
"Arnie-zilla," is to frighten him with Hercules, the pet cockroach. In the end, ground-up crickets in chocolate chip cookies and empathy for Arnie's difficult home situation bring about friendship for the three characters.
California author and setting.
This story is set in New York in 1926. Dave, a Jewish orphan, is sent to the Hebrew Home for Boys, where he is treated cruelly. He sneaks out at night and finds the world of the Harlem Renaissance filled with music and culture. This selection depicts abusive situations.
Pictures richly illustrate a young girl's perseverance as she struggles to create their usual Christmas traditions when her grandfather falls ill.
A homeless boy who lives in an airport with his father, moving from terminal to terminal and trying not to be noticed, is given hope when he sees a trapped bird find its freedom. California author.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Legend,
H-SS,
ELA/Vocabulary,
VPA
ELA/Vocabulary,
ELA/Writing,
Literacy/Motivation
Historical Fiction
Realistic Fiction
Historical Fiction,
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Biography,
H-SS

Liar, Liar, Pants on
Fire
Title
Gloria’s Way
Ann Cameron
Glorious Flight Across the Channel with
Louis Bleriot, The *
Martin Provensen,
Alice Provensen
Good Luck, Mrs. K!
How Many Days to
America?
How My Parents
Learned to Eat
Jazz Fly
King Long Shanks
Knots on a Counting
Rope *
Like Jake and Me
Author
Louise Borden
Eve Bunting
Ina R. Friedman
Matthew Gollub
Jane Yolen
John Archambault,
Bill Martin, Jr.
Gordon Korman
Mavis Jukes
Summary
Gloria has plenty on her mind, from the importance of knowing where she stands with her dad, to the ups and downs of friendship.
A fascination with flying machines leads Louis Bleriot to design a plane that crosses the English Channel in 37 minutes in the 1900s. This book provides a treasure of information, well laid out and perfectly illustrated.
Use with FLY, A BRIEF HISTORY OF FLIGHT by Barry Moser.
All the students in third grade are affected when their beloved teacher,
Mrs. Kempczinski, is hospitalized with cancer. This lovely, uplifting story is a tribute to caring teachers and resilient children.
Forced to leave everything behind when they escape to America, a
Caribbean family suffers many days of hardship, sickness, hunger, and thirst before safely arriving on Thanksgiving Day. This very meaningful story focuses on Thanksgiving Day as a holiday for celebrating freedom, faith, and courage. California author.
The child of an American sailor father and a Japanese mother explains why they sometimes use chopsticks and sometimes use a fork and knife to eat. Humor and a touch of insight into how people differ and how their daily habits are the same are found in this book.
Seeking directions to town, a fly picks up the rhythm of the answers he gets from a frog, a hog, a donkey, and a dog and then uses these sounds to jazz up his band's music. An accompanying music compact disc is included. California author.
This version of Hans Christian Andersen's THE EMPEROR'S NEW
CLOTHES features a frog as the egocentric king in a "nice shade of green" and with "very good legs." Two conniving tailors dazzle King
Long Shanks with poetic descriptions of their invisible cloth and the King participates in the Summer Parade in the buff. The sly humor of the text is matched by the detailed, cartoonlike illustrations done in watercolors, pencil, and pen-and-ink.
Each time Grandfather tells his blind grandson a story about the boy's birth and his accomplishments, Grandfather adds a knot on a counting rope. The little boy learns to have no fear of the darkness and to see with his heart and know that his grandfather will love him forever. The text underscores the power of storytelling.
Zoe is in third grade, and she has a very active imagination. She thinks that she has to make things up to be interesting. Pretty soon, her classmates don't believe anything she says—even when it is the truth. This tale is a modern spin on the story about the boy who cried "wolf" too many times.
Alex wants to help his stepfather, Jake, but Jake always puts him off because he thinks that Alex isn't strong enough or might hurt himself.
However, when Alex finds a wolf spider on Jake's neck, it is Alex who is calm and helps the fearful Jake get rid of the spider. This incident brings them together in a warm and positive way. California author.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Short Story
Historical Fiction,
H-SS,
Science
Realistic Fiction
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
H-SS
Fantasy,
Humor,
VPA
Fairytale,
Folklore,
ELA/Literary
Elements
H-SS
Humor,
ELA/Literary
Elements,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction

Title
Molly’s Pilgrim
Night Has Ears
Nine Candles
Nine for California
One Yellow Daffodil:
A Hanukkah Story
Owen Foote,
Frontiersman
Paul Goble Gallery:
Three Native
American Stories
Piggybook *
Author
Barbara Cohen
Ashley Bryan
(editor)
Maria Testa
Sonia Levitin
David A. Adler
Stephanie Green
Paul Goble
Anthony Browne
Summary
Molly's assignment is to make a pilgrim doll for the class Thanksgiving display. Her mother helps, but doesn't understand the American term
"pilgrim." Much to Molly's embarrassment, her mother dresses the doll as she dressed before leaving Russia to seek religious freedom.
This collection features 26 proverbs, some serious and some humorous, from a variety of African tribes. Bright illustrations evoke the details of each proverb.
Raymond's mother "made a mistake" and "was wrong to take that money," but he still loves her and looks forward to their weekly visits at the correctional facility. He nervously hopes that she'll remember his seventh birthday and longs for the day when his cake will have nine candles and his mama will be free to come home. Appended author's note discusses how to be supportive of young people whose parents are incarcerated.
California illustrator.
Amanda travels by stagecoach from Missouri to California with her four siblings and mother to join her father during the Gold Rush. Maps of the journey are in the end papers. This selection is useful for lessons in
California history in fourth grade. California author and setting.
A florist has not celebrated Hanukkah since he was a boy in Poland, but two children help him rediscover the joys of the holiday.
Wearing his coonskin cap, carrying his book about animal tracks, and armed with a jar of red pepper flakes in case he meets a bear or a mountain lion, Owen feels like a pioneer when he goes into the woods with his best friend, Joseph. But there are other kinds of varmints—two big kids who have nothing better to do than trash a treehouse fort. One of several books in the series about Owen Foote
Brought together in one volume are three previously published legends by
Paul Goble. HER SEVEN BROTHERS, THE GIFT OF THE SACRED
DOG, and THE GIRL WHO LOVED WILD HORSES all concern young people who leave their homes and return something important to their people about the natural world. The illustrations are stylized renditions that evoke the Native American culture. Each story is also published separately.
The Piggotts appear to be just a normal family; however, when Mrs.
Piggott leaves one day, her demanding husband and children find out just how much she did for them. Soon the house looks like a pigsty, and they are reduced to rooting around for scraps - until Mrs. Piggott returns to a very contrite and helpful family. The illustrations are realistic but droll and will bring chuckles to every reader.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Folklore,
Humor,
ELA/Vocabulary
H-SS
Humor,
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Humor,
H-SS
Legend,
H-SS
Fantasy,
Fiction,
Humor;
ELA/Literary
Elements

Skylark
Sunrise
Title
Summer Wheels
Tea With Milk *
Tenth Good Thing
About Barney, The *
Train to Somewhere
Tree of Cranes
Uptown *
Viking Ships at
Wayside School is
Falling Down
What Do Illustrators
Do?
Wilma Mankiller
Author
Patricia
MacLachlan
Eve Bunting
Allen Say
Judith Viorst
Eve Bunting
Allen Say
Bryan Collier
Mary Pope
Osborne
Louis Sachar
Eileen Christelow
Linda Lowery
Summary
In this sequel to SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL, a fire and a serious drought drive Sarah to return to Maine with Caleb and Anna for the summer. The children are afraid that they will never return to their home on the prairie. Anna's journal provides a first-person narrative that speaks of the children's fears and longing. When Father arrives, their return to the farm is emotional and hopeful.
Two young boys wrestle with their sense of injustice when a new kid in the neighborhood does not return a bike belonging to "The Bicycle Man."
This is a charming story of community and its meaning. California author.
After graduating from high school in California, May's family takes her back to prewar Japan so that a matchmaker can find her a suitable husband. Instead, May finds herself a job. This story of immigration and cultural identity includes elegant illustrations. California author/illustrator.
A little boy is saddened by the death of his cat, Barney. Prompted by his mom to think of ten good things to say about Barney at the funeral, he can come up with only nine. Later, his father helps him to discover a tenth good thing about Barney.
The story of the nineteenth-century Orphan Train is told through the voice of a young girl nobody wants. At each stop on the journey, children are selected for adoption until only Marianne and Miss Randolph from the orphan's society remain. The book can be used for fifth-grade history/social science. California author.
The idea of the Christmas holiday is introduced to a young Japanese boy by his American-born mother. Full-page watercolors depict the serenity of a traditional Japanese lifestyle and a quiet mother-son relationship.
Harlem is seen through the eyes of a young boy who lives there. As a tour guide, he shares the warmth and vitality, the brownstones and barbershops, the smells of chicken and waffles, and the sounds of jazz.
Bold, colored text appears in highly detailed pictures of city life.
In this series book, Jack and Annie's magic tree house takes them back in time to a monastery in medieval Ireland, where they try to retrieve a lost book despite being menaced by Viking raiders. A number of books in this series carry children back in time to solve a mystery, survive a challenging situation, or learn about a historical event.
Readers will enjoy slapstick humor of these stories about the out-of-theordinary, 30-stories-high Wayside School. The teacher's trials and the students' antics make for a zany read-aloud book.
Two illustrators go through all the steps involved in creating new picturebook edition of JACK AND THE BEANSTALK. Layout, scale, and point-of-view are among the aspects included and discussed.
During her childhood, Wilma Mankiller and her family were driven by poverty from their farm in Oklahoma. They left the state, but as an adult,
Wilma returned to help improve the lives of rural Cherokees and to lead the fight for Native American civil rights in the 1970s and 1980s.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction,
ELA/Writing
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Fiction
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS,
VPA
Fantasy,
Humor,
H-SS
Humor
Biography,
H-SS,
VPA
ELA/Writing,
VPA
Biography,
H-SS

Title
Alison’s Zinnia *
All Joseph Wanted
Andy and the Lion
Author
Airmail to the Moon Tom Birdseye
Alice Ramsey’s Grand
Adventure
Don Brown
Anita Lobel
Ruth Yaffe Radin
James Daugherty
Author: A True Story
*
Helen Lester
Bad Case of Stripes, A
*
David Shannon
Band of Angels: A
Story Inspired by the
Jubilee Singers
Deborah
Hopkinson
Summary
Finding nothing from the Tooth Fairy, an angry Ora Mae accuses her family of stealing her tooth. Colorful scratchboard illustrations match the funny colloquial language and setting. n 1909 Alice Ramsey drove her Maxwell automobile from New York to
San Francisco and thus became the first woman to drive coast-to-coast.
This narrative, which can be enjoyed by all ages, shows one woman's determination and character.
A floral journey through the alphabet occurs as Alison acquires an amaryllis for Beryl, who buys a begonia for Crystal, and so on. Colorful illustrations of flowers are presented in this great book for practicing the beginning sounds of nouns and verbs and identifying flowers. This selection is useful for lessons on figurative language and alliteration.
Joseph's mother is illiterate, like many other adults who have recently immigrated to America. She reluctantly learns to read through a library literacy program for adults. This is a good read-aloud story that allows for some open discussion of related issues.
In this classic story based on the story of ANDROCLES AND THE
LION, Andy reads a book about lions, then meets and assists one with a thorn in his paw. When a lion escapes from the circus, Andy saves the day by calming him - the lion remembers how Andy took out the thorn from his paw. Teachers might encourage students to read classic Roman or
Greek stories and write a contemporary story based on them. This book is available in paperback only.
This funny, lighthearted autobiography tells of the successes and disappointments of being an author. Illustrated with Lester's own childlike, comic cartoons, the book shows that even if writing is a struggle, it can still be enjoyable. This selection is useful for lessons in language arts because it describes the roles and contributions of authors and illustrators to print materials.
Camilla Cream loves lima beans but won't eat them because her friends hate them. Her constant concern over what others think of her causes
Camilla to break out in a "bad case of stripes," for which she finally finds the perfect solution. Expressive, surreal illustrations offer varying perspectives in a picture-book format. California author/illustrator.
Ella Sheppard was born a slave, but her freedom was purchased by her father. After the Civil War, she made her way to Fisk School and became the pianist for the Jubilee Singers, whose concert tour introduced spirituals to the world. The large illustrations are rendered in golden tones
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
ELA/Literary
Elements
Poetry,
ELA/Literary
Elements
ELA/Vocabulary
ELA/Writing
Fantasy,
Humor
Historical Fiction,
H-SS,
VPA
Biography,
H-SS
Autobiography,
ELA/Writing

Baseball Saved Us
Bicycle Man
Bird Boy
Blackberries in the
Dark
Brave as a Mountain
Lion
Title
Bone Man: A Native
American Modoc
Tale, The
Boom Town
Borreguita and the
Coyote: A Tale from
Ayutla, Mexico of watercolor and colored pencil.
Author Summary
Ken Mochizuki
Allen Say
Elizabeth Starr Hill
Mavis Jukes
Laura Simms
Sonia Levitin
Verna Aardema
A Japanese American boy learns to play baseball when he and his family are forced to live in an internment camp during World War II. Together, he and his father decide to build a baseball diamond and establish a baseball league in the grim surroundings of the camp. His ability to play the game and resolve to do his best help him after the war is over as well.
This story connects to eighth-grade history/social science.
Sports day at a small mountain school in occupied Japan has Japanese students watching in awe as an African American soldier performs amazing feats on the school principal's bicycle. The solider is urged on by his red-haired buddy, who also interacts warmly with the students. Say's delicate pen-and-ink drawings match the exuberance of the text and are well displayed in picture-book format. California author/illustrator.
Chang, a mute Chinese boy whose father uses cormorants to fish, begins to help his father fish. He is entrusted to raise the cormorant chicks, but is challenged by the continual harassing of neighboring bullies. Illustrations bring the Chinese fishing culture to life for the reader.
Austin visits his grandmother the summer after his grandfather died. All around him are memories of and things that belonged to his grandfather.
Before the end of the visit, he and his grandmother create some new memories to share, and they remember grandfather together. The book is available in paperback only. California author.
Nulwee, a young Modoc boy, must confront and destroy the enormous skeleton creature known as Bone Man to replenish the earth and repopulate his village. Two-page scratchboard illustrations are darkly dramatic and depict authentic Modoc clothing, artifacts, and shelters.
Appended author and artist notes provide background information in support of this rite-of-passage tale. California setting.
After her family arrives in California, where her father intends to search for gold, Amanda decides to start a pie-baking business. Her business is so successful that other business are established in the town. The story includes Amanda's gooseberry pie recipe. California author and setting.
In this classic Native American trickster tale, a clever lamb uses her unique wiles to keep a dim-witted coyote from eating her. Vibrant-hued
Southwestern-style illustrations accompany the text.
Ann Herbert Scott
Spider, a young Shoshone Indian boy, dreads participating in his allschool spelling bee, to which the entire community has been invited.
When his father, grandmother, and brother discover that he is afraid to be up on stage, they all give him advice. But it is in his namesake that Spider discovers his own courage. Watercolor-and-pastel illustrations vividly evoke contemporary reservation life and portray a positive family role model. California author.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction
Folklore,
H-SS
Humor,
H-SS
Folklore,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Fiction

Title Author Summary
Corn is Maize: The
Gift of the Indians
Dear Willie Rudd
Doctor De Soto *
Fables
Fairy’s Mistake
Fighting Ground, The
Flying Solo
From Pictures to
Words: A Book About
Making a Book
Funny Little Woman,
The *
George and Martha
Aliki
Libba Moore Gray
William Steig
Arnold Lobel
Gail Carson Levine
Avi
Ralph Fletcher
Janet Stevens
Arlene Mosel
James Marshall
This factual book relates the story of corn: how it is grown, how it is used, how it is celebrated, and how the Native Americans helped the first white people in America to survive by growing and harvesting it.
Miss Elizabeth remembers the kind and generous Willie Rudd, her family's black servant during her childhood. She writes a letter to Willie
Rudd apologizing for the customs of those days that prevented him from eating with the family and entering the home through the front door. Miss
Elizabeth lovingly finishes the letter, attaches it to a kite, and releases both to the wind and the night. The book is available in paper and prebind.
Doctor De Soto, a mouse dentist who normally does not treat animals that are dangerous to mice, agrees to help a fox with a painful toothache.
When the fox decides to eat the dentist and his wife despite their help, he is "outfoxed" by the mice. Black-line and watercolor drawings detail the humorous elements of this story.
Twenty fables of animals in zany situations with wry morals are illustrated in Lobel's inimitable style. Detailed, colorful drawings support the individual fables.
This retelling of the Perrault tale finds the fairy Ethelinda rewarding one twin sister for good behavior and punishing the other for bad behavior.
However, she discovers that her punishment is more pleasing than her reward.
Set during the Revolutionary War, this realistic novel presents the reality of war as a young boy realizes that the fight for freedom has terrible consequences.
When their substitute teacher fails to show up, the sixth-grade students quickly take charge of their class when nobody in the school seems to notice that they are without a teacher. The events of the day cause each student to come to terms with the earlier death of a classmate and to reflect on the words on the class poster: "Character is how you act when nobody's watching."
In this story the author sits in her studio, surrounded by various animals who urge her to write a story. She selects Rhino, Koala, and Cat to appear in the tale and sets out to render the book. This selection is a fine resource to use with aspiring young authors and illustrators.
A giggly little lady in medieval Japan chases a rolling rice dumpling into a cavern, where she is captured by a fearsome oni who needs a good cook.
Lent's colorful, cartoonlike illustrations add to the humor of the story.
The joys and problems that friendships entail are portrayed in five stories about two good friends, the hippos George and Martha. The author's childlike drawings help to create a joyful sense of the ridiculous, which will appeal both to grown-ups and to young children.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
H-SS,
Science
Historical Fiction,
ELA/Vocabulary
Fantasy,
Humor,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Fable,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Fairy Tale,
Folklore,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Folklore
H-SS
ELA/Writing,
VPA

Am!
Drums
Junebug
Title
Good Luck Gold and
Other Poems * +
Hey World, Here I
Home to Medicine
Mountain
I’ll Meet You at the
Cucumbers
In the Time of the
John Henry: An
American Legend
Author
Janet Wong
Janet Little
Chiori Santiago
Lilian Moore
Kim Siegelson
Ezra Jack Keats
Alice Mead
Summary
This collection of 42 original poems, written from a Chinese-Korean
American child's point of view, explores the experiences of growing up
Asian in America as well as experiences that are universal to childhood.
This selection is useful for discussions about growing up, diversity, prejudice, and self-esteem. California author.
This collection of poems and brief vignettes is presented from the perspective of Kate Bloomfield, a fictitious character. She comments on her life, being Jewish, school, turning cartwheels, and life in general. The lengths of the vignettes make them excellent for teaching comprehension skills and conducting discussions.
This book relates the real-life experiences of the illustrator's Native
American father and uncle, who were sent hundreds of miles from their home in Northern California to attend a government-run boarding school in Southern California. Homesickness, rebellion against their regimented life, and an unwillingness to unlearn their traditional ways lead the boys to hitch an unauthorized train ride home. The illustrations are executed in dark, somber tones that reflect both the harsh conditions at the boarding school and the suspense of the boys' escape to freedom. California author, illustrator, and setting.
Country mouse Adam goes to the city with his friend, Junius. They marvel at the urban sights, sounds, and experiences and learn about themselves in the process. The sequel to this story is DON'T BE AFRAID, AMANDA
(1992). This selection is useful for language arts instruction in writing descriptions.
This is a Gullah tale of mysticism, intrigue, and courage featuring an
African American slave who listens intently to his powerful grandmother's stories and songs from the past and learns from her to beat Ibo rhythms on his goatskin drum. He witnesses his grandmother leading a ship full of Ibo people into the water at Teakettle Creek in order for them to walk back to
Africa and to freedom. The emotional intensity of this legend is elevated by Pinkney's signature scratchboard-on-oil drawings, each covering two pages in rich, dark tones.
John Henry, bigger than life, was born with a hammer in his hand. He did heroic things in his lifetime, but in the final test of his courage and strength, he battled a machine and lost his life. Teachers might want to pursue the theme of human versus machine and the origin of such stories.
The book is available in paperback or prebind.
Because age ten is when boys living in the Auburn Street projects are forced to join gangs, Junebug would rather remain nine years old. Junebug shows great courage in his resistance to gang membership and his devotion to his family.
Fiction
Folklore,
Legend,
Tall Tale;
ELA/Literary
Elements
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Poetry,
ELA/Writing
Poetry,
ELA/Writing
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
ELA/Writing
H-SS

Title
Magic School Bus
Inside the Human
Body, The
Marianthe’s Story:
Painted Words,
Spoken Memories *
Math Curse
Meanwhile *
Nim and the War
Effort
Aliki
Author
Joanna Cole
Jon Scieszka
Jules Feiffer
Minty: A Story of
Young Harriet
Tubman
Alan Schroeder
Music of the
Dolphins, The +
Karen Hesse
My Name is Georgia:
A Portrait *
Jeanette Winter
Milly Lee
Summary
Miss Frizzle takes her students on the Magic School Bus to explore the wonders of the human body. Colorful, imaginative illustrations and a text that delivers a lot of information in a comic book style draw readers into the subject. Look for other Magic School Bus titles that make learning fun. Miss Frizzle's outfits "speak a lot" about the adventures of the subject of the Magic School Bus ride.
Readers become acquainted with Marianthe's story in two ways.
PAINTED WORDS tells what happens when she comes to school in a new country, not knowing the language, but paints pictures to tell her new classmates about herself. Turn the book upside down and you have
SPOKEN MEMORIES, in which Marianthe tells about her life before she came to the new country. Colorful paintings by the author complement the story. This is a good book for classes when a new student arrives, especially one without English language skills.
This book looks at life through the eyes of an obsessed student who develops extreme math anxiety when her teacher encourages the class to
"think of almost everything as a math problem." The complexity of word problems is taken to new heights as totally irrelevant non-mathematical factors are introduced and the narrator's world spins out of control. The illustrations feature oversized drawings with collage.
When Raymond writes the word "Meanwhile . . ." on his wall with a red marker, he comes face-to-face with pirates, a Western posse, and
Martians. Feiffer uses a watercolor, comic-strip style for the action-filled illustrations.
This selection introduces African American Underground Railroad leader
Harriet Tubman, offering a fictionalized account of her childhood on a
Maryland plantation. Human rights violations against slaves are depicted in powerful text and artwork in pencil, colored pencil, and watercolors.
California author.
Diary entries recount the rehabilitation process experienced by Mila, a girl raised by a family of dolphins, after her parents die at sea. The development of language is contrasted with the restrictions of living on land that Mila soon experiences. She longs again to be free.
The life of Georgia O'Keefe, the famous painter who drew much of her inspiration from nature, is presented in brief text and illustrations in deep, muted colors. Bibliographical references are included.
Nim, a little Chinese American girl growing up in San Francisco's
Chinatown during World War II, collects newspapers to help the war effort. Her rival in this business is Garland Stephenson, who claims that since this is a war effort, only Americans can collect newspapers. Nim sets out to prove to Garland that she is an American - just like him! But
Nim must come to terms with her grandfather, who lives by the old ways.
The story is based on an experience in the author's life. California author and setting.
Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS,
VPA
Humor,
Mathematics
Fantasy,
ELA/Vocabulary
Biography,
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Fantasy,
ELA/Writing,
Science
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Non-Fiction
Fantasy,
Humor,
Science
Biography,
VPA

Title Author Summary
Old Jake’s Skirts
Poems for Children
Nowhere Near Old
Enough to Vote
Cynthia Anne Scott
Peppe the Lamplighter Alisa Bartone
Pink and Say +
Post Card Passages
Read for Me, Mama
Sadako
Sister Anne’s Hands *
Patricia Polacco
Carl Sandburg
Susan Joyce
Vashanti Rahaman
Eleanor B. Coerr
Marybeth
Lorbiecki
Old Jake, the reclusive bachelor farmer, has his life changed forever when he finds a trunkful of colorful calico skirts and discovers their practical and psychological value. Folksy, expressive oil paintings include humorous details and illustrate Jake's transformation from loner to semisocial man-about-town. Authentic country dialect makes this a fun readaloud choice.
Peppe, an Italian immigrant boy, toils as a lamplighter when his father becomes too ill to work. The Caldecott Honor illustrations glow with light and dark images and evoke the streets of New York's Little Italy during the nineteenth century.
Racism and prejudice are set aside when Say Curtis remembers his meeting with Pinkus Aylee, a black solider, during the Civil War. While recovering from battle wounds, Pink teaches Say to read. The two are captured by Southern troops, and only one survives to pass down this story of friendship and caring.
This collection acquaints young readers with previously unpublished poetry by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. The poems feature everyday objects and parts of the body and are made accessible and stimulating through the comic pen-and-ink sketches that distort and shape the words into the objects being described.
Young Susan receives postcards from all over the world from her Great-
Aunt Gladys and dreams of the day when she will be able to travel the globe. Each page is a new postcard from "Aunt Glad" and is illustrated with photo collages and pastels of the scenery. In the last postcard, an adult Susan tells Aunt Glad that she is off to see the world! This book is a fine enrichment selection for geography and the writing process.
The local librarian lets Joseph take two books at a time, one for him to read, and one for someone to read to him. The problem is that his mom cannot read. She finally faces that reality and seeks help to learn to read.
This warm, compassionate story will show young readers that some adults share their struggle to learn to read.
Hospitalized with the dreaded atom bomb disease, leukemia, a child in
Hiroshima races against time to fold one thousand paper cranes to verify the legend that by doing so a sick person will become healthy. There are two publications of this story: this picture book illustrated version by Ed
Young, and the original early chapter book.
Sister Anne, an African American, is a new second-grade teacher who brings fun and spirit to the classroom. A hateful note causes one of her young students to come to terms with prejudice and the pain that such ignorance can cause. Realistic paintings set the tone for the 1960s time period and support the text.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Humor,
ELA/Vocabulary
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Poetry,
ELA/Writing
Historical Fiction,
ELA/Writing,
H-SS
Literacy/Motivation
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
H-SS

Skirt
Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly
Stupid Tales
The
Title
So Far from the Sea
Spinky Sulks
Stone Fox
Stories Julian Tell,
Story, a Story: An
African Tale, A *
Studel Stories +
Author
Gary Soto
Eve Bunting
William Steig
Jon Scieszka
John Reynolds
Gardiner
Ann Cameron
Gail E. Haley
Joanne Rocklin
Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe *
Vera B. Williams
Fiction
Summary
This early chapter book portrays a contemporary Latino family with ties to the traditions of Mexico. Fourth-grader Miata is entrusted with her mother's folklorico skirt to wear in her upcoming recital, only to leave it behind on the school bus. Detailed pencil sketches complement the telling of Miata scheming to retrieve the skirt. California author.
When seven-year-old Laura and her family visit Grandfather's grave at the
Manzanar War Relocation Center, the Japanese American child leaves behind a special symbol about belonging and caring. California author and setting.
Bad boy Spinky's family tries everything they can think of to cajole him out of his major sulk. The extremes they go to emphasize the absurdity of his behavior, sending a not-so-subtle message to readers. Spinky manages to save face (and his self-respect) by pulling himself out of his funk and showing his family that he loves them. Pen-and-ink watercolors enhance the telling in this picture book.
These ten fractured fairy tales are designed to entertain readers whose familiarity with original folklore enables them to appreciate the humor.
Text and artwork are equally irreverent in relating the fate of the Stinky
Cheese Man (reminiscent of the more traditional Gingerbread Boy) or the demise of the whiney Little Red Hen, who intrudes on other stories throughout the book.
In order to save his grandfather's Wyoming farm, Little Willy enters the
National Dog Sled Races hoping to win the money to pay her back taxes.
His formidable opponent is Stone Fox, who has never lost a race. The courageous Little Willy and his gallant dog, Searchlight, give the race their best try. California author.
Julian can lead his young brother Huey into a pack of trouble in a flick of an eye. Relationships with their father are central in the six stand-alone stories.
Anansi, the famed African trickster, makes a bargain with the Sky God and gains all the stories in the world, thus explaining how "spider stories" came to be. Woodcut illustrations highlight this tale.
For seven generations a family has baked apple strudel to comfort and nourish its members. Readers enjoy the warm vignettes that span 100 years. Recipes and the author's family tree are included.
This book, designed as a journal, tells of a young girl who records the events of a three-day camping trip in a red canoe with her mother, her
Aunt Rosie, and her cousin. Pencil-and-watercolor illustrations are done in a childlike style. This book can be used effectively as a model for a travel journal. Helpful camping information is included.
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
H-SS
Fiction
Fairy Tale,
Humor,
ELA/Writing,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Humor,
Realistic Fiction
Folklore,
H-SS,
ELA/Writing,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
ELA/Writing,
Science
Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections

Tornado
Title
When the Soldiers
Were Gone
Where Are You
Going, Manyoni? *
Whipping Boy
Wild Boy
Author
Betsy Cromer
Byars
Wednesday Surprise,
The *
Eve Bunting
Vera W. Propp
Catherine Stock
Sid Fleischman
Mardicai Gerstein
Summary
Waiting out a tornado in a storm cellar becomes a time to share stories of a dog that was blown into a farmhand's life. In each chapter the farmhand tells one story about Tornado the dog and his amazing feats.
A young girl and her grandmother prepare a surprise gift for her dad's homecoming. Young listeners and readers discover the gift is that grandma is learning to read with coaching by her granddaughter. This tale is a poignant story that will highlight the "gift of reading" and adult illiteracy. California author.
After the German occupation of the Netherlands, Benjamin leaves the
Christian family with whom he had been living and reunites with his real parents, who have returned from hiding. Adjustments aren't always easy when one's sense of identity has become confused.
The life of a young girl from Zimbabwe and the flora and fauna of her native land are depicted as she makes her long trek to school. The twopage watercolors impress upon readers Manyoni's great desire to attend school. An author's note describes the story's setting and some of her own experiences in the country. Definitions of unfamiliar African words and a key to the wildlife in the illustrations are appended.
Because disciplining the heir to the throne was forbidden, young Jemmy was taken from the streets and routinely punished in place of Prince Brat.
When Prince Brat becomes bored, he decides to run away and take his whipping boy with him. Their identities are inadvertently exchanged, and high adventures and antics begin. California author.
Based on the true story of the Wild boy of Aveyron, this book tells about a young boy who, in 1800, was discovered living alone in the woods of
France, captured, and studied by doctors in Paris. Victor never became completely accustomed to French civilization and died in middle age. An interesting comparison to California's Ishi can be made with this true story.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Realistic Fiction,
Science
Realistic Fiction,
ELA/Literary
Elements,
Literacy/Motivation
Historical Fiction
H-SS
H-SS,
Science
Historical Fiction,
Humor,
H-SS
H-SS

Title
All About Sam
Author
Lois Lowry
Amazing Grace * + Mary Hoffman
Amelia and Eleanor
Go for a Ride *
Angels in the Dust
Arthur, for the Very
First Time
Ballot Box Battle
Bandit’s Moon
Pam Munoz Ryan
Margot Theis
Raven
Patricia
MacLachlan
Babushka Baba Yaga Patricia Polacco
Emily Arnold
McCully
Sid Fleischman
Summary
The Krupnik family's dynamics have changed with the addition of a new baby. Anastasia's baby brother, Sam, embraces his early life with humor and exuberance. This is a great read-aloud choice for the intermediate grades.
Grace loves to read stories and act them out. When her class decides to stage a production of PETER PAN, other children say she can't be Peter - because she's a girl and because she's black. However, Ma and Nana say she can do anything she sets her mind on, and Grace proves that they are right. This book is good for discussing self-image and promoting imagination.
This book is loosely based on an actual event from 1933. After dinner at the White House, Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt take a night flight in a twin-motor airplane and then go for a ride in Eleanor's new automobile. This oversized book features graphite illustrations, highlighted with slight washes of color to complement this historical anecdote. It is useful for history lessons about people who make a difference and about the importance of individual action and character.
California author.
". . . Nothing's so bad that it isn't good for something." With those words
Great-Grandma Annie tells her grandchildren about living on a farm during the Dust Bowl era in Oklahoma. Through all the hardships and heartbreak, Annie, her family, and her community persevere.
Ten-year-old Arthur spends the summer with two relatives, his eccentric great-aunt and great-uncle. This experience helps him look at himself and his family differently.
Baba Yaga yearns to be a babushka, and dresses as one to fool the villagers. She thus becomes Victor's babushka and now has a child to love. When the children of the village are told of the many evils of Baba
Yaga, she flees into the forest. But when Baba Yaga saves Victor from the wolves, she becomes the village's beloved Babushka Baba Yaga.
Cordelia learns about courage and the value of an education during the summer, when she exercises Elizabeth Cady Stanton's horses in exchange for a riding lesson. This book offers an account of Cady's attempt to cast her vote in the 1880 election.
Orphan Annyrose sets off to find her brother in the California gold fields, is held hostage by O. O. Mary, and rescued by the notorious outlaw
Joaquin Murietta. Thinking Annyrose is a boy, Murietta spares her life after she promises to teach him to read so that he can find out what is being said about him in newspapers and on posters. California author and setting.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Fiction
Realistic Fiction
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
H-SS
Fiction
Folklore,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS

Dixie +
Title
Barefoot: Escape on the Underground
Railroad
Beatrix Potter
Beat the Story-Drum,
Pum-Pum
Beautiful Warrior:
The Legend of the
Nun’s Kung-Fu
Because of Winn-
Behind the Couch
Black Stallion, The
Boy Called Slow: The
True Story of Sitting
Bull, A
Canada Geese Quilt
Author
Pamela Duncan
Edwards
John Malam
Ashley Bryan
(editor)
Emily Arnold
McCully
Kate DiCamillo
Mordicai Gerstein
Walter Farley
Joseph Bruchac
Natalie Kinsey-
Warnock
Summary
Told from the point of view of the woodland animals, this story is about a runaway slave who escapes his pursuers, partly with the help of the animals.
This beginning-level biography captures the essence of Beatrix Potter's long life and her work as an author and illustrator of children's books beloved the world over. This selection includes archival photographs and drawings rendered by Potter.
Five Nigerian folktales are presented in this collection: "Hen and Frog,"
"Why Bush Cow and Elephant Are Bad Friends," "The Husband Who
Counted the Spoonfuls," "Why Frog and Snake Never Play Together," and "How Animals Got Their Tails." The tales are accompanied by bold woodcuts in ochre, red, and black.
When a bandit wants Mingyi for his bride, she asks him to wait one year and then challenges him to a kung fu contest. She seeks out a Buddhist nun, Wu Mei, to teach her the skills in martial arts that will save her from marriage to the bandit. This suspenseful story has detailed, misty landscapes in watercolor, tempera, and pastel that, along with notes, enhance a story that deals with Chinese philosophy, sex-role models, and determination. Use this selection along with the Mulan stories.
When Opal and her father, the preacher, move to Florida, Opal goes into a Winn-Dixie supermarket and comes out with a dog. With the help of her new pal, Opal makes a variety of new, interesting friends. She spends the summer collecting stories about them and thinking about her absent mother. This is a funny and unforgettable coming-of-age novel.
Readers follow Zachary through a strange world of fantasy after he drops
Wallace, his stuffed pig, behind the couch. Behind the couch is a forest of furniture legs, dust creatures, old toys, and other people looking for possessions in the world "behind the couch."
When the steamer "Drake" is shipwrecked off the Spanish coast, there are only two survivors: young Alec Ramsay and a beautiful spirited horse that Alec calls The Black. Following their rescue, their adventures continue together in America. This Golden Anniversary edition is illustrated with lovely pencil sketches and includes a foreword about the author and the writing of this classic story.
This selection tells of the boyhood of a real Lakota Sioux named Slow growing up in the 1830s. Longing for his permanent, adult name, Slow focuses on becoming a warrior, proves his courage, and earns his new name - Sitting Bull.
In Vermont in the 1940s, ten-year-old Ariel has feelings of displacement because of a new baby coming. Her grandmother encourages Ariel to help her make a quilt for the baby, but after starting the quilt Grandma suffers a stroke, and it is up to Ariel to finish the quilt and help her grandmother work toward recovery.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Biography,
ELA/Vocabulary,
ELA/Writing,
VPA
Folklore
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction,
ELA/Writing,
ELA/Literary
Elements,H-SS
Fantasy
Fiction
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Biography,
H-SS

Faithful Elephants: A
True Story of
Animals, People and
War +
Title
Charlotte’s Web
Class Clown
Doctor Coyote: A
Native American
Aesop’s Fables
El chino (The
Matador)
Elijah’s Angel: A
Story for Chanukah and Christmas
Ella Enchanted +
Escape to the Forest:
Based on a True Story of the Holocaust
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Author
E. B. White
Johanna Hurwitz
John Bierhorst
Allen Say
Michael J. Rosen
Gail Carson Levine
Ruth Yaffe Radin
Yukio Tsuchiya
Roald Dahl
Summary
A bashful and naive young pig named Wilbur becomes friends with a spider named Charlotte, who saves Wilbur's life by convincing the farmer and community members that he is no ordinary porker.
At first, Lucus Cott enjoys his reputation of being the third-grade class clown. His pranks are usually "good intentions gone wrong," and he vows that he will become a perfect student. However, it is with some difficulty that he learns there is a right and wrong way to use his humor.
Shortly after Columbus came to the New World, a ship from Spain crossed the Atlantic carrying a book of Aesop's fables. The fables entered the Aztec world as trickster tales, and the Native American coyote became the chief character and trickster. The pen-and-ink watercolor illustrations evoke the modern Aztec culture, while the fables are from the 1500s.
This book relates, in picture-book format, the inspiring life story of
Arizona-born Billy Wong, the first Chinese bullfighter. The full-page watercolors are sepia-toned prior to Billy's attendance at a bull fight in
Spain. The illustrations become infused with color and action as he transforms himself into "El Chino," the matador! California author/illustrator.
Young Michael worries about how his parents will feel if he brings home a Christmas angel that his friend Elijah has carved for him. He makes a menorah for Elijah and learns that friendship transcends religion. This is a story about Elijah Pierce, a renowned wood-carver.
This fairy tale adaptation presents Ella (Cinderella) with a very unusual problem. A gift from one of her godmothers was obedience, and now
Ella's life is miserable because she must follow every command, even if it is contrary to her wishes. When a young prince appears, Ella hopes that he can help her break the spell that holds her.
A young Jewish girl living in Lida, Poland, at the beginning of World
War II recalls the horrors of life under the Russians and then under the
Nazis. The family flees to join a partisan group whose mission is to save as many Jews as possible.
This touching picture book for older readers conveys with great emotional intensity the unintended consequences of war as Tokyo zookeepers are ordered to "put down" the potentially dangerous animals in the zoo to avoid their escape into the city in the event of a bombing.
When the trained elephants can't be destroyed in traditional ways, the zookeepers are forced to starve them to death even as the animals perform for food. The soft-edged watercolors help to diffuse the impact of the story.
Mr. Fox has to keep one step ahead of the nasty farmers who are obsessed with ridding their farms of the fox family and other burrowing creatures. In the end, Mr. Fox not only survives but also helps the other burrowing creatures live happily ever after.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Fantasy
Humor
Fable,
ELA/Vocabulary,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS,
VPA
Fairy Tale,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Fantasy
Biography,
H-SS
H-SS

Flossie and the Fox *
Gold Cadillac
Grandfather’s Journey
*
Worms
Book
Title
Guess How Much I
Love You *
House of Dies Drear
How To Eat Fried
Jambo Means Hello:
Swahili Alphabet
Jennifer, Hecate,
Macbeth, William
McKinley, and Me,
Elizabeth
Author
Patricia C.
McKissack
(adapted)
Mildred D. Taylor
Allen Say
Sam McBratney
Virginia Hamilton
Thomas Rockwell
Muriel L. Feelings
E. L. Konigsburg
Summary
Flossie has never seen a fox before, and when she meets up with Fox, she doesn't regard him as a frightening creature. Fox is indignant at Flossie's lack of fear, and their southern-style dialogue becomes a humorous tugof-war as Fox tries to prove just who he is. Clever Flossie wins the war of words.
This novel acquaints readers with racism in Mississippi in the 1950s, told through the eyes of Lois, the young African American narrator. Lois and her sister Wilma know nothing of the racial prejudice of the south until their prideful daddy decides to drive them in their flashy new gold
Cadillac to visit relatives. Dramatic sepia paintings depict human rights violations that change the girls' lives.
This book is a powerful tribute to the author's grandfather. Brief text captions, sepia-toned portraits, and muted watercolors depict the grandfather's and author's trips between Japan and the United States and their love of both lands. Useful in lessons about history and family ties, this selection promotes intergenerational appreciation and understanding.
California author/illustrator.
Simple and charming profiles illustrated in watercolors with pen and ink portray the bedtime ritual of Little Nut Brown Hare and Big Nut Brown
Hare as they share the immeasurable love between a parent and child.
When Tom Small and his parents move to a large old house in Ohio, they know that it carries a mysterious history as a station for the Underground
Railroad during the Civil War. They soon learn about are the secrets and dangers left behind by the ghosts of the past. This is the first book of the
Dies Drear Chronicle.
Billy will win $50 if he wins the bet he made that he will eat 15 worms, one per day. This humorous book will gross out squeamish adults, but will delight young readers. This story reflects contemporary language.
This alphabet book presents 24 words and concepts, one to accompany each letter of the Swahili alphabet; a pronunciation guide; and a definition of the word and its cultural implications. Soft sepia and charcoal illustrations evoke the Swahili culture.
Two fifth-grade girls, one of whom is the first black child in a middleincome suburb, play at being apprentice witches.
Journal of Wong
Ming: A Chinese
Miner, The
Laurence Yep
The Chinese immigrant experience in 1852 California is related in diary form through the journal writings of ten-year-old Wong Ming-Chung
(Runt), who leaves the famine and war of China only to find hardship, bitter racism, and death while prospecting for gold on the great "Golden
Mountain." Despite the hostile environment, Runt makes numerous new friendships, overcoming cultural and language differences. California author and setting.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Folklore,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
H-SS
Fiction
Mystery,
H-SS
Humor
Fantasy
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
ELA/Vocabulary,
H-SS

Jumanji
Little Ships: The
Heroic Rescue at
Dunkirk in World
War II
Title
Just Juice
Katie’s Trunk
Knee-High Man and
Other Tales, The
Knights of the
Kitchen Table
Koko’s Kitten
Letter to Mrs.
Roosevelt
Library Card, The
Author
Chris Van Allsburg
Karen Hesse
Ann Warren
Turner
Julius Lester
Jon Scieszka
Francine Patterson
C. Coco De Young
Jerry Spinelli
Louise Borden
Summary
One boring afternoon, Peter and Judy play a strange board game that they find in a park. Fantasy and reality blend together in Van Allsburg's signature black-and-white illustrations as the bizarre game comes to life and the pair's quiet house transforms into an exotic jungle.
Set in Appalachia, nine-year-old Juice realizes that her father's unemployment has endangered her family and decides that she must return to school and learn to read in order to help their chances of surviving, keeping their house - and their dignity. The book contains mature situations.
Katie, a member of a family of Tory sympathizers, is dismayed by the snubs of former friends who side with American rebels. She stubbornly risks her own safety in an attempt to protect her family's home and belongings when neighbors ransack her home. Watercolor illustrations convey the emotion of the story and provide historical detail.
The six delightfully funny stories in this selection deal with animals and their problems; one explains nature, and the last two are concerned with humans' stupidity and insatiable desires.
Three modern-day boys are transported back in time to battle firebreathing dragons and vile-smelling giants in the time of King Arthur.
Short chapters, contemporary and humorous dialogue, and nonstop action are featured in an early chapter-book format. Lane Smith's zany pencil and charcoal illustrations are suitably gross to match the story line. This book is part of The Time Warp Trio series.
This true story is about teaching a female gorilla named Koko how to communicate using the gestures of American Sign Language. Prior to
Koko's twelfth birthday, she asks for a cat as her birthday gift. This story relates the touching relationship that developed between Koko and her kitten, Ball. Available in paperback only.
Eleven-year-old Margo fulfills a class assignment by writing a letter to
Eleanor Roosevelt. She asks for help to save her family's home during the
Great Depression.
This short story collection relates four tales about young people in trouble and the mysterious blue library cards that transform their lives. Mature contemporary situations that include vandalism, homelessness, and hijacking are resolved through the power of books, reading, and the library!
Told in first-person narrative, this story is about a young English girl and her fisherman father who join other civilian vessels crossing the English
Channel in a daring attempt to rescue Allied and British troops trapped by Nazi soldiers at Dunkirk.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Fantasy
Realistic Fiction,
ELA/Vocabulary,
H-SS
H-SS
Folklore,
Humor
Fantasy
Narrative Non-
Fiction,
Science
Historical Fiction,
H-SS,
ELA/Writing
Realistic Fiction,
Short Story
Historical Fiction,
H-SS

Title
Lon Po Po: A Red
Riding Hood Story from China *
Author
Ed Young
Mary on Horseback:
Three Mountain
Stories
Rosemary Wells
McMummy
Betsy Cromer
Byars
Mightiest Heart
Miss Rumphius *
More Than Anything
Else *
Nana Upstairs and
Nana Downstairs
Number the Stars
Owl Moon
Passage to Freedom:
The Sugihara Story +
Lynn Cullen
Barbara Cooney
Marie Bradby
Tomie DePaola
Lois Lowry
Jane Yolen
Ken Mochizuki
Summary
Three young Chinese girls find themselves in a frightening situation as
Lon Po Po, the Granny Wolf, visits their house one night while their mother is off visiting their real grandmother. The scariness of the wolf's deception and the girls' cleverness in dealing with him are revealed through panels of impressionistic watercolor-and-pastel illustrations.
Three poignant vignettes bring to life the true story of Mary
Breckenridge, the founder of the Frontier Nursing Service which, since
1925, has provided medical services to the people of rural Appalachian
Kentucky. A preface and afterword add details about rural Kentucky life in the 1920s, Breckenridge's life, and her contributions.
When Mozie is left to care for a greenhouse of experimental plants, all sorts of wild things begin to happen. With the support of his best friend,
Mozie learns the reward for his perseverance.
Steadfastness, loyalty, and courage emerge as major themes in this retelling of a Welsh legend about Prince Llywelyn and his faithful dog,
Gelert. The illustrations are rich paintings that eloquently capture the love between boy and dog.
Great-Aunt Alice Rumphius promises her grandfather that when she grows up she will live by the sea, visit faraway places, and do something to make the world more beautiful. She accomplishes the first two but is stumped by the third until she becomes the Lupine Lady.
Booker T. Washington toils hard at the saltworks alongside his father and brother each day. With equal determination and hard work he realizes his dream to learn to read. This book presents a powerful literacy statement.
Tommy enjoyed his visits with Grandmother, who lived downstairs, and with Great-Grandmother upstairs. When ninety-four-year-old Nana dies, his family helps Tommy understand that death is part of life's natural process. This warm, comforting story helps children deal with losses.
This is the new edition with retouched artwork.
In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old
Annemarie learns how to be courageous when she helps to shelter her
Jewish friend from the Nazis. Readers will feel the tension and danger as the Danes help their Jewish friends escape to safety.
A little girl and her father go owling through the snow-covered fields and into the dark woods. A quiet mood is depicted through dramatic, moonlit illustrations. The book works best when read one-on-one to convey the closeness between the father and daughter .
Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat stationed in Lithuania in 1940, risks his job, his life, and the safety of his family by issuing visas to as many as 10,000 Jews who would have faced certain death had they not obtained visas. This book can be used with discussions of the Holocaust as well as stories of the Japanese and Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps in the United States.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Folklore,
ELA/Literary
Elements,
H-SS
Biography,
Historical Fiction,
H-SS,
Science
Fantasy,
Humor,
Science
Legend
H-SS,
Science
Realistic Fiction
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
VPA
Biography,
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Biography,
H-SS,
Literacy/Motivation

Poppy +
Sadako and the
Thousand Paper
Cranes
Sam and the Lucky
Money *
Title
Ragtime Tumpie
Red Flower Goes
West
Sable
Silver Balloon
Story of Johnny
Appleseed, The
Summer Reading is
Killing Me!
Avi
Alan Schroeder
Ann Warren
Turner
Karen Hesse
Eleanor B. Coerr
Karen Chinn
Susan Bonners
Aliki
Author
Jon Scieszka
Summary
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
When the deer mice that live in the Gray house want to move to a better location for food and shelter, they must secure permission from a powerful, controlling owl that rules Dimwood Forest. Brave Poppy and her friend Ragweed attempt to defy the owl and strike out on their own.
An adventure of good versus evil ensues.
Tumpie, a young African American girl, dreams of being a dancer as she watches musicians on the streets of St. Louis in the early 1900s. Tumpie grows up to become the famous dancer Josephine Baker. California author.
This story chronicles a family's cross-country trip to California during the
Gold Rush and tells of the red geranium that becomes a symbol of good luck and survival. The family overcomes such hardships as a neardrowning, extreme thirst, and a treacherous crossing of the Sierra
Nevada. Muted one-page paintings capture the events of the trip, while bright hues are reserved for the all-important geranium.
When a stray dog shows up on the front porch of her Vermont farmhouse, Tate Marshall is delighted because she has always wanted a dog. But when Sable, named for her dark, silky fur, starts roaming, the neighbors become irate, and Sable has to go. Tate, however, has her heart set on getting her beloved dog back.
This tale is based on the true story of Sadako Sasaki, who is hospitalized with the "atom bomb disease," leukemia. She races against time to fold
1,000 paper cranes, an act which according to legend, will make her well again.
Sam must decide how to spend his "lucky money" from Chinese New
Year. As he wavers between his choices, one seems just right. This selection is useful in language arts prediction lessons. This thoughtful tale of generosity shows the colorful locals and the festival dragon.
Gregory, who is in fourth grade, releases a helium-filled balloon into the sky with his name and address attached to it. This act leads to an unusual friendship and an exchange of mystery gifts that require research investigations for them to be understood.
Legendary Johnny Appleseed traveled west with a pouch of apple seeds, stopping to befriend and visit Indians and settlers and planting the seeds along the way. Use this book with THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE
APPLE, by Charles Misucci, and encourage students to read about apples and how they grow.
Fred, Sam, and Joe mistakenly put their summer reading list in "The
Book," which magically transports them to other places, other times.
Nonstop literary humor occurs in this early chapter book adventure. The three boys get involved with characters from all the books on their list.
Well-read readers will enjoy being "in the know" and those not familiar with the characters and books may be inspired to read more about them.
Fantasy
Historical Fiction,
H-SS,
VPA
H-SS
Fiction
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction,
ELA/Literary
Elements,
Science
Fantasy,
Humor,
Science Fiction,
ELA/Vocabulary,
Literacy/Motivation
Biography,
H-SS,
Science

Title
Sweet Clara and the
Freedom Quilt
Sword of the Samurai:
Adventure Stories from Japan
Taste of Blackberries,
A
Tchaikovsky
Discovers America
Thank You, Mr.
Falker
Too Many Tamales *
Treehouse Tales
Two Bear Cubs: A
Miwok Legend from
California’s Yosemite
Valley *
Smith
Author
Deborah
Hopkinson
Eric A. Kimmel
Doris Buchanan
Esther Kalman
Patricia Polacco
Gary Soto
Anne Isaacs
Robert D. San
Souci
Summary
Twelve-year-old Clara, a slave in the Big House, has two dreams - being with her mother once again and being free. Careful listening and learning about the Underground Railroad convinces Clara that she can piece a quilt that can actually be a used as a map of the Underground Railroad's route to freedom. Clara escapes but leaves the quilt as a map to guide other slaves to the Underground Railroad.
Eleven short stories are presented about samurai warriors, their way of life, code of conduct, courage, wit, and foolishness. The samurai warrior stories from Japan might be compared for similarities to the King Arthur stories that came from Europe's Middle Ages. Each story can be read in one sitting and gives insight into the ancient cultures of Japan.
This touching novel relates the struggle a young boy faces when he must accept the accidental death of his best friend Jamie. The young narrator suffers not only a sense of loss but also feelings of guilt, because he believes that Jamie's reaction to the fatal bee sting was just another attempt to get attention. This work of realistic fiction is emotionally intense, presenting the subject of death from a young person's perspective. This is an outstanding book for literary studies.
Tchaikovsky visited America in 1891 and kept a detailed diary of his trip.
His observations are woven into the fictional diary of a shy eleven-yearold, Jenny Petroff, who meets the composer during his stay in America.
This book promotes a nice integration of history/social science and music.
Trisha has looked forward to learning to read. But it isn't until she is in fifth grade that she finds a dedicated teacher who helps her to understand and overcome her problem. This powerful literacy story is based on the author's actual experience.
The importance of honesty is shown as four Latino children spend an unforgettable Christmas Eve searching for Maria's mother's diamond wedding ring, lost in the tamale masa (dough). The illustrations feature expressive oil paintings in warm tones that match the festive holiday mood. California author.
The treehouse of three farm children in the 1880s plays an important part in their lives. Each child creates his or her fantastic adventure. California author.
Two bear cubs become stranded on El Capitan rock in Yosemite National
Park. Mother grizzly recruits several other animals to rescue them, but it is the tiny measuring worm who succeeds. Full-page watercolors incorporate symbols, attire, and implements from the Miwok tradition.
Titles for related readings as well as useful Web site addresses are included. California author, illustrator, and setting.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Historical Fiction,
H-SS,
VPA
Short Story,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction,
ELA/Literary
Elements
H-SS,
VPA
Literacy/Motivation
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Folklore,
Legend,
H-SS

Title Author
With a Whoop and a
Holler
Nancy Van Laan
Zora Hurston and the
Chinaberry Tree
William Miller
Summary
This collection presents humorous folktales from three distinct regions of the South: Bayou, Deep South, and Mountains. Along with the stories are rhymes, riddles, superstitions, sayings, and a couple of Uncle Remus and
Jack tales. Each region is introduced prior to the tales representing that section of the South. The watercolor/gouache/pastel/acrylic illustrations extend the vitality and whimsy of the text. Helpful source notes and bibliography are appended.
When her mother dies, nine-year-old Zora climbs up high in a chinaberry tree to reach for the sky and jump toward the sun, as her mother - who inspired her to dream - had taught her. This picture-story book depicts the intimate bond between a young girl and her inspirational mother. The story is useful in language arts lessons about metaphors.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Folklore,
Humor
ELA/Writing,
ELA/Literary
Elements

Title
Aldo Applesauce
Amber Brown Is Not a Crayon
Annie and the Old
One
Bat Boy and His
Violin, The
Bear Called
Paddington, A
Beethoven Lives
Upstairs
Borrowers, The
Author
Johanna Hurwitz
Paula Danziger
Miska Miles
Back in the
Beforetime: Tales of the California Indians
Jane Louise Curry
(adapted)
Badger’s Parting Gifts Susan Varley
Gavin Curtis
Michael Bond
Barbara Nichol
Mary Norton
Summary
Aldo Sossi, Aldo Applesauce, has a tough time adjusting to teasing and the nicknames popular in his new school. His only friend is a girl who wears a false moustache. Readers will want to explore other books by this popular author.
Amber is sad because her best friend, Justin, is moving away. When they stop speaking to each other because of a misunderstanding, Amber is afraid it is too late to recapture their friendship. This book is part of the
Amber Brown series.
Annie's Navaho grandmother, the Old One, has told her family that when the rug on the loom is finished, it will be time for her to return to the earth as all living things do when they are old. Annie cannot bear to think of her grandmother dying, and decides to prevent the completion of the rug.
Annie learns much about living, dying, and accepting the inevitable as this story unfolds.
This collection retells 22 legends from various California Indian tribes.
Coyote, the "trickster" of the animal world, figures prominently in these creation tales detailing the geography, animal life, and people of
California. California author.
Badger does not want his friends to feel sad about his imminent death, but they are overwhelmed by their loss until they start sharing the special moments they have experienced with him and realize that he will always be with them. Pen-and-ink watercolors keep the story's mood hopeful.
Reginald would rather play his violin than baseball. His father is managing the worst team in the Negro Leagues and makes Reginald the bat boy. When his music in the dugout seems to have a positive effect on the team's performance, Reginald's father is very pleased with his son's musical talent.
When Mr. and Mrs. Brown find a small bear at Paddington Station, he becomes one of the family. The delightful adventures of Paddington amaze the Brown household.
The letters exchanged between ten-year-old Christoph and his uncle show how Christoph's feelings for Mr. Beethoven, the eccentric boarder who shares his house, change from anger and embarrassment to compassion and admiration. A music compact disc is available that includes both the story and excerpts from Beethoven's music.
In this classic story from children's literature, a family of little people
"borrow" from the real world until they are discovered.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Realistic Fiction
Realistic Fiction
H-SS
Folklore,
Legend,
H-SS
Fiction
Historical Fiction,
VPA
Fiction
Historical Fiction,
ELA/Writing,
VPA
Fantasy

Bracelet
Bunnicula
By the Great Horn
Spoon
Catwings
Cricket in Times
Square
Crictor
Title
Encounter +
Faith and the Electric
Dogs
Author
Yoshiko Uchida
Deborah Howe and
James Howe
Sid Fleischman
Ursula K. Le Guin
George Selden
Tomi Ungerer
Jane Yolen
Patrick Jennings
Summary
Emi, a Japanese American girl, receives a friendship bracelet from her
Caucasian friend as Emi, her mother, and her older sister are relocated to an internment camp, where they live in a horse stable during World War
II. Watercolor illustrations provide historical detail and poignancy as Emi loses the bracelet and copes with new and frightening surroundings.
California author and setting.
When a little rabbit called Bunnicula enters the Monroe household, vegetables begin turning white, and Chester the cat is convinced that
Bunnicula is a vampire rabbit who sucks the juices out of vegetables. This is the first in a series of rollicking stories about Harold, Chester, and
Bunnicula.
Twelve-year-old Jack Flagg and his butler hide in potato barrels on a ship bound for the California gold fields. The former impeccable butler proves that he is indispensable to the Captain when he captures a thief and saves the ship's cargo—and all before reaching California. The adventures, filled with humor and ingenuity continue after they reach their destination. California author and setting.
Roger, Thelma, James, and Harriet are four city kittens who are born with wings. Their loving mother, concerned for their safety in the urban environment, urges them to move to the country. This is the tale of their many adventures with winged and other creatures in the countryside. Children will enjoy the small size of this book and the charming illustrations. California author.
Chester Cricket unintentionally arrives in New York via picnic basket from Connecticut, and takes up residence in a Times Square newsstand.
This intermediate novel presents the comic and tragic sights, sounds, and experiences of city life.
Madame Bodot teaches school and Crictor, a pet boa, helps her teach the alphabet by twirling himself into the shapes of the individual letters. One day a burglar breaks into the house, and Crictor captures the thief and is awarded a hero's medal.
An imagined encounter between a young Taino boy of San Salvador and
Christopher Columbus and his crew is presented in this book. The young boy describes the strange appearance of the creatures from the "greatsailed canoes" and tries to warn his people against welcoming them. The dramatic acrylic paintings help to convey the consequences of embracing other cultures at the expense of one's own. The author's and illustrator's notes offer historical perspectives. California illustrator.
This tale is told from the point of view of Eddie, the Electric Dog. Faith, a little girl, is unhappy with her new life in Mexico, so she and her faithful dog flee by rocket and find adventures that cause her to have a change of heart. Translations of Spanish phrases appear in the margins.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Fantasy,
Humor
Historical Fiction,
H-SS,
Humor
Fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Fantasy,
H-SS

Four of a Kind
Friendship, The +
From the Mixed-Up
Files of Mrs. Basil E.
Frankweiler +
Ghost Train
Go Fish
Great Turkey Walk,
The +
Hannah
Title
Gooseberry Park
Author
Patti Sherlock
Mildred D. Taylor
E. L. Konigsburg
Paul Yee
Mary Stolz
Cynthia Rylant
Kathleen Karr
Gloria Whelan
Summary
Twelve-year-old Andy wants to drive a team of draft horses in a pulling contest. Rebuffed by his divorced parents and left in the care of his crotchety grandfather, Andy finds that his Percheron horses are a comfort as they teach him how to cope with his situation and help him to discover his own inner strengths. This selection is written in firstperson narrative.
This short novel relates the circumstances of a confrontation between a white storekeeper and an elderly African American in rural Mississippi in the 1930s. Four observers witness the effects that racism and peer pressure have on the tenuous friendship between the two men. The dialogue uses language reflecting the times, and the story climaxes in violence, depicting a violation of human rights. An author's note explains the origin of the story.
Claudia decides to run away to teach her parents a lesson in "Claudia appreciation." She takes her brother along and, together, they hide and live for a week in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. While there,
Claudia discovers a statue so beautiful that she must find out the identity of the artist. Her quest leads her to the statue's former owner, Mrs. Basil
E. Frankweiler.
The daughter of a Chinese laborer who was killed while building the railroad is directed by ghosts to paint a Ghost Train so that dead workers can return to their homeland to rest. Haunting illustrations carry this poignant story of the hardships encountered by migrant laborers.
The story tells of a day in the life of a young African American, Thomas, and his grandfather. Readers follow along as the two read, fish, and play cards while conversing about life and sharing stories from their African ancestors. Watercolor illustrations add detail and convey the loving relationship between grandfather and grandson.
An ice storm separates Stumpy the squirrel from her newborns, but her animal friends come to the rescue in this playful - and at times suspenseful - read-aloud story.
This is a hilarious story about fifteen-year-old Simon, who resolves to walk 1,000 turkeys from Missouri to Denver, Colorado. He may not be too bright, but he figures he can make his fortune by buying bronze turkeys for a quarter apiece and selling them in Denver for $5 each. The story is based in truth - there really were turkey drives in the American
West. It is a great story to read aloud.
Because she is blind, nine-year-old Hannah finds that her world is confined to the family home and weekly visits to church. Set in 1887
Michigan, when the Braille method of reading and writing is new to
America, Hannah's life is profoundly changed by a teacher who boards with her family and convinces them to allow Hannah to attend school and learn Braille.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Realistic Fiction
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Humor,
Mystery,
VPA
Fantasy,
Historical Fiction,
H-SS,
VPA
Scifablecne
Humor,
H-SS,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Historical Fiction,
H-SS

Title
Harriet the Spy
Henry and Beezus
House of Wisdom
Hundred Penny Box,
The +
If a Bus Could Talk:
The Story of Rosa
Parks *
Immigrant Girl:
Becky of Eldridge
Street
In the Year of the
Boar and Jackie
Robinson
Jim Ugly
Author
Louise Fitzhugh
Beverly Cleary
Florence Parry
Heide
Sharon Bill Mathis
Faith Ringgold
Brett Harvey
Bette Bao Lord
Sid Fleischman
Summary
Intensely curious and intelligent, eleven-year-old Harriet M. Welsch aspires to become a writer and begins by keeping a secret notebook of her observations. When her friends discover the notebook, learn about her spying on them, and read her painfully blunt comments, they decide to teach Harriet a lesson. Harriet talks to a psychiatrist, who convinces her to channel her abilities along more constructive lines.
Henry Huggins is determined to buy a shiny red bike to outdo that showoff Scooter McCarthy. But selling bubble gum to the kids at school to earn money only brings Henry trouble. His good friend Beezus and her little sister, Ramona, are determined to help Henry earn the money for the bicycle. California author.
Ishaq traveled the known world from ancient Baghdad to bring precious books and manuscripts to the Caliph and his great library known as the
House of Wisdom. The illustrations evoke the Islamic world by using borders and framed boxes reminiscent of old Islamic books. This selection is an excellent resource for the study of ancient civilizations.
Michael's one-hundred-year-old great-great-aunt Dew lives mostly in the memories of her past, represented by the 100 pennies she keeps in a wooden box. When Michael's mother tries to toss out all of Aunt Dew's old things, including the prized box of pennies, Michael intercedes.
Dramatic, sepia-toned illustrations convey the mood of the story.
The bus's perspective is used to recount the biography of Rosa Parks, the
African American woman and civil rights worker whose refusal to give up her seat on a bus led to a boycott that lasted for more than a year in
Montgomery, Alabama. Teacher support with explanation and background may be needed when using this text. California author/illustrator.
Ten-year-old Becky Moscowitz's family immigrates to New York's
Lower East Side from Russia in 1910. Becky gives a complete picture of her family, their lives in the tenements, and the customs of Russian Jews in the early years of the twentieth century. Black-and-white pencil drawings suggest the harshness of the times. A glossary is included.
Jackie Robinson and baseball help Shirley Temple Wong, a young
Chinese immigrant, assimilate into the American culture. This junior novel is poignant yet outrageously humorous.
It's 1894 in the wild West and twelve-year-old Jake and Jim Ugly, his father's part mongrel, part-wolf dog, travel from the Sierra Nevada to San
Francisco looking for Jake's father. California author and setting.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Realistic Fiction
Fiction
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction,
ELA/Writing
Biography,
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS,
Humor
Historical Fiction,
H-SS

Korean Cinderella
Last Tales of Uncle
Remus
Legend of Jimmy
Spoon
Linnea in Monet’s
Garden
Little House on the
Prairie
Title
John Henry
Lily’s Crossing +
Mailing May *
Maria: A Christmas
Story
Author
Julius Lester
Summary
The story of America's bigger-than-life folk hero John Henry is retold keeping the legendary events of the story the same and adding modern touches to make this story unique. The watercolor illustrations reflect both the strength and gentleness of the mighty man. Use the man-versusmachine theme to trigger students' writing their own tall tales.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Folklore,
Legend, Tall
Tale,
ELA/Writing,
ELA/Literary
Elements,
VPA
Fairy Tale,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Shirley Climo
Julius Lester
Kristiana Gregory
Patricia Reilly Giff
Christina Bjork
Laura Ingalls
Wilder
Michael O. Tunnell
Theodore Taylor
Pear Blossom goes to the village festival in spite of her wicked stepmother. This Korean adaptation provides another cultural version of a popular fairy tale. California author.
This edition of the Brer Rabbit tales retells the final adventures and misadventures of Brer Rabbit and his friends and enemies. Presented in authentic Southern dialect, the tales make great read-aloud choices.
Jimmy Spoon is a young white boy who lived among the Shoshoni
Indians during the early frontier days in Wyoming. This junior novel is based on facts.
During the summer of 1944, Lily stays with her grandmother at
Rockaway Beach while her father fights in the war in Europe. She reluctantly develops a friendship with Albert, a young Hungarian war refugee. Through this friendship Lily learns to see the war and her own world differently.
Monet's paintings and lovely gardens are described by a little girl, Linnea, as she accompanies Mr. Bloom on a tour of the artist's home. The illustrations detail Monet's technique.
In this book, the second in the Little House series, the Ingalls family moves by wagon from Wisconsin to the prairies of the Kansas territory.
After many days of travel, the family finds just the right spot to build their new home. Life on the prairie can be difficult, but the pioneering family meets each hardship with resolve and unity.
In order to get five-year-old Charlotte May Pierstorff to her grandmother's house 75 miles away, May's father cleverly uses new mail regulations to his advantage and mails May via railway. Vivid watercolors add detail and authenticity to replications of photographs, postage stamps, a "deliver to" tag, and a train schedule. An author's note adds historical detail to this true story of 1914.
As Maria's wealthy neighbors talk excitedly about their families' fancy floats for the annual Christmas parade, she boldly obligates her Latino family's tiny vegetable farm to produce a parade float also. The resulting modest Nativity scene, built on a farm wagon and pulled by other Latinos, changes the community tradition from then on. California author and setting.
Folklore
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
Science,
VPA
Autobiography,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
H-SS

Coins *
Title
Mick Harte Was Here
+
Missing ‘Gator of
Gumbo Limbo: An
Ecological Mystery
Mrs. Frisby and the
Rats of NIMH
Mufaro’s Beautiful
Daughters: An
African Tale +
My Prairie Christmas
My Rows and Piles of
Only Passing
Through: The Story of
Sojourner Truth +
On My Honor
The Paper Crane *
Barbara Park
Tololwa Mollel
Anne Rockwell
Marion Dane
Bauer
Author
Jean Craighead
George
Robert C. O’Brien
John Steptoe
Brett Harvey
Molly Bang
Summary
Thirteen-year-old Phoebe recalls the life and personality of her younger brother Mick and his death in a bicycle accident. This selection is a great discussion starter and read-aloud book that is useful for lessons on narrative writing involving personal experiences with death or with siblings.
Dajun, the resident alligator of Gumbo Limbo in the Everglades, is missing and residents of the nearby condos want him gone for good.
However, without Dajun, the ecology of the swamp is deteriorating, and
Lisa K. works with others living in Gumbo Limbo to save Dajun and the swamp environment.
A widowed mouse, Mrs. Frisby, and a group of rats have escaped from a
NIMH laboratory after being taught to read. The rats help Mrs. Frisby move her children to safety; she in turn helps the rats escape to a utopian civilization of their own design.
Based on the Cinderella story, this version features Mufaro's daughters, who are opposites - one is kind and compassionate, the other is selfish and mean-spirited. Readers follow the daughters on their trip to see the King for the purpose of marriage and learn about the rewards of being kind, regardless of the circumstances. Lush and dramatic ink-and-watercolor illustrations detail the clothing, flora, and fauna of the Zimbabwe setting.
When Papa does not return on Christmas Eve after going out to find a
Christmas tree, little Eleanor and the rest of the family are filled with worry. Determined to make Christmas festive, Mama and the children trudge through the snow to cut a little cottonwood tree. Papa arrives home after being held up in a snowstorm, and the first Christmas on the prairie is the very best ever. Soft, colored illustrations illuminate the caring of the family for one another.
This contemporary East African story tells of a proud and helpful boy who is determined to learn to ride and purchase a bicycle in order to ease his mother's task of taking goods to market. Warm, earth-tone illustrations highlight this story of love and determination.
This is an inspiring story of how an African American woman, born a slave with no status or dignity, transformed herself into one of the most powerful voices of the abolitionist movement. Compelling full-page paintings use intense colors in some cases and at other times use subdued earth tones.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Realistic Fiction,
ELA/Writing
Mystery,
Realistic Fiction;
H-SS,
Science
Fantasy
Fairy Tale,
Folklore,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
H-SS
Biography,
Historical Fiction,
H-SS, VPA,
ELA/Literary
Elements,
On a dare, two twelve-year-old boys swim in a forbidden river. When
Tony drowns, Joel doesn't know how to tell the parents how their disobedience led to the tragedy.
Given as payment for a meal, an unusual paper crane comes alive and dances - to the delight of the restaurant's owner and customers. Colorful photographs enhance paper collages, giving a three-dimensional effect.
Realistic Fiction
Fantasy,
VPA

Title
Philharmonic Gets
Dressed, The
Pony Express
Puss in Boots *
Ramona’s World
Rapunzel
Rechenka’s Eggs
Ribbons
Richard Wright and the Library Card +
Riding Freedom
Author
Karla Kuskin
Steven Kroll
Charles Perrault
Beverly Cleary
Paul Zelinsky
Patrica Polacco
Laurence Yep
William Miller
Pam Munoz Ryan
Summary
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
This unique book relates how the members of the Philharmonic Orchestra get ready for work. Each arrives at Philharmonic Hall separately, and then each loses his or her individuality to become a group of 105 musicians playing and creating beautiful music together.
A lively, fast-paced text and soft-colored oil painting illustrations bring the excitement of the Pony Express to the reader. Although this form of mail express lasted only 18 months, it was an important step in establishing postal service to the West. A map of the Pony Express route, historical photographs, author's notes, a bibliography, and an index are included. The book can be used for enrichment for the fourth-grade
California history curriculum. California setting.
In this richly illustrated version of the French fairy tale, a cat cleverly arranges for his master to win the hand of the princess in marriage, along with a royal fortune. The artwork in this selection represents various perspectives, including that of Puss in Boots, allowing readers to identify with the characters.
Ramona is now in fourth grade, has a baby sister, meets her new best friend, and wishes that "Yard Ape" would take more notice of her. She learns that growing up can present some interesting challenges. California author.
The age-old tale of the imprisoned young girl with the exceptionally long hair is retold using elements from the early French, Italian, and the
Brothers Grimm versions. Classical oil paintings in the style of the masters create an Italian Renaissance setting for the story. An author's note discussing the history of Rapunzel-themed stories is appended.
Babushka, known for her exquisite hand-painted eggs, finds Rechenka, a wounded goose, and takes her home. When she's ready to try her wings again, Rechenka accidentally breaks all of Babushka's lovingly crafted eggs. But the next morning Babushka awakens to a miraculous surprise.
The story is enhanced by illustrations of Ukrainian painted eggs.
Robin is told that she must give up her passion - ballet lessons - in order for her parents to save money to bring her grandmother to the United
States. When Robin tries to practice on her own and damages her feet, the experience gives her insight into the suffering of her grandmother, who, as a child in China, had her feet bound. This story carries a strong message about overcoming cultural and intergenerational misunderstandings. California author and setting.
This story is based on a scene from Richard Wright's autobiography Black
Boy. Seventeen-year-old Wright borrows a white man's library card and reads constantly, knowing that reading will be his ticket to freedom.
Charley (Charlotte) Parkhurst ran away from an orphanage in the midnineteenth century, posed as a boy, moved to California as a stagecoach driver, and fooled everyone by her appearance. Based on a true story, this book about Charley's life has interesting connections to California history.
Humor,
VPA
Fairy Tale,
Folklore
Humor,
Realistic Fiction
Fairy Tale,
Folklore
Fantasy,
H-SS,
VPA
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS,
VPA
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Narrative
Non-Fiction,
H-SS
Autobiography,
Literacy/Motivation

Sebastian: A Book
About Bach
Seedfolks +
Shoebag
Title
So, You Want to Be
President? +
Streets of Gold
Sun and Spoon
Sylvester and the
Magic Pebble
Tallchief: America’s
Prima Ballerina +
Maria Tallchief and Rosemary
Wells
Author
Jeanette Winter
Paul Fleischman
Mary James
Judith St. George
Rosemary Wells
Kevin Henkes
William Steig
Summary
The life and music of the artistic genius Johan Sebastian Bach flows through the bright-colored acrylic paintings that are framed on each page of this book. This is an exciting read-aloud book for younger children and an inspiration to all who love music.
When a young Vietnamese girl plants some bean seeds in a vacant lot because she misses her family, the beginnings of a community project emerge. Other people from the neighboring buildings add their contributions. Short vignettes about lonely lives that become meaningful are woven together in this unique story. California author.
A young cockroach awakens one morning to find he has metamorphosed into a little boy, and he becomes part of the Biddle family who live upstairs. His name is changed from Shoebag to Stu Bagg and in some ways he enjoys learning to be a boy. He soon learns that people are sometimes rude and uncaring, and he ultimately teaches them the importance of kindness and self-esteem.
This selection highlights historical triumphs and troubles of our first 41 presidents. The author and the illustrator combine tidbits of information as well as comical anecdotes with caricatures of the presidents to create an entertaining and educational resource that is suitable for research and for recreation.
Based on Mary Antin's PROMISED LAND, this adaptation is a memoir of her harsh childhood in Russia, her arrival in America, and her life in the Boston slums. The book goes on to relate Antin's course, through free education, in becoming a successful writer. This book is written in the first-person narrative, with quotes in the margins from the original work.
After the death of his beloved grandmother, ten-year-old Spoon is afraid he might forget her and tries to find the perfect artifact to preserve his memories of her. This tender story is about family, the death of a loved one, honesty, and trust.
A young donkey finds a magic pebble that grants him three wishes. When frightened by a lion, the donkey wishes he were a rock. His wish is granted, but the rock is too far away from the magic pebble to undo the wish after the danger has passed. Use this book to encourage readers to speculate what they would wish for if they were granted three wishes.
This first-person narrative presents Maria Tallchief's childhood and adolescence up to the point when she leaves home to seek a dancing career in New York. Full-page pastels in soft tones reflect Tallchief's remembrances of growing up in a loving and supportive family. Coauthor Rosemary Wells adds a personal note in the foreword that underscores Tallchief's reputation as a ballerina.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Biography,
H-SS,
VPA
Realistic Fiction,
H-ss
Fantasy,
Humor
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Fantasy
H-SS,
ELA/Literary
Elements
H-SS
Autobiography,
VPA

Title
Tar Beach *
Tuck Everlasting +
Wilfrid Gordon
McDonald Partridge *
Author
Faith Ringgold
Natalie Babbitt
Westing Game, The + Ellen Raskin
Mem Fox
Summary
With hopes for a better life, young Cassie imagines that she can fly over
Harlem and toward happiness. Quilt paintings illustrate Cassie's fanciful journeys and her unwavering hope. California author/illustrator.
The Tuck family have become ageless by drinking from a magic spring.
When ten-year-old Winnie Foster and a greedy evil stranger discover their secret, the Tucks are determined to prevent a disaster. This selection is excellent for use in literature circles and theme study.
This novel investigates the mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire. It introduces an unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance. This junior novel is useful for literature circles and for studies of plot, character, and prediction.
Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge's favorite neighbor has lost her memory, and he seeks ways to help her regain it. This gentle, humorous, and realistic story helps define memories. This book is excellent for inspiring students to create their own and others' memories. Warm, expressive watercolor illustrations enhance this tender story.
Wilma Rudolf overcame crippling polio as a child to become, in 1960, the first woman to win three Olympic gold medals in track. Sepia-toned photographs enhance the text. California illustrator.
Wilma Unlimited:
How Wilma Rudolph
Became the World’s
Fastest Woman *
Kathleen Krull
Winnie the Pooh
Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear
A. A. Milne
Wrinkle in Time, A +
Madeleine L’Engle
Lensey Namioka
This classic has seen many popular adaptations. However, the charming original drawings by Shepard and the innocence of the original text make this book a read-aloud choice that is a feast for young ears. Winnie the
Pooh, Eeyore, Rabbit, Kanga, and other come-to-life toy animals frolic with Christopher Robin, a little boy whose character is based on the author's own child.
Meg and Charles Wallace and Calvin O'Keefe search for Meg's father, a scientist who disappeared while trying to solve the tesseract (wrinkle in time) problem. The story combines theology, fantasy, and science in a story of time and space travel and the power of good over evil. The value of a close, loving family is emphasized.
Yang, the youngest of a musical Chinese family, has an untrained ear and prefers baseball to the violin. Issues of assimilation and cultural differences can be discussed in conjunction with the reading of this selection. Other informative stories about the Yang family are available.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Fantasy,
VPA
Fantasy,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Mystery,
Realistic Fiction;
ELA/Literary
Elements
H-SS
Fantasy
Science Fiction
Humor,
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Biography,
H-SS,
PE

Title
Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
Alvin Ailey
And Then What
Happened, Paul
Revere? +
Ashanti to Zuli:
African Traditions +
Big Rock, The *
Boss of the Plains:
The Hat That Won the
West
Holly Meade
Carlson
Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory
Author
Andrea Davis
Pinkney
Jean Fritz
Margaret
Musgrove
Bruce Hiscock
Bridge to Terabithia + Katherine Paterson
Cay, The Theodore Taylor
Roald Dahl
Summary
Illustrator Helen Oxenbury has adapted this classic with the creation of a magical world with funny, fabulous creatures and inviting landscapes as a backdrop for a modern Alice. Readers will enjoy comparing the original with this adaptation.
The life, dancing, and choreography of Alvin Ailey are celebrated in this book. Ailey created his own modern dance company to explore the black experience. His impact on the world of dance has had a lasting effect.
Readers learn about Paul Revere's midnight ride to Lexington to warn the colonists that the British were coming and also that he made false teeth, silver spoons, church bells, and many other fascinating things. The book is available in paperback only. It has curriculum connections to fifth- and eighth-grade history/social science.
This Caldecott Medal award-winner, with full-page illustrations and brief text, describes 26 African tribes and their customs - from A to Z. The richly colored illustrations show the people in typical dress as well as their land, animals, and homes.
This concept book tells how a large granite rock in the forest came to be and its changes over time. Geological terms are explained and can be enhanced with teacher support. Full-page, realistic illustrations help to clarify the story.
This story presents John Stetson's journey west to Colorado to pan for gold and his subsequent inspiration instead to design a hat to protect those on the frontier from sun, rain, wind, and snow. Paper, pencil, and paint collages add authenticity.
Jess and Leslie become special friends as they create a magical secret world that they call Terabithia. But when a tragic accident causes Leslie's death, Jess is forced to face life alone. This junior novel confronts many of the issues teens face and is great for literature circles. This selection depicts emotional intensity.
In 1942 an elderly black man and a young white boy are victims of a shipwreck and are stranded on a Caribbean island. In the day-to-day struggle to survive, the differences between age and youth, black and white, and innocence and experience become secondary to the characters' need to understand each other and transcend their differences. This story uses the dialectic language of the setting and of the day. California author.
Charlie Bucket, so poor that he can only afford one candy bar a year, wins candy for life and a tour of Willie Wonka's top-secret chocolate factory.
There are four other prizewinners, each a selfish child with a nasty personality. The story is filled with excitement, fantasy, humor, and moral lessons.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Fantasy,
ELA/Vocabulary,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Biography,
VPA
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction
Historical Fiction
Fantasy
Narrative
Non-Fiction,
H-SS
Science
H-SS

Colt
Title
Everywhere
Firework-Maker’s
Daughter
Author
Nancy Springer
Cool Melons Turn to
Frogs: The Life and
Poems of Issa +
Matthew Gollub
(translator)
Dragonwings +
Drops of Water: A
Book of Science and
Wonder
Duke Ellington: The
Piano Prince and His
Orchestra
Eleanor
Ellis Island: Doorway to Freedom
Laurence Yep
Walter Wick
Andrea Davis
Pinkney
Barbara Cooney
Steven Kroll
Bruce Brooks
Philip Pullman
Summary
Colt, a boy with spina bifida and a new step-family, overcomes his fear and anger at being thrust into a Horses for the Handicapped program. A pivotal event has Colt overcoming his limitations and maturing from a self-pitying whiner into a self-assured young man.
The story of the life of Issa, a Japanese poet in the eighteenth century, is combined with 33 of his haiku poems, which reflect the poet's different experiences. The poems are accompanied by artwork and Japanese calligraphy. The text includes an explanation of haiku and how it is written and invites readers to try writing their own haikus. California author.
In 1903 Moonshadow travels from a remote village in China to
California to join his father, whom he has never seen. Despite tremendous difficulties and disasters, father and son struggle to build a life in San Francisco, working toward their dream of creating a dragonlike flying machine. California author and setting.
This nonfiction selection illustrates the properties of water in its various states - ice, steam, frost, dew, and rainbow - and supplies basic explanations of related scientific terms and phenomena, including capillary attraction and surface tension. Stop-action color photographs and clear close-ups dramatize the presentation.
The career of this jazz musician and composer is recalled as he and his orchestra created music that was beyond categorization. This book explores Ellington's musical path from his Washington, D.C., childhood to his 1943 Carnegie Hall performance. Lyrical text is combined with oilpainted scratchboard drawings.
Eleanor Roosevelt's childhood is retold in storybook format. The story depicts her early childhood and how she developed self-confidence with the help of a boarding-school headmistress.
Between 1892 and 1954, more than 16 million immigrants were processed on Ellis Island in upper New York Bay. This book is a pictorial history of the island from the 1600s to the present day, as people now come to tour the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. The succinct text is enhanced by photolike illustrations rendered in pencil and watercolor. A glossary and index make this book a nice beginning research tool.
Afraid that his beloved grandfather will die after suffering a heart attack, a ten-year-old boy agrees to join eleven-year-old Dooley in performing a mysterious ritual called soul switching.
In order to become a master maker of fireworks like her father, Lila must journey to the sacred volcano to find the necessary royal sulfur. She is assisted on her quest by her best friend Chulak and his talking white elephant.
Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Realistic Fiction
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction
Fantasy
Non-Fiction
Biography,
Poetry,
ELA/Writing
Science
Biography,
VPA
Biography,
H-SS
Narrative
Non-Fiction,
H-SS

George Washington’s
Socks
Great Gilly Hopkins,
The +
Her Stories: African
American Folktales,
Fairytales and True
Tales
Title
Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, The
Frindle
Great Brain, The +
Guests
Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone +
Author
Arthur Ransome
Andrew Clements
Elvira Woodruff
John D. Fitzgerald
Katherine Paterson
Michael Dorris
J. K. Rowling
Virginia Hamilton
Summary
With the help of magical powers, the youngest of three sons, the Fool, succeeds where his older brothers have failed. He outwits the Czar and wins the hand of the princess. The pattern of trials, rewards, and magic is rendered in this Caldecott winner. Available in paperback only.
When he decides to turn his fifth-grade teacher's love of the dictionary around on her, clever Nick Allen invents a new word and begins a chain of events that quickly move beyond his control.
During a backyard slumber party, five children are transported back in time and find themselves crossing the Delaware with George Washington and his troops. This chapter book brings the conditions of the
Revolutionary War to life for the young reader.
The witty and humorous schemes of Tom, alias the Great Brain of
Adenville, Utah, are narrated by his seven-year-old brother John, who is often the victim of Tom's schemes. His narratives include imagination and exaggeration. This is the first book in The Great Brain series.
Gilly, a foster child, has been angry, lonely, and hurting for so long that she is always ready to fight anyone who tries to be friendly. She begrudgingly accepts love from her guardian, Trotter, and a freaky kid in a foster home, giving her the strength to face tough days ahead. This book reflects contemporary language used by the story's defiant character.
Unhappy that his father has invited strangers with white faces to take the harvest feast, Moss takes his away-time alone in the forest, beginning his journey into adulthood. Although this book appears simple, careful reading is needed.
The exciting experiences of Harry Potter are described as he goes from being an ordinary boy to being an unusual student at Hogwarts School for
Witchcraft and Wizardry. This story is highly useful as a read-aloud book as well as for independent reading. It is the first book in the series.
This collection of stories about women drawn from African American cultural tradition tells tales of magic, the supernatural, and real life. The
Dillons' stylized illustrations enhance reading aloud with groups of all ages.
Homesick: My Own
Story +
Jean Fritz
The author tells of her youth in 1920s China with the use of family photographs. She recounts detailed memories of picnics on the Great
Wall, holidays in the foreign compound, her rebelliousness in British school, and her reaction to being the object of hostility as a foreigner.
"Homesick" is how Fritz felt about America, a place she'd never seen, after hearing about her parents' memories and reading letters from relatives in Pennsylvania.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Folklore
Realistic Fiction
Fantasy,
H-SS
Humor
Realistic Fiction
Historical Ficiton,
H-SS,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Fantasy
Folklore, H-SS,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Autobiography,
H-SS

Peach
Horse
Title
Hundred Dresses, The
Hunterman and the
Crocodile, The *
If You Lived with the
Cherokee
James and the Giant
James Printer: A
Novel of Rebellion +
Joey Pigza Loses
Control +
Journey Home +
Justin Morgan Had a
Baba Wague
Diakite
Connie Roop and
Peter Roop
Roald Dahl
Paul Samuel
Jacobs
Lost Flower Children Janet Taylor Lisle
Ma Dear’s Aprons *
Author
Eleanor Estes
Jack Gantos
Yoshiko Uchida
Marguerite Henry
Patricia C.
MdKissack
Summary
Wanda, a little Polish American girl, wears the same faded dress to school every day but claims to have 100 dresses at home. Her classmates tease her and make fun of her name and her accent. After she moves away, they feel shame and guilt in knowing that they were unkind to her.
Donso the Hunterman rescues a crocodile family, but they turn on him and threaten to eat him. The other animals side with the crocodiles because of their experiences with humans' ingratitude. Finally, trickster
Rabbit comes to the rescue. Hand-painted ceramic tiles and borders with ethnic motifs illustrate this West African folktale.
Full-color illustrations by a Cherokee artist complement the facts about
Cherokee life—their language, names, games, dwellings, medicine, and much more. This selection is from the series of If You Lived . . . books.
This classic tale of fantasy and wonder appeals to readers of all ages.
Everyone is rooting for James as the magic peach grows in his yard, enabling him to escape "the aunts."
The courageous story of James Printer, a Nipmuch Indian from
Massachusetts, is told through the voice of young Bartholomew Green.
James, raised by the English after his mother's death, becomes a printer's apprentice. When conflicts break out between the white settlers and the local Indian tribes, James is forced to demonstrate his loyalties. The language and characters' attitudes reflect life in the 1670s.
When Joey Pigza meets his dad, Carter, for the first time in years, he meets a grown-up version of his old hyperactive self. When his dad wants to teach him how to be a winner and how to take control of his own life,
Joey is willing to do whatever his dad says, even though he fears it will do him more harm than good.
After being released from an internment camp, a Japanese American girl and her family try to reconstruct their lives amidst a community's anti-
Japanese sentiments. Human rights violations are depicted in this sequel to JOURNEY TO TOPAZ. The book can easily be used for character education. California author.
Little Bub is taken as payment by schoolmaster Justin Morgan in late eighteenth-century Vermont. Bub is a workhorse by day and a race and pulling horse after sunset each night. His fame grows as a wondrous horse with stamina and courage. This book is a fine springboard to interest students in research about this breed of horses and their place in American history.
After their mother's death, Olivia and Nellie go to live with their greataunt. They slowly bring her overgrown and weedy old garden back to life, enabling them to adjust to a new life as well.
Young David Earl always knows what day of the week it is because his mother, Ma Dear, has a different apron for every day except Sunday.
Misty oil-wash illustrations build a sense of warmth in this turn-of-thecentury story.
Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Folklore,
VPA
Fantasy
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
H-SS
Realistic Fiction
H-SS
Non-Fiction
H-SS

Mouse and the
Motorcycle, The
My Life with the
Wave *
My Name is Maria
Isabel
Picture Book of
Sacagawea
Ramona and Her
Father
Title
Mississippi Bridge
Moon and I, The
My Side of the
Mountain +
Nettie’s Trip South
One Grain of Rice: A
Mathematical Folktale
*
Betsy Cromer
Byars
Ann Warren
Turner
Demi
Author
Midred D. Taylor
Beverly Cleary
Catherine Cowan
Alma Flor Ada
Jean Craighead
George
David A. Adler
Beverly Cleary
Summary
This novel relates a disturbing tale of racism, set in 1930s Mississippi, as seen through the eyes of a ten-year-old white boy. Language reflecting the times tells of the civil rights violations that occur as paying African
American customers are forced from a bus in order to accommodate whites. One of these ousted African Americans tries to save the whites from a raging river as the bus runs off the bridge. Black-and-white pencil sketches convey the drama and high emotions.
While describing her adventures with a "resident" black snake (Moon), noted author Betsy Byars tells of her childhood and explains how she writes a book. The work is available in paperback or prebind and includes family photographs.
When Keith and his family vacation at the Mountain View Inn, a little hotel mouse called Ralph learns to ride one of Keith's toy motorcycles.
Boy and mouse become fast friends, and their adventures will bring laughter to the young reader. California author and setting.
A boy befriends a wave and brings it home, where they romp together until the onset of winter storms turns it bleak and angry. The wave is returned to the sea in frozen form, and the boy dreams of a new predicament. Acrylic and oil illustrations complement the story.
Third-grader Maria Isabel, born in Puerto Rico and now living in the
United States, wants badly to fit in at school. The teacher's writing assignment "My Greatest Wish" gives her that opportunity. Through the assignment Maria Isabel is able to convey her wish to be known by her given name, not as "Mary." California author.
Sam Gribley does what many young people dream of doing—he builds a treehouse in the Catskill Mountains, where he lives alone for a year. The story features his struggle for survival and his ultimate realization that he needs human companionship.
In a letter written by ten-year-old Nettie to Addie, her Northern friend,
Nettie reflects on her journey South, including the witnessing of a slave auction and the inhuman treatment of the slaves. Pencil sketches document the realities and emotional intensity of the pre-Civil War South.
This mathematical folktale links the cultural traditions and atmosphere of
India through gold-leaf illustrations. These illustrations enrich the story of a clever young girl who outsmarts a very selfish Raja and saves her village from starving with a simple grain of rice.
Sacagawea, a Shoshone woman, joined the Lewis and Clark expedition and led them West to the Pacific Ocean. This picture biography includes the chronology of Sacagawea's life, an author's note, and a bibliography.
Ramona is now in second grade, and life at home changes when her father loses his job. She begins to see the important role that she plays in her family. California author.
Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
H-SS
Fantasy,
Humor
Humor,
Science
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction,
Science
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Folklore,
ELA/Vocabulary,
H-SS,
Mathematics
Realistic Fiction,
Humor
Non-Fiction
Autobiography,
ELA/Writing
Biography,
H-SS

Scooter
Shiloh
Title
Ramona and the Pest
Root Cellar, The
Run Away Home
Secret Letters from 0 to 10 +
Shaka, King of the
Zulus +
She’s Wearing a Dead
Bird on Her Head!
Author
Beverly Cleary
Janet Lunn
Patricia C.
McKissack
Vera B. Williams
Susie Morgenstern
Diane Stanley
Kathryn Lasky
Phyllis Reynolds
Naylor
Summary
Ramona Quimby is off to kindergarten and her world changes forever.
Although she has endearing charms, Ramona still manages to get in trouble - she pulls Susan's curls, misunderstands her teacher's directions, and complains about the hand-me-down boots she must wear. This tale is one of a series about Ramona, all of which are timeless stories to read aloud. California author.
Rose, a twelve-year-old orphan, sets out to live with relatives in an old farmhouse in Ontario, Canada. There she discovers an old root cellar, where she is transported back to the world of the late 1860s. This novel combines history with fantasy to make the American Civil War come alive. Available in paperback or prebind.
Set in 1886 Alabama, this story tells of an eleven-year-old African
American girl and her family befriending and giving refuge to a runaway
Apache boy. He shows his loyalty when bad times visit the family.
Elana Rose Rosen copes with divorce, moves to a new apartment in New
York City, and becomes a member of a diverse community. This story's first-person narrative allows readers to experience "Lanny's" life right alongside her as she makes new friends and practices favorite scooter tricks. Childlike authenticity is added by hand-lettered acrostics that open each chapter, and the book includes recipes and basic, black-and-white illustrations.
Ernest leads an unadventurous and routine life until he meets Victoria, who teaches him about families, living, and loving. Translated from
French, this title has won 16 international awards, including France's Prix
Totem.
This is the dramatic life story of the outcast Zulu boy who developed himself into a fearsome warrior, trained Zulu fighters into a stunningly powerful army, and ruled over Zululand, South Africa, until he was assassinated. This well-researched picture book contains full-page watercolors depicting the lifestyle, clothing, and shelters of the Zulus.
Beaded border accents add ethnic authenticity. This selection holds a history/social science connection for the sixth-grade curriculum.
This fictionalized account explores the birth of the Massachusetts
Audubon Society at the end of the nineteenth century. Harriet Hemenway and Minna Hall, two proper Bostonians, were cofounders of the
Massachusetts organization that had an impact on the bird-protection movement. The female activists in the story serve as strong female role models for today's students. The charming and humorous illustrations are watercolors and ink.
When Marty finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home, he tries to hide the dog from his family and from its real owner, who is a mean-spirited man. Convinced that he's Shiloh's last chance,
Marty risks his own safety for the puppy's sake and strikes a bargain with an unlikely partner.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Humor
Fantasy,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Humor
Humor,
Realistic Fiction
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction
Biography,
H-SS

Title
Silent Thunder: A
Civil War Story +
Snowbound: The
Tragic Story of the
Donner Party
Snowflake Bentley
Stinker from Space
Sukey and the
Mermaid
Summer of the Swans,
The
Ten Mile Day and the
Building of the
Transcontinental
Railroad, The
Author
Andrea Davis
Pinkney
David Lavender
Jacqueline Briggs
Martin
Pamela F. Service
Robert D. San
Souci
Betsy Cromer
Byars
Mary Ann Fraser
Summary
In 1862 eleven-year-old Summer and her thirteen-year-old brother, Rosco, describe life on the quiet Virginia plantation where they live as slaves.
Then their lives are affected by the Civil War and the changes brought about by the conflict. The book could be used with the fifth- and eighthgrade history/social science curricula. It is available in paperback or prebind.
A group of pioneers endured incredible hardships on their journey from
Illinois to California in 1846. Considered one of the most famous and poignant journeys in American history, it ended tragically for many, and for the survivors, their lives were never the same. Archival photographs and prints, current photographs, maps, a bibliography, and an index are included. This book is an excellent resource for the study of California history and the westward movement. California setting.
Wilson Bentley was a self-taught scientist who photographed thousands of individual snowflakes in order to study their unique formations. This is his phenomenal story. Sidebars tell the readers more about Bentley's research and life, and woodcut illustrations reflect the early technology of the nineteenth century.
The dilemma of alien space warrior Tsynq Yr (Stinker) is humorously explored in this selection. When his spaceship crashes, Stinker must switch from his injured body into that of a skunk. Humans Karen and
Jonathan scheme with Stinker to get him back into orbit, but the plan will involve all the local skunks and a space shuttle.
This is an African American folktale about a young girl named Sukey, who befriends the water spirit, a mermaid called Mama Jo. Sukey's friendship with Mama Jo allows her to escape hardships at home with Ma and Step-Pa, Mister Hard-Times. Told in a picture-book format, this story is enhanced by striking illustrations in scratchboard and oil pastels, which earned illustrator Brian Pinkney the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor
Award in 1993. California author.
Fourteen-year-old Sara is jolted out of a period of discontent by the disappearance of her mentally handicapped ten-year-old brother, Charlie.
She gains new insight into herself and her family as she forgets about her self-perceived miseries and realizes her love for Charlie.
In 1869, the Central Pacific Railroad raced to build ten miles of track in one day and thus best the Union Pacific's earlier record of seven-plus miles. This book describes the track-laying process, materials used, workers involved, hardships, and the culminating success that led to the completion of the transcontinental railroad. A bibliography, a glossary, and a map are included. This book is available in paperback or prebind.
California author and setting.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Humor,
Science Fiction
Folklore
Realistic Fiction
Narrative
Non-Fiction,
H-SS
Biography,
Science
Narrative
Non-Fiction,
H-SS

Everest
Title
Through My Eyes +
Top of the World:
Climbing Mount
Turkey Girl: A Zuni
Cinderella Story, The
China +
Penny Pollack
Van Gogh Café, The + Cynthia Rylant
Village of Round and
Square Houses, The *
Weasel
Welcome to the Sea of
Sand *
Westlandia *
Yeh Shen: A
Cinderella Story from
You Want Women to
Vote, Lizzie Stanton?
Author
Ruby Bridges
Steve Jenkins
Ann Grifalconi
Cynthia DeFelice
Jane Yolen
Paul Fleischman
Ai-Ling Louie
Jean Fritz
Summary
Ruby Bridges recounts the story of her involvement at age six in the integration of her school in New Orleans in 1960. Powerful sepia-toned photographs enhance the story. The selection may be used in the fifth- and eighth-grade history/social science curricula and in civil rights units.
This informative nonfiction selection describes the conditions and terrain of Mount Everest, the attempts that have been made to scale the peak, and general information about mountain climbing. The illustrations are fullcolor cut-paper collages. Included are Mount Everest records and a bibliography.
In this Zuni Indian variant of the Cinderella theme, turkeys make a doeskin dress for the poor girl who tends them. Wearing the dress, she participates in a sacred dance, but finds that the turkeys have deserted her when she fails to return as promised.
The Van Gogh Cafe, located in Flowers, Kansas, has magic in its walls that causes strange and mysterious events to occur at the cafe. Ten-yearold Clara and her father create moments of magic that will enchant readers of this spare and intense story.
In the real village of Tos in Cameroon, Africa, the women live in round houses and men in square houses. The events of a typical day and the eruption of Naka Mountain are vividly portrayed in vibrant chalk drawing.
Set in 1839 Ohio, this adventure story begins when a wild-looking, tongueless man leads Nathan and his sister, Molly, to their wounded father. Nathan is soon captured by the same white Indian hunter, Weasel, but he chooses not to avenge Weasel's cruel acts when he has a chance.
This book is outstanding for literature studies.
In this book, the Sonoran Desert is described in lively verse, with waves of sand, cactus, and a great and gorgeous variety of animals. Gouache paintings capture the life of this unique landscape. This selection is useful for exploring various adaptations and habitats.
Wesley, a misfit, decides to create his own garden, food, clothes, and world in his backyard. Naming it Weslandia, he succeeds brilliantly in making friends while doing it. This book is good for discussions on individual differences. California author.
A young Chinese girl overcomes the wickedness of her stepsister and stepmother to become the bride of a prince. Readers will be able to compare and contrast this Cinderella story with those of other countries.
Mr. Young's illustrations add greatly to this retelling.
This biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton underscores the life of a woman far ahead of her times. Although Lizzie Stanton did not live to see the total fruits of her efforts, she was an outspoken fighter for women's suffrage and fought tirelessly for equality for everyone, men and women, black and white. This selection, with author's notes, a bibliography, and an index, is an excellent tool for intermediate grade research.
Fiction
Legend,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Fantasy,
ELA/Writing
Folklore,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS,
ELA/Vocabulary
Fantasy,
H-SS,
Science
Fairy Tale,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
H-SS
Narrative
Non-Fiction,
PE,
Science, VPA
Narrative
Non-Fiction,
Science
Biography,
H-SS

Title
Always Inventing: A
Photobiography of
Alexander Graham
Bell
Author
Tom Matthews
Summary
This biography, with photographs and quotes from Bell himself, follows the well-known inventor from his childhood in Scotland through his lifelong efforts to develop ideas to improve people's lives.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
American Tall Tales
Barrio: Jose’s
Neighborhood *
Best Christmas
Pageant Ever, The
Birchbark House, The
+
Black Pearl, The +
Bud, Not Buddy +
Bunyans
Mary Pope
Osborne
George Ancona
Barbara Robinson
Louise Erdrich
Scott O’Dell
Christopher Paul
Curtis
Audrey Wood and
Don Wood
A collection of tall tales celebrates such American folk heroes as Sally
Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind, Pecos Bill, John Henry, and Paul Bunyan.
Woodcuts illustrate the incredible stories of each character and their adventurous experiences. This large-size book includes nine different legends.
Full-color photographs detail life in a Latino barrio in San Francisco.
The school, recreation, holidays, and family life of an eight-year-old boy who lives there are described. California setting.
The whole town thinks that the Herdmans are the worst kids in the whole, wide world. They "steal" all the main parts in the Christmas pageant and then their interpretations are "off the wall" and even sacrilegious. And yet, as time and rehearsals pass and the performance begins, something special happens to the attitudes of both the community and the Herdmans.
This story is set on an island in Lake Superior in the year 1846.
Omakayas, an eight-year-old Ojibwa Indian child, adores her baby brother, thinks her older brother is obnoxious, and is jealous of her beautiful older sister. When tragedy strikes, Omakayas pulls together all her inner resources to survive. The story is rich in the day-to-day details of life in another time, culture, and place.
Sixteen-year-old Ramon joins his father to dive for pearls in Baja
California. Rejecting the village legends about a monster fish called
Manta Diablo, Ramon captures the great black pearl of his dreams. But when strange events afflict him, he realizes that there may be truth in the old tales.
Ten-year-old Bud - "not Buddy" - Caldwell is an orphan on the run during the Great Depression. He escapes from an abusive foster home to find the man he believes to be his father. One dilemma after another uncovers a tough character who perseveres and triumphs in his quest
Tall-tale hero Paul Bunyan is portrayed as a family man who carves out famous natural monuments across America. Exuberant paintings extend the text's humor and hyperbole as such places as Old Faithful, Niagara
Falls, and the Rocky Mountains are "created" to cope with Bunyan family problems, including dirty dishes, bears, and wandering children.
California author/illustrator.
Folklore,
Tall Tale,
ELA/Vocabulary,
ELA/Literary
Elements
H-SS
Humor
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
Humor
Tall Tale,
H-SS,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Biography,
Science

Title
Cat Running +
Celebrating Chinese
New Year
Chameleons on
Location
Child of the Owl +
Christmas in the Big
House, Christmas in the Quarters
Author
Zilpha Keatley
Snyder
Diane Hoyt-
Goldsmith
Kathy Darling
Laurence Yep
Patricia C.
McKissack
City of Gold and Lead John Christopher
Come Back Salmon:
How a Group of
Dedicated Kids
Adopted Pigeon Creek and Brought It Back to
Life
Molly Cone
Summary
Rural life in 1930s California is introduced through the eyes of Cat
Kinsey, the fastest sixth-grade runner at Brownwood School. Cat's title is jeopardized when her father won't allow her to wear pants for the race and a newly arrived, barefooted, displaced Dust Bowl Oklahoman becomes a rival. A dramatic race to outdistance death, however, helps Cat resolve issues of poverty, prejudice, and the desire to help those in need.
California author and setting.
This photo-essay is set in San Francisco and follows Ryan Leong and his family as they prepare to celebrate the Chinese New Year. California author, setting, and photographer.
Illustrated with more than 25 color photographs, the text focuses on three chameleon species found in the rain forests of Madagascar. This book is part of the On Location series.
The story is set in 1960 in San Francisco's Chinatown. Casey, a Chinese
American teen, slowly discovers the value of her Chinese heritage while living with her grandmother. The story examines the effects of Casey's father's gambling addiction on the lives of the other family members.
California author and setting.
The sights and sounds of the last Christmas celebration on a Virginia plantation before the Civil War are remembered by the slave owners in the big house and the slaves in the quarters. This selection includes fullcolor illustrations, riddles, rhymes, recipes, notes, and a bibliography.
Will, Beanpole, and Henry manage to escape the invasion of the Tripods and then set out on a secret mission to penetrate the City of the Tripods to learn more about the strange beings that rule the earth. This book is available in paperback only and is part of a series.
This photo-essay describes the efforts of the Jackson Elementary School in Everett, Washington, to clean up a nearby stream, stock it with salmon, and preserve it as a place where the salmon can return to spawn. This book shows that kids can make a difference if they care!
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Science Fiction
H-SS
Science
Science
Coyote: North
America’s Dog
Stephen R.
Swinburne
In this nonfiction selection, the author introduces the coyote through his own observations of this somewhat controversial animal. The balanced text invites readers to form their own opinions, showing the coyote as hated and hunted, but also tolerated as part of the ecological balance and venerated in Native American lore. Black-and-white primary source materials and contemporary color photographs tell the coyote's story well and document typical behaviors. "Coyote Fact" sidebars throughout will attract browsers and reluctant readers.
Science

Title
Dancing Kettle, The
Eight Hands Round: A
Patchwork Alphabet
Gathering of Days: A
New England Girl’s
Journal +
Ann Whitford Paul
Joan W. Blos
Girls Think of
Everything: Stories of
Ingenious Inventions by Women
Grass Sandals: The
Travels of Basho
Heidi
Journey to Topaz +
Keeping Quilt, The *
Landry News, The
Author
Yoshiko Uchida
Catherine
Thinmesh
Dawnine Spivak
Johanna Spyri
Yoshiko Uchida
Patricia Polacco
Andrew Clements
Summary
Japanese folktales, collected and retold by this California author, provide cultural connections between Asia and the Americans who have descended from immigrants of many nations.
The letters of the alphabet are introduced with the names of early
American patchwork quilt patterns. The origins of the designs, which were named by pioneers, are explained.
A young girl's journal pulls the reader into life in New Hampshire in
1830. Many precepts are woven into this story, illustrating both the sparseness and richness of life in the past compared with life today.
Readers become acquainted with the various ways in which inventions come about. The readers meet 12 resourceful females whose inventions are now common to everyday life, such as Snugli, Liquid Paper, and
Scotchgard. Written in a conversational style and accompanied by casual watercolor-collage illustrations, this book encourages readers to become inventors and provides information on the patent process, a bibliography, and a source list. A chronology featuring additional female inventors is included.
This book follows the seventeenth-century poet, Basho, on a journey across Japan. Based on his journal of prose and poetry, this book is a reflection of what he saw on the journey and includes haiku composed by
Basho. A Japanese character introduces each haiku
This 1996 edition presents the original text of the story of Heidi, the little girl who is taken from the city to live with her grandfather in the Swiss
Alps. She meets Peter, the goatherd; Peter's family; Clara, who is confined to a wheelchair; and others. The text is enhanced with margin captions and pictures that explain the history, geography, culture, and customs of the time and setting of the story.
Eleven-year-old Japanese American Yuki has plans for Christmas in 1941.
But those plans are abruptly altered as Japanese living on the West Coast are labeled enemy aliens and her father is arrested by the FBI. Yuki, her mother, and her older brother are incarcerated - first in a horse stall and then in a barbed-wire enclosed camp in the Utah desert. California author.
Great-Grandma Anna comes to America from Russia during her childhood and brings with her a quilt that her mother has made for her.
Over the ensuing years, the quilt is handed down through five generations.
The quilt is used for the wedding canopy as well as to welcome new babies into the world. This book incorporates Jewish beliefs with family traditions. Black-and-white illustrations with some color highlights help to convey the passage of time.
A fifth-grader starts a newspaper with an editorial that prompts her unmotivated classroom teacher to really begin teaching again. He is later threatened with disciplinary action as a result of his teaching. The story deals with First Amendment rights.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Folklore,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Poetry
Fiction
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
H-SS,
VPA
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
H-SS
Science

Title
Leon’s Story +
Let It Shine! Stories of
Black Women
Freedom Fighters +
Midnight Fox
Mississippi Mud:
Three Prairie Journals
Morning Girl
Author
Michael Dorris
Mouse Called Wolf, A Dick King-Smith
Old Yeller +
Outside and Inside
Alligators
Leon Walter
Tillage
Andrea Davis
Pinkney
Betsy Cromer
Byars
Ann Warren
Turner
Fred Gipson
Sandra Markle
Pioneer Sampler: The
Daily Life of a
Pioneer Family in
1840, A +
Barbara
Greenwood
Summary
This autobiographical selection relates the human rights violations suffered by the African American author as the son of a poor sharecropper in 1940s North Carolina. Edited oral interviews by the author reveal incidents of hatred and racism regarding schooling, seating in public facilities, and encounters with justice and the law. An author's afterword and an editor's note provide additional insight on the origins of the book.
Short pieces celebrate the contributions of ten women who moved forward the cause of civil rights in America. The book includes quotes, incidents, and details of the women's lives. Oil paintings, with symbolic representations, make this book stand out. It can be used as a research model for illustrating the life of a famous person.
Tom reluctantly goes to his aunt's farm when his parents embark on a
European vacation. The discovery of a black fox and her den leads to a summer of learning and ultimately some difficult choices. The book is available in paperback or prebind.
This collection of poems from the journals of three pioneer children reflects their experiences in crossing the prairie in a covered wagon from
Kentucky to Oregon. Two-page watercolor illustrations serve as the backdrop for the free-form verse and document the poignancy of leaving one home for another, the expanse of the prairie, the camaraderie around the campfire, and the sorrow of losing a dog.
Morning Girl and Star Boy each describe their life on an island in pre-
Columbus America. Morning Girl explores her meeting with the men in
Christopher Columbus's expedition. The epilogue is a page from
Columbus's journal describing the island people.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mouse lives in a hole behind the piano leg in the house of the elderly Mrs. Honeybee. They develop a wonderful friendship while sharing their musical talents - Wolf sings and Mrs. Honeybee plays the piano. One day, Mrs. Honeybee falls and it is through Wolf's efforts that his friend is rescued. This is an effective read-aloud book.
The emotional story of the relationship of Travis with his dog, Old Yeller, is set in the Texas hill country in the late 1860s. The novel focuses on the dog's devotion to its duty and its master and on Travis's heartbreaking realization that he must kill Yeller when the dog becomes rabid. The language in the story reflects the times.
This photo-essay's enthusiastic emphasis on anatomy and precise details distinguish it from other books about alligators. It describes the external and internal characteristics of alligators and how they find food, mate, and raise their young.
The life and times of a pioneer family living in the Western frontier come alive in this story. The book contains factual information about farming, harvesting, cooking, building shelters, and hunting. It also depicts the work demanded of all members of the family. It is a valuable resource for history/social science exploration and writing opportunities.
Fiction
Science
Poetry,
ELA/Vocabulary,
H-SS
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Fantasy,
VPA
Historical Fiction,
Realistic Fiction
Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Autobiography,
H-SS
Biography,
H-SS,
ELA/Writing,
VPA
Science
Narrative
Non-Fiction,
ELA/Writing,
H-SS

+
Title
Rachel’s Journal: The
Story of a Pioneer Girl
Real McCoy: The Life of an African
American Inventor
Sunburned Prayer, A
Talking Eggs: A
Folktale from the
American South
Marissa Moss
Wendy Towle
Lesa Cline-
Ransome
Mark Talbert
Robert D. San
Souci
Author
Relatives Came, The * Cynthia Rylant
Satchel Paige
Secret Garden, The +
Frances Hodgson
Burnett
Snake Scientist
Stuart Little
Sy Montgomery
E. B. White
Summary
This story relates the experiences of a young girl who travels with her family by wagon train from Illinois to California in 1850. During the journey Rachel keeps a journal, in the form of a lined book filled with sketches and cursive writing, to record the adventures and trials that she and her family experience along the way. Other journal books by this author are available. California author and setting.
This book presents the biography of Canadian-born African American
Elijah McCoy, who patented over 50 inventions, including his famous automatic oil cup that was widely imitated and distinguished as "the real
McCoy." Acrylic paintings on canvas illustrate the significant events in his extraordinary life. An author's note adds background information.
When a carload of relatives arrives for a summer visit, the hosting family cannot tell one cousin from another. Everyone ends up having a wonderful time in this celebration of family affection. The book's vivid illustrations are whimsical and convey the story's hectic nature.
The life of the legendary baseball player, the first African American to pitch in a Major League World Series, is examined in this sports biography. Its informal, anecdotal style makes the book a good read-aloud book. Limitations imposed on black players of the day are mentioned.
Ten-year-old Mary, a spoiled and sour child, has not known love or discipline. She moves to her uncle's house in Yorkshire, England, after the death of her parents. There she discovers the mysteries hidden away in his dark and gloomy estate. Mary and Collin continue to be classic characters
85 years after their creation.
This nonfiction selection discusses the work of Bob Mason and his efforts to study and protect snakes, particularly the red-sided garter snake. This book provides an excellent resource for readers interested in snakes and reptiles.
A heroic little mouse with very human qualities travels across the
American countryside and finds himself involved in one adventure after another as he searches for his lost friend.
Eleven-year-old Eloy defies his parents' wishes and participates in a 17mile pilgrimage on Good Friday to save his dying abuelita (grandmother).
Eloy's spiritual and physical ordeal in the hot New Mexico sun becomes a trip of self-discovery as he ponders issues of devotion, faith, and unconditional love. This book portrays emotional intensity.
This Creole version of the Cinderella folktale features African
American characters. Blanche befriends an old woman who has extraordinary powers and is rewarded for her virtue, while her greedy sister is punished by a plague of snakes, toads, yellow jackets, and more. The book's full-color pencil and watercolor artwork is detailed and expressive. California author.
Fiction
Folklore,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Historical Fiction,
ELA/Vocabulary,
H-SS
Realistic Fiction,
H-SS
Fiction
Fantasy
H-SS
Biography,
H-SS,
Science
Biography,
PE
Science

Title
Teammates
Watching Desert
Wildlife
Weaving a California
Tradition: A Native
American
Basketmaker
Jim Arnosky
Linda Yamane
When I Was Young in the Mountains
Cynthia Rylant
Wump World
Author
Peter Golenbock
Bill Peet
Yukon Gold: the Story of the Klondike Gold
Rush
Charlotte Foltz
Jones
Summary
When Branch Rickey brought Jackie Robinson to baseball's Major
Leagues, Robinson endured prejudice and racism as the first black Major
League player. White teammate Pee Wee Reese stood by Robinson when the crowds verbally abused him. The book is illustrated with watercolor illustrations and archival photographs.
Watercolor illustrations and text describe some of the animals the author encountered in the deserts of the American Southwest. This is a good research process/primary source book.
The tradition of Native American basket weaving in California is presented as eleven-year-old Carly, a Western Mono Indian, learns the ancient art from her mother and her aunts. Contemporary tribal life is depicted in the text and color photographs, including the rituals of plant gathering and preparation, and weaving techniques are described.
California author, photographer, and setting.
The author reminiscences about what it was like to grow up in her grandparents' home in the mountains of Appalachia. The illustrations evoke the warmth and affection of the family members and the simplicity of their lives.
Happy days for the Wumps stop when Pollutians invade and take over the
Wumps' planet. After ruining the Wump World, the Pollutians set off to seek new conquests, leaving the Wumps to rebuild their ruined world.
This story stimulates thinking about how to preserve our natural resources from pollution.
A quest for gold took place in the late 1890s in the Klondike region of the
Yukon Territory of northwestern Canada. This book tells the story of the brave men and women who followed that quest. The size of the text and the archival photographs throughout the book make this an inviting book for young readers or researchers. It includes a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Biography,
H-SS,
PE
Historical Fiction,
H-SS,
VPA
Science Fiction,
H-SS,
Science
Science
Biography,
H-SS,
VPA
Narrative
Non-Fiction,
H-SS

Title
Ballad of Lucy
Whipple
Bearskin
Ben and Me: A New and Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin as Written by His
Good Mouse Amos
Howard Pyle
Robert Lawson
Big Bug Book
Black Frontiers: A
History of African
American Heroes in the Old West
Children of the Gold
Rush
Children of the Wild
West
Author
Angela Weaves a
Dream: The Story of a
Young Maya Artist
Michele Sola
Karen Cushman
Margery Facklam
Lillian Schlissel
Claire Rudolph
Murphy
Russell Freedman
Summary
A young Mayan girl, Angela, learns to weave in the tradition of her ancestors. This photo-essay features color photographs that show the carding, spinning and dyeing of the wool and close-up views of weaving designs and color schemes. The spiritual aspects of creating this art form are also explored. A glossary, bibliography, maps, and notes from the photographer and author are appended.
Desiring to return to Massachusetts, Lucy tries desperately to change her mother's mind about working in the gold fields of California. Writing helps Lucy to understand her conflicting feelings about this wild land.
California author and setting.
A brave young man, raised by a bear with unusual powers, rescues a princess from a menacing dragon and fulfills a prophecy made long ago that he would marry the King's daughter.
Amos the mouse, good friend of Benjamin Franklin, tells the "real" story of the great patriot's life. The events he retells include the invention of the
Franklin stove, the invention of electricity, and the Revolutionary War.
This delightful read-aloud book can enhance the history/social science curriculum and is often overlooked for newer fiction.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Historical Fiction,
H-SS,
ELA/Vocabulary
Fairy Tale,
Fantasy
Fantasy,
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
H-SS
This concept book presents a close-up look at 13 of the world's largest insects, set against such everyday objects as a fish bowl or crayons to give a sense of scale. Framed text faces the "larger-than-life" illustrations.
Students will be inspired to look in nature for the real insects.
Readers become acquainted with the African Americans who migrated westward after the Civil War as cowboys, homesteaders, miners, businessmen and businesswomen, frontier guides, and trappers. Archival photographs present a first-hand look at life for black pioneer families, and quotes from journals of the day lend authentic detail. One chapter on dime novels includes an excerpt using the language of the day.
The adventures and hardships that children experienced during the Gold
Rush are chronicled in journals and diaries. Their daily lives and hopes are recorded almost as if they found comfort in writing, leaving behind a record of what living during those harsh times was like.
This photo-essay provides aspects of how pioneer and Indian children lived in the old West from 1840 to the early 1900s. Archival photographs help show that children are children no matter when they lived or their ethnicity.
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Science
H-SS
H-SS

Title
Christmas Sonata
D’Aulaires’ Book of
Greek Myths +
Dia’s Story Cloth *
Dragon Bones and
Dinosaur Eggs: A
Photobiography of
Explorer Roy
Chapman Andrew
Author
Gary Paulson
Edgar P. and Ingri
D’Aulaire
Dia Cha
Ann Bausum
Summary
A young boy and his mother spend Christmas with his dying cousin in
Minnesota in 1943. The two cousins discover that Santa really does exist.
Greek myths about the gods, the titans, and the heroes are told in a simple narrative style. The volume is large and is vividly illustrated. Young or reluctant readers will find this classic appealing.
A young Hmong girl's experiences that led to her immigration to the
United States are described and illustrated in this picture book. Her story is told by showing sections of an embroidered pa'ndau, or story cloth.
This biography relates the life of the great explorer-adventurer who discovered huge finds of dinosaur bones in Mongolia, pioneered modern paleontology field research, and became the director of the American
Museum of Natural History. It is one of a series of new biographies published by the National Geographic Society.
Egypt Game, The
Fire in Their Eyes:
Wildfires and the People
Who Fight Them
Hatchet +
Homer Price
Immigrant Kids
Indian Chiefs
Just So Stories
Zilpha Keatley
Snyder
Karen Magnuson
Beil
Gary Paulson
Robert McCloskey
Russell Freedman
Russell Freedman
Rudyard Kipling
Six children of different ethnic backgrounds secretly play a game built on their own imagination and their fascination with ancient Egypt. The Egypt
Game helps to solve one girl's personal problems and leads to the capture of a murderer. California author.
In text and photographs, the training and real-life experiences are depicted of people who risk their lives to battle wildfires. Attention is given too, to people who use fire for ecological reasons.
After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian survives 54 days in the wilderness, initially with only the aid of a hatchet given to him by his mother. Brian also learns to survive his parents' divorce.
The life of Homer Price is captured in six classic episodes, including one in which he and his pet skunk capture four bandits and another about a donut machine on the rampage. Young readers love the humor of his antics and escapades.
This photo-essay relates how immigrant children lived, played, went to school, and worked in America's cities during the late 1880s and early
1900s. The font is large and inviting, and the book is filled with archival photographs.
Six of the greatest Indian leaders of the nineteenth century are examined, along with their attempts to hold on to their way of life as the white man encroached on their lands. Portraits of the Indian leaders and some of their adversaries and benefactors enhance these carefully researched and welltold histories. A bibliography and an index are included. The book is available in paperback or prebind.
Originally published in 1902, this collection of 12 original and classic folktales is set in India. Among those included are "How the Rhinoceros
Got his Skin," "How the First Letter was Written," and "How the Whale
Got His Throat." The illustrations perfectly enhance the exotic setting of the stories.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Fantasy
Folklore,
Mythology,
H-SS
Biography,
H-SS
Fantasy
Realistic Fiction,
Science
Short Story
Folklore,
Humor,
ELA/Vocabulary
Biography,
Science
H-SS
Narrative
Non-Fiction,
H-SS
Biography,
H-SS

Title
Land I Lost:
Adventures of a Boy in Vietnam, The +
Last Princess: The
Story of Princess
Ka’iulani of Hawaii
Author
Quang Nhuong
Huynh
Fay Stanley
Muscles: Our
Muscular System +
Seymour Simon
Once a Wolf: How
Wildlife Biologists
Fought to Bring Back the Gray Wolf
Paul Bunyan
Phantom Tollbooth,
The
Rabbit Hill
Rushmore
Stephen R.
Swinburne
Steven Kellogg
(reteller)
Norton Juster
Robert Lawson
Lynn Curlee
Summary
This selection contains action-filled memoirs of the author's childhood in rural Vietnam, reveals the quality of day-to-day village life, and describes dangerous confrontations with wild animals. The last story reflects the violence of the war that forever changed the quality of life described in these stories.
This picture-book biography acquaints readers with the life story of
Princess Ka‘iulani of Hawaii and the political upheaval that led to
Hawaii's annexation to the United States in 1897. Hawaii's last princess, who never married, never ruled, and died at age twenty-three. Full-page gouache paintings reflect the islands' lush surroundings, the grayness of
England, and the mixed heritage of the Hawaiians.
The anatomy and function of muscles are described in clear text, including the three different types of muscles and how exercise affects them. The picture-book format includes MRI scans, x-rays, drawings, and full-page, computer-generated illustrations. This is one in a series of books on the human body by this author.
This book presents the troubled relationship between man and wolf, including biologists' efforts to dispel misunderstandings about wolves as they are reintroduced to wilderness areas. It includes wolf legends and quotes from children's literature, and introduces the scientists who have studied wolves over the years to find their place in the ecosystem, particularly in Yellowstone National Park. Black-and-white and color photographs on every page support the text. A bibliography and index are appended
This legendary character of Maine, Paul Bunyan, weighed 156 pounds at birth. Even as a young lad, he wrestled grizzly bears. With Babe, the super ox, he dug the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River as he led a band of lumbermen westward.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Autobiography,
H-SS,
Short Story
Folklore,
ELA/Vocabulary,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Biography,
H-SS
Science
Science
Milo, a very bored boy, drives his toy car through a tollbooth that mysteriously appears in his bedroom and arrives in the Kingdom of
Wisdom. There he learns the importance of words and numbers, patience and responsibility.
The small animals who live at Rabbit Hill in the Connecticut countryside are excited when they hear that "big folks are coming" to inhabit the empty house on the property. The animals hope that the big folks will keep a proper garden to help maintain their lifestyle and watch carefully as the moving efforts begin. Each of the small creatures has a distinctive personality that adds spice and humor to this classic tale.
The monument at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, honors four American presidents in majestic fashion. This book describes how this patriotic shrine and tourist attraction was conceived, designed, and created by the dedicated artist Gutzon Borglum.
Fantasy,
ELA/Vocabulary
Fantasy,
ELA/Writing
H-SS,
VPA

Title
Save Queen of Sheba Louise Moeri
Sky Pioneer: A
Photobiography of
Amelia Earhart
Corinne Szabo
Swamp Angel *
Author
Anne Isaacs
While a Tree Was
Growing
Jane Bosveld
Wild Horses I Have
Known
Hope Ryden
Wizard of Oz, The + L. Frank Baum
Summary
Two children miraculously survive a raid of their wagon train by Sioux
Indians on the trail to Oregon. Twelve-year-old King David finds the courage and energy to take care of his sister, Queen of Sheba, as he manages to cross the barren plains to find the remaining settlers. Available in paperback or prebind. California author
This photo-biography tells the remarkable life story of pilot Amelia
Earhart. Sixty primary source photographs, flight plan maps, quotes from her writings, and a text full of anecdotes contribute to this celebration of her accomplishments. A foreword, chronology, and afterword help to give readers a sense of Earhart's place in history and the possible reasons for her disappearance. A bibliography and a detailed index are appended.
Angelica Longrider, also known as Swamp Angel, lifts a wagon train out of a swamp, reroutes a river to put out a fire, and defeats a marauding bear to save the winter supplies of Tennessee settlers in this tall tale. American primitive paintings are framed in wood grains and highlight Swamp
Angel's amazing exploits. Pair up this selection with a Paul Bunyan story for a tall-tale fest. California author.
The growth of a 3,500-year-old giant sequoia from seed to maturity is juxtaposed with a chronology of world events from the Trojan War to the present day. The California setting deals with ecology and history.
Through text and photographs, mustang behavior as observed by the author is depicted. The author provides an account of how mustangs have adapted to their harsh environment. She also discusses the mustangs' origins, their colors and markings, and their social interactions with one another and with the author herself.
In this classic in children's literature, Dorothy is transported to the Land of
Oz by a cyclone and must find the great wizard in order to return home to
Kansas.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Historical Fiction,
H-SS
Tall Tale,
H-SS,
ELA/Literary
Elements
Fantasy
Biography,
H-SS
H-SS,
Science
Science

Title
Bill Peet: An
Autobiography
Children of the
Dustbowl: The True
Story of the School at
Weedpatch Camp +
Author
Bill Peet
Jerry Stanley
Summary
The autobiography of one of America's most beloved picture book creators describes his process of becoming an illustrator as well as his experience as a Disney artist. This selection serves as an excellent resource for those interested in illustrators and Disney films.
The plight of Depression Era migrant workers who escaped from Dust
Bowl Oklahoma and relocated in California's San Joaquin Valley is portrayed in this account. The author explores the prejudice against these newcomers, their forced existence in the federal labor camp at Arvin,
California, and the remarkable school superintendent who provided opportunities for the children and changed their lives. Primary source photographs document this uplifting story of an otherwise bleak chapter in
California's history. California author and setting.
This science concept book describes what scientists have been able to deduce about the nature of our solar system and the universe, based on data collected by the Hubble telescope.
Close Encounters:
Exploring the
Universe with the
Hubble Telescope +
Elaine Scott
Elephant’s Child, The Rudyard Kipling
Jungle Book, The
Lincoln: A
Photobiography +
Mystery of the
Mammoth Bones
New Way Things
Work, The +
Rudyard Kipling
Russell Freedman
James Cross Giblin
David Macaulay
This classic tale tells how the elephant got its trunk. Notable for the rhyme and rhythm of its language, the story provides a good model for students' writing. It is available in paperback only.
This collection of stories relate the adventures of Mowgli, a young boy raised by wolves, as he learns the ways of the jungle. Pinkney's watercolor illustrations bring the exciting adventure to life.
The biography of Abraham Lincoln is enhanced by period photos and drawings. The photo-essay contrasts the legend of Lincoln with the real
Lincoln and uses quotes from original sources, including Lincoln's own writings. It also lists historic sites to visit. The selection connects with the curriculum for fifth- and eighth-grade history/social science.
Noted portrait artist Charles Willson Peale created the first American natural history museum in 1786, in which he displayed specimens of animals and birds, as well as his own paintings. In 1801 he excavated two mastodon skeletons and became a largely self-taught paleontologist. His research and excavations are described and illustrated with art prints and photographs. Also included is a bibliography, source notes, and an index.
Text and numerous detailed illustrations in this edition introduce and explain the scientific principles and workings of hundreds of machines and present new material about digital technology. The book includes humorous details and small cartoons to increase its appeal and provide access to an enormous amount of information that would otherwise overwhelm readers. This selection can be linked to the science curriculum.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Autobiography,
ELA/Writing,
VPA
Folklore,
ELA/Writing
Fantasy,
ELA/Vocabulary
H-SS
Science
Biography,
H-SS
Narrative
Non-Fiction,
Science,
VPA
Humor,
Science,
VPA

Title
Wind in the Willows,
The
Title
Author
Kenneth Grahame
Author
Dive: My Adventures in the Deep Frontier
Lives of the Athletes:
Thrills, Spills (And
What the Neighbors
Thought)
Sylvia A Earle
Kathleen Krull
Summary
The humorous adventures of four animal friends, resourceful Rat, loyal
Mole, exasperating Toad of Toad Hall and stern but wise Badger are related as they share life and habitat along a river in the English countryside.
Summary
An eminent marine biologist relates some of her adventures studying and exploring the world's oceans. Her activities include tracking whales, living in an underwater laboratory, and helping to design a deep-water submarine.
Short biographies of 23 athletes who have gained fame and fortune through their athletic abilities are presented in this collection. Each biography is introduced with a full-page color watercolor and color pencil
"portrait" of the subject.
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Fantasy,
Humor
Fiction Non-Fiction
Cross Curricular Connections
Science
Biography,
Short Story,
PE