This story exudes beauty. It is a study in kindness and grace. It shows what knowing how to see beyond personal needs, penchants, and shortsightedness looks like. Nana's wisdom teaches readers to look with eyes that see beyond the surface to love the potential of each individual and to give. Because that is where joy begins. CJ: "How come it's always so dirty over here?" Nana (smiling and poin ...

Gentle humor and fun characters provide a celebration of friendship, old and new.

Expect the unexpected! Houses, apartments, underground lairs, giant shoes and hollow trees capture the imaginations of young readers dreaming of home. Ellis encourages children to ask and answer questions (‘Whose home is this?’ ‘Why would someone live here?’) in a way that evokes wonder and inspires creativity. Kids will be redecorating their rooms and building forts afte ...

The unbreakable bond between Moose and his owner Zara is brilliantly conveyed through metaphor; "Hello smelled like homemade cookies" but "Goodbye was hide without seek. Entertaining antics flood each colorful page that lead to a problem-solved, "hello" resolution.

While this is primarily Pedro Martinez's biography, it is equally a celebration of the relationship he shared with his talented baseball-player brother, Ramon. A humble upbringing challenged them both to creatively pursue their love of baseball, and eventually dedicated practice and big dreams gave way to major-league contracts, friendly rivalry on national stages, and a championship win. Gorgeous ...

Compelling, life-sized, carefully-detailed illustrations, punctuate the depth of Frederick Douglass's devotion to justice and liberty for all. The dark pain of loss at a young age translated into grim determination to learn words because "...Frederick sensed that words had power. ...he traded food for words." In a world of fast food and e-books, Rappaport reminds us to value the influence of speak ...

This Caldecott winner employs curves and movement on each page that accommodate the story's gentle flow. Narrated by a mom speaking to her young child, the book's clean, soft, subtly-shaded illustrations provide a calm, pleasing visual experience. Notably, both the storyteller and artist incorporate a winding pattern that repeats throughout, creating a familiar reference point that completely sati ...

When Henry's mom limits his bike-riding exploration to around the block, he assumes he's in for a boring ride. However, the action he sees—conveyed through rich verb use and energetic illustrations—transforms his ride into an exciting adventure. Enticing for very young readers.

Karen Harrington calls upon her experience with an agoraphobic mother to movingly convey her main character's angst in learning to live well through tragedy and extreme circumstances. Already facing difficult teenage years, Mysti suddenly becomes provider and voice of reason when her mother's agoraphobia strips away her ability to cope. While the text seems to go on without resolution for a good p ...

An out-of-reach cookie jar, a hungry boy and his companion Horsie, and a giant robot. What could go wrong? A fun story with details readers will love, including cookie crumb precipitation!

When Ann Fay's challenge to recover from polio is compounded by her father's inability to cope with psychological war wounds, Ann Fay's attempts to fix both problems fail miserably. But when she realizes burdens are for sharing and quality relationships require humility and trust, she walks a once-lonely path with help. As she becomes less dependent upon clunky, uncomfortable braces for her polio- ...

Anne Rockwell presents interesting and important details about clouds in an engaging, easy-to-read format. A great choice for young science or meteorology fans!

A celebration of friendship, from its hesitant start to its bittersweet end.

Hall's inquisitive cats set out to spend the afternoon snacking and reading, but wind up chasing words, including homophones and homonyms, on a silly tongue twister of an adventure! Full color.

A delightful story about how one odd bird—a book-lover—can save the day.

This fast-paced tale of two adventurers invites readers on a quest filled with mystery, danger, and a whole lot of excitement. As readers get to know Emily and James, they learn important lessons about choices and consequences, friendship, and what home really means. Whimsy and literary references mixed with technology make this story a modern classic. School drama and family conflict offer authen ...

This tale stages a meetup between extraordinary and ordinary. The learning is messy and extraordinary turns out to be unconventional, but Bloom the magical fairy believes her new "ordinary" friend, Genevieve, can save the kingdom. Genevieve's confidence grows with each success under Bloom's gentle direction. Lively, airy illustrations capture the delight and strength of a heart and mind equipped t ...

While Bella's story and its splashy, colorful illustrations evoke the 'crisp, crackly' feelings of fall, it also highlights the generosity of a skillful grandmother and the joy of a grateful grandchild. This one will be a frequent request by listeners as young as two years old, and an effective read to build vocabulary in readers up through Kindergarten.