Picture Books

Seasonal Books:

Otter Loves Halloween! - Sam Garton

Halloween is Otter's favorite holiday. It's also a very busy time for her and Teddy. With so much to do, it's a good thing she's a Halloween expert!

 

From Apple Tree to Cider, Please! - Felicia Sanzari Chernesky

"Grab the wagon, it's a bright autumn day and the trees are full of ripe, red apples! There's an apple festival underway at the farm and lots of work to do making cider. This visit finishes with a cider doughnut and a cup of freshly pressed cider. DELICIOUS! Told in crisp, action-driven rhymes from a young child's point of view, From Apple Trees to Cider, Please! is a realistic account of how apple cider is pressed, flavored with the charm and vigor of a harvest celebration.-- Provided by the publisher

 

Picture Books:

Rory the Dinosaur: Me and My Dad - Liz Climo
Rory lives with his father on an island and one day, when his father needs some quiet time, Rory decides to go on an adventure by himself for the first time, unaware that his father's following behind to help.

If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't! - Elise Parsley
A child provides insights, based on personal experience, into everything that can go wrong if one brings an alligator to school for show-and-tell.

Board Book:

Red Light, Green Light - Yumi Heo
This board book features 10 lift-the flap traffic signs.

Teacher Resources

The Day the Crayons Quit: A Guide for the Book - Drew Daywalt
Explore the fun and quirky ways in which the crayons quit with this instructional guide for literature. Students will love analyzing the crayons' struggles and complaints by completing age-appropriate, rigorous yet fun activities and lessons provided in this guide. Readers will enjoy figuring out how Duncan convinces his crayons to come back to work. Analyzing story elements in multiple ways, close reading and text-based vocabulary practice, and determining meaning through text-dependent questions are just a few of the many skills students will walk away with after interacting with the rigorous and appealing cross-curricular lessons and activities in this resource. Written to support this playful, well-known book, each activity and lesson work in conjunction with the text to teach students how to analyze and comprehend literature while using their imagination.

Books in Bloom: Discovering the Plant Biology in Great Children's Literature
- Valerie Bang-Jensen and Mark Lubkowitz
Books in Bloom invites children to learn about science while experiencing a great story. Each chapter features an outstanding children's book that is grounded in plant biology and provides engaging activities and lesson plans related to curricular standards. Books in Bloom provides an opportunity for everyone who reads and gardens with children to teach science through literature.

The Graphic Canon of Children's Literature: The World's Greatest Kids' Lit as Comics and Visuals
Young people's literature through the ages is given new life by the best comics artists and illustrators. Fairy tales, fables, fantastical adventures, young adult novels, swashbuckling yarns, your favorite stories from childhood and your teenage years are adapted as short graphic stories. They're all here, in all their original complexity and strangeness, before they were censored or sanitized (including Red Riding Hood drinking her grandmother's blood).

Nonfiction

Elementary Grades
Your Healthy Body series (grades K-3):

Eat a Balanced Diet!

Get a  Good Night's Sleep!

Exercise!

Practice Good Hygiene!

Visit the Dentist!

Visit the Doctor!


Brands We Know series (grades 3-6) 

Disney

Hershey's

Kellogg's

LEGO

McDonald's

Nike

 

 Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla - Katherine Applegate
"The true story of Ivan, known as the Shopping Mall Gorilla, who lived alone in a small cage for almost 30 years before being relocated to the gorilla habitat at ZooAtlanta."-- Provided by publisher

Hidden: A Child's Story of the Holocaust - Loïc Dauvillier.
"A grandmother shares the story of her experiences in WWII with her grandchild in this graphic novel for young readers."-- Provided by publisher


The Underground Abductor: An Abolitionist Tale - Nathan Hale
Araminta Ross was born a slave in Delaware in the early 19th century. Slavery meant that her family could be ripped apart at any time, and that she could be put to work in dangerous places and for abusive people. But north of the Mason-Dixon line, slavery was illegal. If she could run away and make it north without being caught or killed, she'd be free. Facing enormous danger, Araminta made it, and once free, she changed her name to Harriet Tubman. Tubman spent the rest of her life helping slaves run away like she did, every time taking her life in her hands.

When the Slave Esperanca Garcia Wrote a Letter - Sonia Rosa
 Translation of: Quando a escrava Esperança Garcia escreveu uma carta. Esperanca Garcia, a literate slave, was moved from a Jesuit cotton farm in Brazil to be a cook, away from her husband and some of her children and wrote a letter to the governor asking to be returned to the cotton farm.

Bird and Diz - Ed Young
Presents a rhythmic tribute to Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, and their creation of bebop.



Grades 5-8

Everything World War I - Karen L. Kenney
A one hundredth anniversary tribute introduces World War I's key events, major battles, and most prominent players, incorporating informative photography, maps, and an interactive glossary.



How to Babysit a Leopard: And Other True Stories From Our Travels Across Six Continents
- Ted and Betsy Lewin
From Africa to Asia Pacific, from Europe to the United States of America, acclaimed authors/illustrators Ted and Betsy Lewin have roamed the earth taking on snakes, tracking mountain gorillas, and generally trying to avoid being eaten by various jungle creatures. Packed with pencil drawings, full-color illustrations, and captivating photographs, there is not a single dull moment as Ted and Betsy take the reader through their dramatic, funny, and often poignant stories...all true!"
-- Provided by publisher

Picture Books

Boats for Papa - Jessixa Bagley
Buckley and his mother cope with the loss of their father/husband by sending small wooden boats, built by Buckley, off into the ocean.

The Monkey and the Bee - C.P. Bloom
"The monkey has finally gotten his banana, but now a bumble bee wants a bite. The monkey tries to swat away the bee, but in the process finds himself with a bigger problem on his hands. Will the monkey and the bee be able to work together and become friends?"-- Provided by publisher

Bow-Wow Wiggle, Wiggle - Mary Newell DePalma
Simple, rhyming text follows a rambunctious dog throughout a day of fun.

And What if I Won't? - Maureen Fergus
A young boy's question about what his mother would do if he didn't put his plate in the sink turns into an imaginative adventure for both of them.

What Forest Knows - George Ella Lyon
Follows the changing seasons in a forest as trees and animals are nourished and are dependent on each other.

The Potato King - Christoph Niemann
King Fritz, aka Frederick the Great of Prussia, tricks his citizens into enjoying potatoes when he plants a field and has an army of men guard the perimeter.


Gingerbread for Liberty! How a German Baker Helped Win the American Revolution - Mara Rockliff
"A stirring picture book biography about a forgotten hero of the American Revolution who rose to the occasion and served his country, not with muskets or canons, but with gingerbread!"-- Provided by publisher

Ask Me - Bernard Waber
A father and daughter explore their neighborhood, talking and asking questions as they go.

Science & Nature Picture Books

The Most Amazing Creature in the Sea - Brenda Z. Guiberson
"Fascinating facts and spectacular illustrations will inspire young readers to choose their own favorite sea creature.s"-- Provided by publisher
 
 Egg: Nature's Perfect Package - Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
"Explore how a simple, often colorful, sometimes surprisingly shaped package, reveals nature's life cycle, unusual animal defensive strategies, parenting behavior, evolution, and more, in this beautifully illustrated non-fiction picture book."-- provided by publisher

Little Puffin's First Flight - Jonathan London
Follows a family of puffins from the time the parents greet one another off the coast of Alaska and prepare to raise a family, through the care of their fragile egg and ravenous chick, to Little Puffin's first flight across and into the sea. Includes facts about puffins.

Fur, Fins, and Feathers: Abraham Dee Bartlett and the Invention of the Modern Zoo - Cassandre Maxwell
Abraham Dee Bartlett knew from a young age that he wanted to spend his life working with animals. But in Victorian London, there weren't many jobs that provided an opportunity to do that. Still, Abraham spent years gaining knowledge and pursuing his dream until he eventually became superintendent in the London Zoo. Driven by his compassion for the animals, Abraham dramatically improved the conditions of the zoo to ensure that the animals could be happy and healthy.With engaging back matter and charming illustrations, Cassandre Maxwell's book brings to life the little-known story of the man who helped to create the modern zoo.

Plants Feed Me - Lizzy Rockwell
"Watermelons are fruits. Cabbages are leaves. Walnuts are seeds. Carrots are roots. People eat many parts of plants. Even flowers!" -- Provided by publisher


 Changes: A Child's First Poetry Collection - Charlotte Zolotow
"Published in time to mark what would have been the 100th birthday of acclaimed author/editor Zolotow, this collection of 28 seasonally organized poems celebrates the delightful, unexpected moments that arise as the months pass, temperatures change, and the Earth transforms itself."-- Provided by publisher

Fiction & Nonfiction for Young Adults

Fiction

The Heir - Kiera Cass
Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won Prince Maxon's heart. Now the time has come for Princess Eadlyn to hold a Selection of her own. Eadlyn doesn't expect her Selection to be anything like her parents' fairy-tale love story ... but as the competition begins, she may discover that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought.


Fairest - Marissa Meyer
"Queen Levana is a ruler who uses her "glamour" to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story - a story that has never been told...until now."-- Provided by publisher


I Am Princess X - Cherie Priest
Best friends Libby Deaton and May Harper invented Princess X when they were in fifth grade, but when the car Libby is in goes off a bridge, she is presumed dead, and the story came to an end--except now, three years later, Princess X is suddenly everywhere, with a whole underground culture focused on a webcomic, and May believes her friend must be alive.

Nonfiction

Up for Sale: Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery - Alison Marie Behnke
Describes human trafficking around the world, in which children and women are forced to work as prostitutes, debt slaves, household servants, and soldiers.

Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans - Don Brown
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina's monstrous winds and surging water overwhelmed the protective levees around low-lying New Orleans, Louisiana. Eighty percent of the city flooded, in some places under twenty feet of water. Property damages across the Gulf Coast topped $100 billion. One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three people lost their lives. The tale of this historic storm and the drowning of an American city is one of selflessness, heroism, and courage -- and also of incompetence, racism, and criminality. Don Brown's kinetic art and as-it-happens narrative capture both the tragedy and triumph of one of the worst natural disasters in American history.

Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business and Won! - Emily Arnold McCully
Tarbell was the catalyst for exposing the truth behind corruption and unfair business practices. She investigated and published works about the Standard Oil Trust for McClure's Magazine that informed the world of shady business dealings and skyrocketed her into the public eye. She wrote inspiring and engaging biographies on public figures, her most notable on Abraham Lincoln. Although largely forgotten as the country forged into the 20th century, her writing of the truth lives on.
A 2015 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist.

Fiction for Upper Elementary and Middle School

I Lived on Butterfly Hill - Marjorie Agosin
Eleven-year-old Celeste Marconi is a dreamer, a writer, a collector of words. But then a new whispered word trickles into her life: "Subversives." Her beloved country of Chile has been taken over by a military dictatorship, and subversives--people considered a threat to the new government--are in increasing danger. Celeste's doctor-parents must go into hiding to remain safe, and Celeste, heartsick, must say good-bye to them. But the situation continues to worsen. More and more people are "disappearing," and soon Celeste herself is sent thousands of miles away, all the way to the coast of Maine--where she doesn't have a single friend or know a word of English. How can she possibly call another country--a country where people eat breakfast out of a box, where people eat breakfast out of a box, where the cold grays of winter mirror the fears that envelope her--home? WIll she ever see Chile again? And is she does--what, and who, will she find there?

Circus Mirandus - Cassie Beasley
When he realizes that his grandfather's stories of an enchanted circus are true, Micah Tuttle sets out to find the mysterious Circus Mirandus--and to use its magic to save his grandfather's life.


Chasing Secrets - Gennifer Choldenko
Thirteen-year-old Lizzie and her secret friend Noah, who is hiding in her house, plan to rescue Noah's father from the quarantined Chinatown, and save everyone they love from contracting the plague that is spreading in 1900 San Francisco.


Roller Girl - Victoria Jamieson
A graphic novel adventure about a girl who discovers roller derby right as she and her best friend are growing apart.

Firefly Hollow - Alison McGhee
Because their dreams of daring adventures go against the cautious teachings of their nations, Firefly and Cricket set out on their own, find a home with kindly Vole, and together help a grieving "miniature giant" named Peter.

New Picture Books

I'm Trying to Love Spiders - Bethany Barton
This fresh and very funny non-fiction picture book shares lots of fascinating facts about spiders in an entirely captivating way. If "I'm Trying to Love Spiders" doesn't cure your spider phobia, it'll at least make you appreciate how amazing they are...and laugh a lot as you learn about them.

The Princess and the Pony  - Kate Beaton
Princess Pinecone would like a real war horse for her birthday, instead of which she gets a plump, cute pony--but sometimes cuteness can be a kind of weapon, especially in a fight with dodgeballs and spitballs and hairballs and squareballs.

Little Big - Jonathan Bentley
A little boy imagines what it would be like to be big, with long legs like a giraffe, big hands like a gorilla, or a big mouth like a crocodile, but realizes that there are advantages to being perfectly little.


Monkey Not Ready for Kindergarten - Marc Brown
Kindergarten is just a week away and Monkey is not ready, but with help and encouragement from family and friends, he begins to get excited.


Not This Bear: A First Day of School Story - Alyssa Satin Capucilli - It's Bear's first day of school, and he's a bit reluctant to go. Mama says all bears love school; Bear isn't so sure. But school turns out to be full of fun--painting pictures, listening to stories, and making new friends. Maybe this bear will like school after all.

The Day the Crayons Came Home - Drew Daywalt
One day, Duncan is happily coloring with his crayons when a stack of postcards arrives in the mail from his former crayons, each of which has run away or been left behind, and all of which want to come home.


By Mouse and Frog - Deborah Freedman
"Mouse has one idea about what a book should be and how to tell a story. Frog has another. What happens when these two very different friends try to create a book together?"-- Provided by publisher

The Night World - Modicai Gerstein
Sylvie the cat persuades her boy to go into the darkness very late at night, where they're greeted by the shadows of roses and other flowers, and by nocturnal animals who whisper, "It's almost here."


I Will Chomp You! - Jory John
A monster tries to chomp any reader who wants to go past the first page of the book in order to keep his cakes safe.

Float - Daniel Miyares
A wordless picture book about a boy who loses his paper boat in the rain.


If You Plant a Seed - Kadir Nelson
While planting seeds in their garden, two animals learn the value of kindness.

This is Sadie - Sara O'Leary

Sadie is a little girl with a big imagination. She has been a girl who lived under the sea and a boy raised by wolves. She has had adventures in wonderland and visited the world of fairytales. She whispers to the dresses in her closet and talks to birds in the treetops. She has wings that take her anywhere she wants to go, but that always bring her home again. She likes to make things -- boats out of boxes and castles out of cushions. But more than anything Sadie likes stories, because you can make them from nothing at all. For Sadie, the world is so full of wonderful possibilities ... This is Sadie, and this is her story.

Here Comes the Tooth Fairy Cat - Deborah Underwood
Cat tries to trick the Tooth Fairy, but he meets his match in a mischievous mouse.