Come to the Great World

Name of Book: Come to the Great World:  Poems from Around the Globe Author: Wendy Cooling Illustrator: Sheila Moxley Publisher: Holiday House ISBN: 0823418227 Audience: Ages 4-9 Summary: A collection of thirty-one poems that were written by poets from around the world.  The collection represents an array of cultures and emphasizes the uniqueness of each [...]

Goin’ Someplace Special

Name of Book: Goin’ Someplace Special Author: Patricia C. McKissack Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney Publisher: Antheneum Books ISBN: 0689818858 Audience: Ages: 6 – 12 Summary: Patricia C. McKissack recounts her own story of growing up in racially segregated Nashville, Tennessee during the 1950’s. Goin’ Someplace Special follows a girl named Tricia Ann as she leaves the [...]

Amazing Grace

Name of Book:  Amazing Grace Author:  Mary Hoffman Illustrator:  Caroline Binch Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers Audience:  Ages 4-8 Summary:  Grace has a vibrant creative imagination and she likes to enter into her story world and pretend to be the main character of the stories she encounters.  Grace’s teacher decided that they would do [...]

Elizabeth Leads the Way

Name of Book: Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote Author: Tanya Lee Stone Illustrator: Rebecca Gibbon Publisher: Henry Holt and Company Audience: Ages 4 – 10 Summary: This is the remarkable story of a remarkable woman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton.  From a very young age Elizabeth felt strongly that ALL [...]

Don’t Laugh at Me

Name of Book: Don’t Laugh at Me Author: Steve Seskin & Allen Shamblin Illustrator: Glin Dibley Publisher: Tricycle Press Audience: All ages Summary: Don’t Laugh at Me is the poignant tale of children and adults who wear braces, are chosen last for teams, beg on street corners and yet plead for acceptance and understanding.  The [...]

Henry’s Freedom Box

Name of Book: Henry’s Freedom Box Author: Ellen Levine Illustrator: Kadir Nelson Publisher: Scholastic Press Audience: 3 – 99 Summary: Henry’s Freedom Box is the poignant, harrowing and true story of Henry Brown, an African American slave, who in the mid-nineteenth century escaped slavery by mailing himself to freedom.  Henry traveled 350 miles in a [...]

Jubilee

Name of Book: Jubilee Author: Ellen Yeomans Illustrator: Tim Ladwig Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers Audience: Can be used with all ages Summary: Jubilee paints a beautiful picture, through words and illustrations, of what Heaven will be like, but also speaks to the glory of the Kingdom of God and our need to strive [...]

Whoever You Are

Name of Book: Whoever You Are Author: Mem Fox Illustrator: Leslie Staub Publisher: Voyager Books, Harcourt Publisher’s Intended Audience: Ages 3 – 7 Summary: Whoever You Are is the powerful, and yet simply told tale of our common humanity—“Whoever you are; wherever you are.” Literary Elements at Work: One of the most effective literary elements [...]