Picture Books
Just because they are shelved in the children’s collection doesn’t mean they aren’t for you, too.
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Amiri and Odette : a love story Presents a modern, urban retelling in verse of the ballet in which brave Amiri falls in love with beautiful Odette and fights evil Big Red for her on the streets of the Swan Lake Projects. subjects: Love, African Americans, Ballet stories, Novels in verse |
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Arlene Sardine Follows the short life of Arlene, from brisling to canned sardine. subjects: Sardines—Fiction |
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Arnie the Doughnut: cooked up Arnie the talking doughnut convinces Mr. Bing that not all doughnuts are meant to be eaten. subjects: Doughnuts—Fiction. Humorous stories |
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Ask Me A collection of questions, such as "Who is your best friend?" and "Which story can you tell?" that can serve as a conversation starter for parents and their children. subjects: Parent and child; conversation |
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The Big Box Because they do not abide by the rules written by the adults around them, three children are judged unable to handle their freedom and forced to live in a box with three locks on the door. subjects: Behavior, Freedom, Stories in rhyme |
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Black and White Four brief "stories" about parents, trains, and cows, or is it really all one story? The author recommends careful inspection of words and pictures to both minimize and enhance confusion. awards: Caldecott Medal, 1991 subjects: Literary recreations |
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The Eleventh Hour : a curious
mystery Graeme Base E FIC Bas An elephant's eleventh birthday party is marked by eleven games preceding the banquet to be eaten at the eleventh hour; but when the time to eat arrives, the birthday feast has disappeared. The reader is invited to guess the thief. The solution is provided in a sealed end section. subjects: Elephants; Parties; Birthdays; Mystery and detective stories |
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Garmann's Summer Stian Hole J FIC Hol As the summer ends, six-year-old Garmann's three ancient aunts visit and they all talk about the things that scare them. |
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The Gift of Nothing Patrick McDonnell E FIC Mac Mooch the cat tries to think of a gift to give his friend Earl the dog. subjects: Gifts; Friendship; Cats; Dogs |
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Guji Guji Crocodile Guji Guji was raised by a family of ducks and things are great until one day he meets three crocodiles who tell him that he isn’t a duck. When they ask Guji Guji to help them trap the ducks he feels torn and must decide who he is, what he is, and what’s really important. subjects: Ducks—Juvenile fiction. Crocodiles—Juvenile fiction |
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How I Learned Geography As he spends hours studying his father's world map, a young boy escapes the hunger and misery of refugee life. Based on the author's childhood in Kazakhstan, where he lived as a Polish refugee during World War II. award: Caldecott Honor-2009 subjects: Refugees, Maps, Geography, Imagination |
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The Man Who Walked Between the Towers A lyrical evocation of Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers. awards: Caldecott Medal-2004 subjects: Petit, Philippe, 1949, World Trade Center, Tightrope walking, Aerialists |
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Michael Rosen's Sad Book A man tells about all the emotions that accompany his sadness over the death of his son, and how he tries to cope. subjects: Sadness, Emotions |
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The Mysteries of Harris Burdick Presents a series of loosely related drawings each accompanied by a title and a caption which the reader may use to make up his or her own story. subjects: Mystery and detective stories |
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Our Tree Named Steve In a letter to his children, a father recounts memories of the role Steve, the tree in their front yard, has played in their lives. subjects: Trees, Family life, Letters |
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The Paper Dragon A humble artist agrees to confront the terrifying dragon that threatens to destroy his village. subjects: Dragons, China, |
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Patrol: an American Soldier in Vietnam A frightened American soldier faces combat in the lush forests of Vietnam. subjects: Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975--Juvenile fiction, Soldiers |
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Pink and Say Say Curtis describes his meeting with Pinkus Aylee, a black soldier, during the Civil War, and their capture by Southern troops. subjects: United States—History—Civil War, 1861-1865—Fiction. Friendship—Fiction |
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Sélavi, That is Life: a Haitian story of hope A homeless boy on the streets of Haiti joins other street children, and together they build a home and a radio station where they can care for themselves and for other homeless children. awards: Texas: Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominees: 2006 subjects: Street children—Fiction. Homeless persons—Fiction. Haiti—Fiction |
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Smoky Night When the Los Angeles riots break out in the streets of their neighborhood, a young boy and his mother learn the values of getting along with others no matter what their background or nationality. awards: Caldecott Medal, 1995 subjects: Riots—California—Los Angeles—Fiction. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. Neighborliness—Fiction |
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Tuesday Frogs rise on their lily pads, float through the air, and explore the nearby houses while their inhabitants sleep. awards: Caldecott Medal, 1992 subjects: Frogs—Fiction |
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The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain I was born at the beginning of it all, on the Red side - the Communist side - of the Iron Curtain. Through annotated illustrations, journals, maps, and dreamscapes, Peter Sis shows what life was like for a child who loved to draw, proudly wore the red scarf of a Young Pioneer, stood guard at the giant statue of Stalin, and believed whatever he was told to believe. But adolescence brought questions. Cracks began to appear in the Iron Curtain, and news from the West slowly filtered into the country. Si;s learned about beat poetry, rock 'n' roll, blue jeans, and Coca-Cola. He let his hair grow long, secretly read banned books, and joined a rock band. Then came the Prague Spring of 1968, and for a teenager who wanted to see the world and meet the Beatles, this was a magical time. It was short-lived, however, brought to a sudden and brutal end by the Soviet-led invasion. But this brief flowering had provided a glimpse of new possibilities - creativity could be discouraged but not easily killed. subjects: Sís, Peter, 1949- --Childhood and youth, Czech Americans--Biography, Czechoslovakia--History--1945-1992--Juvenile literature |
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Weslandia Wesley's garden produces a crop of huge, strange plants which provide him with clothing, shelter, food, and drink, thus helping him create his own civilization and changing his life. subjects: Plants, Gardening, Civilization |
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Zen Shorts When Stillwater the bear moves into the neighborhood, the stories he tells to three siblings teach them to look at the world in new ways. Sequel: Zen Ties award: Caldecott Honor-2006 subjects: Bears, Brothers and sisters, storytelling |
List updated June 2010—Joanna Nigrelli
