List

Category
Audience

Supertruck

Stephen Savage

When the city is hit by a colossal snowstorm, only one superhero can save the day. But who is this mysterious hero, and why does he disappear once his job is done?

Find out in this snowy tale about a little truck with a very big job, the second of Stephen Savage's vehicle-based picture books.

View Details >>

Winter Dance

Marion Dane Bauer

Snow is coming, and it's time to get ready The squirrel gathers nuts, the geese soar south, and the snowshoe hare puts on its new white coat. But what should the fox do? Each animal advises the fox that its own plan is best, but the fox thinks otherwise--yet it's not until he meets a golden-eyed friend that he finds the perfect way to celebrate the snowfall.

Stunning illustrations by the new talent Richard Jones are the perfect complement to the Newbery Honor winner Marion Dane Bauer's lyrical and playful homage to the natural world.

View Details >>

Waiting for Snow

Marsha Diane Arnold

Badger cannot wait one more minute for it to snow. When his friend Hedgehog explains that everything comes in its time, Badger is as unconvinced and impatient as ever. But Badger's friends have a few tricks up their sleeve to try to get the snow's attention and distract their pal in the meantime. In the end, Badger sees there's no trick--only waiting--until at last, it's time.

View Details >>

A Day So Gray

Marie Lamba

Once you start to notice, colors and reasons for gratitude are everywhere, and that changes everything! Celebrate the hues and comforts of a cozy winter day as a discontented girl at first notices only dull grays and browns in a snowy landscape but is coaxed by her friend to look more closely. Soon she finds orange berries, blue water, purple shadows, and more. Warm friendship and a fresh way of seeing things transform a snow-covered landscape from bleak to beautiful!

View Details >>

So Much Snow

Kristen Schroeder

A beautifully illustrated, rollicking read-aloud about forest animals who are caught—literally up to their ears and antlers—in a snowstorm.

On Monday, it starts to snow.
Silent swirling.
How high will it go?

Follow seven forest creatures, from a tiny mouse to a giant moose, as they hunker down in a snowstorm. As the week progresses, the snow piles up and up--even past Moose's antlers!

On Sunday, the sun starts to melt the snow, and it seems that, as the next week passes and it grows sunnier, spring has finally sprung. But wait...is that more snow?! This cumulative picture book is at once beautiful and lyrical and playful and joyful, with charming illustrations by a highly acclaimed illustrator.

View Details >>

Snowballs

Lois Ehlert

Pull on your mittens and head outside with Lois Ehlert for a snowball day Grab some snow and start rolling. With a few found objects, like buttons and fabric and seeds, and a little imagination, you can create a whole family out of snow. "Ehlert uses collages of cut paper and vibrant, textured objects to dazzling effect in her tribute to building a snowman--and snowgirl and snowcat. Her inventive designs extend the reader's perspective and tweak the limits of the picture-book format."--Publishers Weekly

View Details >>

Little Penguins

Cynthia Rylant

Newbery Medal–winning author Cynthia Rylant and Caldecott Honor-winning, bestselling illustrator Christian Robinson pair up to tell this wintry story about five little penguins enjoying a snowy day.
 
Snowflakes? Many snowflakes. Winter is coming. So begins this ever-so-simple story. As the snow starts to fall, the excited penguins pull out scarves, mittens, heavy socks, and boots, and Mama helps them bundle up. But when it’s time to go out, one timid penguin decides to stay home. Filled with waddling baby penguins, playful text, and delightful illustrations, this book feels like a young picture-book classic in the making.

View Details >>

Into the Snow

Yuki Kaneko

Into the Snow is an exuberant story told in the child's own voice. Celebrating immediacy and exploration, along with the tender bond between mother and child, this is a story that feels good, the way all real things do.

View Details >>

Winter Is Here

Kevin Henkes

This picture book about winter celebrates the sights, sounds, and smells of the season. From Caldecott Medalist and Newbery Honor author Kevin Henkes and acclaimed painter Laura Dronzek, the bestselling and award-winning creators of seasonal favorites When Spring Comes and In the Middle of Fall.

Snow falls, animals burrow, and children prepare for the wonders winter brings. Caldecott Medalist and award-winning author Kevin Henkes's striking text introduces basic concepts of language and the unique beauty of the winter season. Laura Dronzek's expressive paintings beautifully capture the joyful wonders of winter.

View Details >>

A Big Bed for Little Snow

Grace Lin

A companion to the Caldecott Honor book A Big Mooncake for Little Star!

A heartwarming and tender picture book introducing readers to their first snow, from award-winning, bestselling author-illustrator Grace Lin.
When it was quiet, Little Snow grinned and then jumped, jumped, jumped!
Little Snow loves the new big, soft bed Mommy made him for the long, cold winter nights. But Mommy says this bed is for sleeping, not jumping! What happens when he can't resist jump, jump, jumping on his new fluffy, bouncy bed?
Bestselling and award-winning author Grace Lin artfully introduces young readers to their first snow through striking illustrations and heartwarming moments.

View Details >>

Mouse and Mole, a Winter Wonderland

Wong Herbert Yee

Yippee! It is a winter wonderland! What better day for Mouse and Mole to go sledding, whirl around on ice skates, and build snowmen together?

But Mole does not want to go outside. Too cold! Too windy! He prefers to stay as snug as a bug in a rug inside his nice, warm bed.

Mouse is lonely. Ice skating and sledding just aren't as fun for one. Then she gets an idea...a Sno-Mole might do the trick! Mole won't be needing his hat or scarf or mittens...or will he?

Sometimes even best friends want to do different things. But at the end of a cold winter's day, it's nice to know that your best friend will be there waiting for you, with warm mittens and all.

View Details >>

Best in Snow

April Pulley Sayre

With gorgeous photo illustrations, award-winning author April Pulley Sayre sheds sparkly new light on the wonders of snow. From the beauty of snow blanketing the forest and falling on animals’ fur and feathers to the fascinating winter water cycle, this nonfiction picture book celebrates snowfall and the amazing science behind it.

View Details >>

Winter's Coming

Jan Thornhill

Lily, a young snowshoe hare, is surprised to notice the leaves changing color in her forest home. She hears from a passing flock of birds that "Winter's coming." Lily doesn't know who or what winter is, but it must be frightening. Why else would the birds be escaping south? And it must have an enormous appetite. Why else would the squirrel be hiding his food? And why would the caterpillar curl up and freeze as solid as an acorn? As Lily learns the ways in which her forest friends prepare for winter's arrival, she becomes more and more worried about what she should be doing. Finally, the brown bear points out that Lily has been preparing without even knowing it: her fur is thickening and turning white to help her camouflage in the changing weather. This fascinating story introduces the ways in which different animals adapt to survive winter and is complemented by illustrations in a mix of collage, drawing, and digital montage.

View Details >>

The Storm Whale in Winter

Benji Davies

In this sequel to The Storm Whale, the boy, Noi, is caught in a storm at sea and his whale friend comes to his rescue.

When Noi's dad sails out on one last fishing trip before winter, Noi waits for him at home. But as the storm worsens and his dad does not return, Noi decides to go looking for his dad. But the storm is powerful and dangerous, and soon Noi, too, is stuck in the icy sea. When it seems that all hope is lost, a friend comes to help Noi and his father. Poignant and evocative, this is a beautiful celebration of friendship and family, and the special bond between a father and son.

View Details >>

Hello Winter!

Shelley Rotner

Vivid photographs of frozen wonderlands and cold-weather fun come together in a lively tribute to winter by an acclaimed author-photographer.

This third book in a celebrated series about the seasons takes children from the shortest day of the year to the approach of spring. In beautiful photographs and a short text ROTNER notes changes in the physical earth as winter approaches as well as animal and plant adaptations. A glossary is included.

View Details >>

Sam's Super Seats

Keah Brown

A joyful picture book about a disabled girl with cerebral palsy who goes back-to-school shopping with her best friends, from #DisabledandCute creator and The Pretty One author Keah Brown.

Sam loves herself, learning, and making her family and friends laugh. She also loves comfortable seats, including a graceful couch named after Misty Copeland and Laney, the sassy backseat of Mom’s car.

After a busy morning of rest, Sam and her friends try on cute outfits at the mall and imagine what the new school year might bring. It’s not until Sam feels tired, and the new seat she meets isn’t so super, that she discovers what might be her best idea all day.

With hilarious, charming text by Keah Brown and exuberant illustrations by Sharee Miller, Sam’s Super Seats celebrates the beauty of self-love, the power of rest, and the necessity of accessible seating in public spaces. Includes narrative description of art for those with low/limited vision.

View Details >>

A Tulip in Winter

Kathy Stinson

A celebration of a beloved folk artist, and her artistic expression of joy and beauty.

Known for her vibrant and cheerful paintings of landscapes, plants, and animals, Maud Lewis' iconic folk art is celebrated around the world. Despite her beautiful art, she spent much of her life living in poverty with rheumatoid arthritis. In this stunning picture book, author Kathy Stinson and illustrator Lauren Soloy bring Maud's world to life: how she captured in her art what she loved most, while navigating the mobility issues caused by her condition. From bright paintings of the sea and countryside, to the flowers and birds she painted on the walls of the small house she shared with her husband, Maud's work continues to delight and inspire viewers young and old.

View Details >>

I Talk Like a River

Jordan Scott

Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award
Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Winner


What if words got stuck in the back of your mouth whenever you tried to speak? What if they never came out the way you wanted them to?

Sometimes it takes a change of perspective to get the words flowing.

A New York Times Best Children's Book of the Year


I wake up each morning with the sounds of words all around me.

And I can't say them all . . .

When a boy who stutters feels isolated, alone, and incapable of communicating in the way he'd like, it takes a kindly father and a walk by the river to help him find his voice. Compassionate parents everywhere will instantly recognize a father's ability to reconnect a child with the world around him.

Poet Jordan Scott writes movingly in this powerful and ultimately uplifting book, based on his own experience, and masterfully illustrated by Greenaway Medalist Sydney Smith. A book for any child who feels lost, lonely, or unable to fit in.

View Details >>

A Bird Will Soar

Alison Green Myers

After a tornado, Axel, who loves birds, finds an injured eaglet, and helps to rescue it--and also helps to resolve the problems in his broken family, and draw his father back home.

View Details >>

My City Speaks

Darren Lebeuf

A young girl’s exploration of the city she loves. A young girl and her father spend a day in the city, her city, traveling to the places they go together. As they do, the girl, who is visually impaired, describes what she senses in delightfully precise, poetic detail. Her city, she says, “pitters and patters, and drips and drains.” It’s both “smelly” and “sweet.” Her city also speaks, as it “dings and dongs and rattles and roars.” And sometimes, maybe even some of the best times, it just listens. A celebration of all there is to appreciate in our surroundings — just by paying attention!

View Details >>

A Walk in the Words

Hudson Talbott

Winner of a Schneider Family Honor!

“A beautifully rendered and deeply inspiring book for everyone who has ever read slowly—myself included! Hudson shows us the beauty and magic that can come from taking our time. Brilliant.”—Jacqueline Woodson

Hudson Talbott's inspiring story vividly reveals the challenges--and ultimately the rewards--of being a non-mainstream kind of learner.

When Hudson Talbott was a little boy, he loved drawing, and it came naturally to him. But reading? No way! One at a time, words weren't a problem, but long sentences were a struggle. As his friends moved on to thicker books, he kept his slow reading a secret. But that got harder every year. He felt alone, lost, and afraid in a world of too many words.
Fortunately, his love of stories wouldn't let him give up. He started giving himself permission to read at his own pace, using the words he knew as stepping-stones to help draw him into a story. And he found he wasn't so alone--in fact, lots of brilliant people were slow readers, too. Learning to accept the fact that everyone does things in their own unique way, and that was okay, freed him up and ultimately helped Hudson thrive and become the fabulous storyteller he is today.

View Details >>

All Are Welcome

Alexandra Penfold

Join the call for a better world with this New York Times bestselling picture book about a school where diversity and inclusion are celebrated. The perfect back-to-school read for every kid, family and classroom!
In our classroom safe and sound.
Fears are lost and hope is found.


Discover a school where all young children have a place, have a space, and are loved and appreciated.

Readers will follow a group of children through a day in their school, where everyone is welcomed with open arms. A school where students from all backgrounds learn from and celebrate each other's traditions. A school that shows the world as we will make it to be.

“An important book that celebrates diversity and inclusion in a beautiful, age-appropriate way.” – Trudy Ludwig, author of The Invisible Boy

 

View Details >>

We Move Together

Kelly Fritsch

A bold and colorful exploration of all the ways that people navigate through the spaces around them and a celebration of the relationships we build along the way. We Move Together follows a mixed-ability group of kids as they creatively negotiate everyday barriers and find joy and connection in disability culture and community. The authors disabled, parents, and activists-have struggled to find books to read to their own kids that positively feature disabled characters in an engaging and non-didactic manner. Not surprising given that, in a recent study of 258 main characters in children's picture books, only one was visibly disabled. That's why they created this perfect tool for families, schools, and libraries to facilitate conversations about disability, accessibility, social justice, and community building. This fun and inspiring book includes a kid-friendly glossary (for ages 3-10)

View Details >>

I Am Not a Label

Cerrie Burnell

In this stylishly illustrated biography anthology, meet 30 artists, thinkers, athletes, and activists with disabilities, from past and present. From Frida Kahlo to Stephen Hawking, find out how these iconic figures have overcome obstacles, owned their differences, and paved the way for others by making their bodies and minds work for them.

These short biographies tell the stories of people who have faced unique challenges that have not stopped them from becoming trailblazers, innovators, advocates, and makers. Each person is a leading figure in their field, be it sports, science, math, art, breakdancing, or the world of pop.

Challenge your preconceptions of disability and mental health with the eye-opening stories of these remarkable people:

Ludwig van Beethoven, Gustav Kirchoff, Henri Matisse, Eliza Suggs, Helen Keller,
Frida Kahlo, John Nash, Stephen Hawking, Temple Grandin, Stevie Wonder, Nabil Shaban, Terry Fox, Peter Dinklage, Wanda Diaz Merced, Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, Dr Victor Pineda, Farida Bedwei, Stella Young, Lady Gaga, Arunima Sinha, Naoki Higashida, Isabella Spingmuhl Tejada, Aaron Philip, Catalina Devandas Aguilar, Redouan Ait Chitt, Jonas Jacobsson, Trischa Zorn, Ade Adepitan, and Nick Jonas.

View Details >>

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

Dusti Bowling

Aven Green loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, or a wildfire in Tanzania, but the truth is she was born without them. And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she'll have to answer the question over and over again.

Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined. It's hard to solve a mystery, help a friend, and face your worst fears. But Aven's about to discover she can do it all . . . even without arms.

View Details >>

The Language of Seabirds

Will Taylor

A sweet, tender middle-grade story of two boys finding first love with each other over a seaside summer.

Jeremy is not excited about the prospect of spending the summer with his dad and his uncle in a seaside cabin in Oregon. It's the first summer after his parents' divorce, and he hasn't exactly been seeking alone time with his dad. He doesn't have a choice, though, so he goes... and on his first day takes a walk on the beach and finds himself intrigued by a boy his age running by. Eventually, he and Runner Boy (Evan) meet -- and what starts out as friendship blooms into something neither boy is expecting... and also something both boys have been secretly hoping for.

View Details >>

Honestly Elliott

Gillian McDunn

Schneider Family Book Award: Best Middle Grade Honor Book!

Highly-acclaimed author of Caterpillar Summer, Gillian McDunn explores boyhood in a funny, big-hearted story about a kid trying to find the best way to be his best self.

Elliott isn't sure where he fits in. Ever since his best friend moved away and his dad and stepmom announced the arrival of their new baby, he's been feeling invisible. Plus his dad just doesn't seem to understand what having ADHD really feels like, or why cooking is the one activity where Elliott's mind clicks into place.

When he's paired with the super smart and popular Maribel for a school project, Elliott worries she'll be just another person who underestimates him. But Maribel is also looking for a new way to show others her true self and this project could be the chance they've both been waiting for. Sometimes the least likely friends help you see a new side to things . . . and sometimes you have to make a few mistakes before you figure out what's right.
 

View Details >>

What Happened to You?

James Catchpole

This accessible, funny, and groundbreaking story addresses the questions children often ask, as well as a disabled child's choice not to answer.

What happened to you? Was it a shark? A burglar? A lion? Did it fall off? A boy named Joe is trying to play pirates at the playground, but he keeps being asked what happened to his leg. Bombarded with questions and silly suggestions, Joe becomes more and more fed up...until the kids finally understand they don't need to know what happened. And that they're wasting valuable playtime!

Based on the author's real childhood experiences, this honest, funny, and authentic picture book is an empowering read for anyone with a disability, and for young readers learning how best to address differences.

View Details >>

Aniana del Mar Jumps In

Jasminne Mendez

A powerful and expertly told novel in verse by an award-winning poet, about a 12-year-old Dominican American swimmer who is diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis.

Aniana del Mar belongs in the water like a dolphin belongs to the sea. But she and Papi keep her swim practices and meets hidden from Mami, who has never recovered from losing someone she loves to the water years ago. That is, until the day Ani’s stiffness and swollen joints mean she can no longer get out of bed, and Ani is forced to reveal just how important swimming is to her. Mami forbids her from returning to the water but Ani and her doctor believe that swimming along with medication will help Ani manage her disease. What follows is the journey of a girl who must grieve who she once was in order to rise like the tide and become the young woman she is meant to be. Aniana Del Mar Jumps In is a poignant story about chronic illness and disability, the secrets between mothers and daughters, the harm we do to the ones we love the most—and all the triumphs, big and small, that keep us afloat.

View Details >>

My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay

Cari Best

Zulay and her three best friends are all in the same first grade class and study the same things, even though Zulay is blind. When their teacher asks her students what activity they want to do on Field Day, Zulay surprises everyone when she says she wants to run a race. With the help of a special aide and the support of her friends, Zulay does just that.

View Details >>

The Pirate of Kindergarten

George Ella Lyon

Doubles are good for lots of things—double scoops of ice cream, double features at the movies. But double vision is NOT a good kind of double. In fact, it can make kindergarten kind of hard. Ginny sees double chairs at reading circle and double words in her books. She knows that only half of what she sees is real, but which half? The solution to her problem is wondrously simple: an eye patch! Ginny becomes the pirate of kindergarten.With the help of her pirate patch, Ginny can read, run, and even snip her scissors with double the speed! Vibrant illustrations from Lynne Avril capture the realities of what Ginny sees both before and after.

View Details >>

Search for a Giant Squid

Amy Seto Forrester

A new and exciting pick-your-path STEM adventure for emerging readers!

This series starter takes emerging readers on an expedition to the ocean's twilight zone in search of a giant squid. But giant squids are hard to find. Readers will need to join the expedition and help make choices along the way.

First they'll pick their submersible. And then their pilot and dive site. They'll need to be careful--not every path leads where it seems, but whatever path they pick, they'll see and learn amazing things!

View Details >>

Listen

Shannon Stocker

* Schneider Family Book Award Winner *

A gorgeous and empowering picture book biography about Evelyn Glennie, a deaf woman, who became the first full-time solo percussionist in the world.


"No. You can't," people said.
But Evelyn knew she could. She had found her own way to listen.

From the moment Evelyn Glennie heard her first note, music held her heart. She played the piano by ear at age eight, and the clarinet by age ten. But soon, the nerves in her ears began to deteriorate, and Evelyn was told that, as a deaf girl, she could never be a musician. What sounds Evelyn couldn’thear with her ears, though, she could feel resonate through her body as if she, herself, were a drum. And the music she created was extraordinary. Evelyn Glennie had learned how to listen in a new way. And soon, the world was listening too.

View Details >>

Piece by Piece

David Aguilar

The heartfelt and funny memoir of a boy who built himself a prosthetic arm out of the world-famous toy bricks.

David Aguilar was born missing part of one arm, a small detail that seemed to define his life and limit people's ideas of who he was and who he could be. But in his funny and heartfelt memoir, David proves that he can throw out the rulebook and people's expectations and maybe even make a difference in the world--and all with a sense of humor. At only nine years old, David built his first prosthesis from LEGO bricks, and since then he hasn't stopped creating and thinking about how his inventions, born from a passion for building things, could fuel change and help others.

With a voice full of personality and heart, David tells his powerful story, of family and friendship, of heartbreak and loss, and ultimately of triumph and success, as he continues to dream big and build a life and a better world--piece by piece.

View Details >>

Song in the City

Daniel Bernstrom

From Daniel Bernstrom, the acclaimed author of One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree, comes a charming and irresistibly fun picture book about a young blind girl and her grandmother who experience the vibrant everyday music of their busy city.

A young girl, filled with the sounds of her beloved city, shares a song with her grandmother that changes the two forever. After helping Grandma realize that the city makes music as beautiful as the sounds they hear in church on Sunday morning, the two sit down and take in all the sounds of the city...together.

Song in the City bridges the gap between generations of music and family, while centering love, understanding, and joy.

A Bank Street College of Education's Children's Book Committee's Best Children's Books of the Year pick!

View Details >>

Abdul's Story

Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow

A 2022 New York Public Library Best Book for Kids!

A little boy who loves storytelling but struggles with writing learns that it’s okay to make mistakes in this charming and encouraging picture book from the author of Mommy’s Khimar.

Abdul loves to tell stories. But writing them down is hard. His letters refuse to stay straight and face the right way. And despite all his attempts, his papers often wind up with more eraser smudges than actual words. Abdul decides his stories just aren’t meant to be written down…until a special visitor comes to class and shows Abdul that even the best writers—and superheroes—make mistakes.

View Details >>

Brilliant Bea

Shaina Rudolph

An endearing and empowering story that demonstrates that a learning difference like dyslexia doesn't define who you are.

Despite her struggles with reading and writing, Beatrice is a natural and brilliant storyteller. With the help of a kind-hearted teacher, Beatrice uses an old-fashioned tape recorder so she can speak her words and then play them back, as a technique for learning in whole new way. With her new approach, Beatrice is able to show her classmates who she really has been all along.

This book is set in EasyReading, a dyslexia-friendly font.

View Details >>

We Want to Go to School!

Maryann Cocca-Leffler

A Junior Library Guild Selection February 2022

The true story of the people who helped make every public school a more inclusive place.

There was a time in the United States when millions of children with disabilities weren't allowed to go to public school. But in 1971, seven kids and their families wanted to do something about it. They knew that every child had a right to an equal education, so they went to court to fight for that right. The case Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia led to laws ensuring children with disabilities would receive a free, appropriate public education. Told in the voice of Janine Leffler, one of the millions of kids who went to school because of these laws, this book shares the true story of this landmark case.

View Details >>

Allergic

Megan Wagner Lloyd

A coming-of-age middle-grade graphic novel featuring a girl with severe allergies who just wants to find the perfect pet!

At home, Maggie is the odd one out. Her parents are preoccupied with getting ready for a new baby, and her younger brothers are twins and always in their own world. Maggie loves animals and thinks a new puppy to call her own is the answer, but when she goes to select one on her birthday, she breaks out in hives and rashes. She's severely allergic to anything with fur!

Can Maggie outsmart her allergies and find the perfect pet? With illustrations by Michelle Mee Nutter, Megan Wagner Lloyd uses inspiration from her own experiences with allergies to tell a heartfelt story of family, friendship, and finding a place to belong.

View Details >>

Growing Pangs

Kathryn Ormsbee

Katie's always felt different. She's homeschooled, she has freckles, and her teeth are really crooked. But none of these things matter to Kacey. They’re best friends forever—just like their necklaces say. But when they go to summer camp, Kacey starts acting weird. What happened to the “forever”? And when Katie gets home, she can’t stop worrying. About getting braces. About 6th grade. About friends. She knows tapping three times or opening and closing a drawer won’t make everything better . . . but sometimes it helps stop the worrying. Is something wrong with her? And will anyone want to be friends with her if they find out?

View Details >>

A Sky-blue Bench

Bahram Rahman

 

It's Afghani schoolgirl Aria's first day back at school since her accident. She's excited, but she's also worried about sitting on the hard floor all day with her new prosthetic "helper-leg."

 

Just as Aria feared, sitting on the floor is so uncomfortable that she can't think about learning at all. She knows that before the war changed many things in Afghanistan, schools like hers had benches for students to sit at. If she had a bench, her leg would not hurt so much. The answer is obvious: she will gather materials, talk to Kaka Najar, the carpenter in the old city, and learn to build a bench for herself.

 

In A Sky-Blue Bench, Bahram Rahman, author of The Library Bus, returns again to the setting of his homeland, Afghanistan, to reveal the resilience and resolve of young children--especially young girls--who face barriers to education. Illustrator Peggy Collins imbues Aria with an infectious spunkiness and grit that make her relatable even to readers with a very different school experience. An author's note gently introduces an age-appropriate discussion of landmines and their impact on the lives of children in many nations, especially Afghanistan, which has the highest concentration of landmines of any country in the world.

 

View Details >>

Just Ask!

Sonia Sotomayor

Feeling different, especially as a kid, can be tough. But in the same way that different types of plants and flowers make a garden more beautiful and enjoyable, different types of people make our world more vibrant and wonderful.

In Just Ask, United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor celebrates the different abilities kids (and people of all ages) have. Using her own experience as a child who was diagnosed with diabetes, Justice Sotomayor writes about children with all sorts of challenges--and looks at the special powers those kids have as well. As the kids work together to build a community garden, asking questions of each other along the way, this book encourages readers to do the same: When we come across someone who is different from us but we're not sure why, all we have to do is Just Ask.

View Details >>

Ali and the Sea Stars

Ali Stroker

Tony Award-winning actress Ali Stroker captures the magic and community of theater in her debut picture book, about a spirited girl in a wheelchair who stages a show for her hometown. Based on the pivotal summer Ali performed in her first musical by the Jersey Shore!

Ali loves to dance, sing, and act. But she had never thought of putting on her own show until her neighbor asks, "Why wait?" Immediately energized, Ali gets to work.

There's so much to do before showtime--choosing the right musical, auditions, rehearsal, costume and set design--but Ali can do anything with her family and friends. When a storm threatens to undo all their hard work, Ali must use her imagination and adapt so the show can go on!

Includes an inspiring letter from Ali to readers on how she developed confidence while on-stage and how theater encourages teamwork and creativity.

View Details >>

Not So Different

Shane Burcaw

Not So Different offers a humorous, relatable, and refreshingly honest glimpse into Shane Burcaw’s life. Shane tackles many of the mundane and quirky questions that he’s often asked about living with a disability, and shows readers that he’s just as approachable, friendly, and funny as anyone else.

Shane Burcaw was born with a rare disease called spinal muscular atrophy, which hinders his muscles’ growth. As a result, his body hasn’t grown bigger and stronger as he’s gotten older—it’s gotten smaller and weaker instead. This hasn’t stopped him from doing the things he enjoys (like eating pizza and playing sports and video games) with the people he loves, but it does mean that he routinely relies on his friends and family for help with everything from brushing his teeth to rolling over in bed.

View Details >>

Unbound: The Life and Art of Judith Scott

Joyce Scott

A moving and powerful introduction to the life and art of renowned artist, Judith Scott, as told by her twin sister, Joyce Scott and illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist, Melissa Sweet.

Judith Scott was born with Down syndrome. She was deaf, and never learned to speak. She was also a talented artist. Judith was institutionalized until her sister Joyce reunited with her and enrolled her in an art class. Judith went on to become an artist of renown with her work displayed in museums and galleries around the world.

Poignantly told by Joyce Scott in collaboration with Brie Spangler and Melissa Sweet and beautifully illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist, Melissa Sweet, Unbound is inspiring and warm, showing us that we can soar beyond our perceived limitations and accomplish something extraordinary.

View Details >>

Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah

Laurie Ann Thompson

Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah's inspiring true story—which was turned into a film, Emmanuel's Gift, narrated by Oprah Winfrey—is nothing short of remarkable.

Born in Ghana, West Africa, with one deformed leg, he was dismissed by most people—but not by his mother, who taught him to reach for his dreams. As a boy, Emmanuel hopped to school more than two miles each way, learned to play soccer, left home at age thirteen to provide for his family, and, eventually, became a cyclist. He rode an astonishing four hundred miles across Ghana in 2001, spreading his powerful message: disability is not inability. Today, Emmanuel continues to work on behalf of the disabled.

Thompson's lyrical prose and Qualls's bold collage illustrations offer a powerful celebration of triumphing over adversity.

Includes an author's note with more information about Emmanuel's charity.

View Details >>

El Deafo

Cece Bell

Starting a new school is scary, even more so with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest. At her old school, everyone in Cece's class was deaf. Here she is different. She is sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends. Then Cece makes a startling discovery. With the Phonic Ear she can hear her teacher not just in the classroom, but anywhere her teacher is in the school -- in the hallway ... in the teacher's lounge ... in the bathroom! This is power, maybe even superpower. Cece is on her way to becoming El Deafo, listener for all. But the funny thing about being a superhero is that it's just another way of feeling different ... and lonely. Can Cece channel her powers into finding the thing she wants most, a true friend?

View Details >>

Sleuthing Machine

Dusti Bowling

"Third-grader Aven Green has been solving mysteries for a whole month, cracking such cases as The Mystery of the Cranky Mom. But can this perceptive detective solve two cases at the same time? First her teacher's lunch bag disappears. Then Aven's great-grandma's dog goes missing. Fortunately, since Aven was born without arms, all the "arm" cells went to her super-powered brain instead. (That's her theory.)"--

View Details >>

Frankie's World: A Graphic Novel

Aoife Dooley

From acclaimed Autistic Irish comedian Aoife Dooley comes a fresh and funny debut middle-grade graphic novel about fitting in and standing out.

 

Frankie is different from everyone in her class, and she can't figure out why. She has trouble concentrating, and her classmates tease her for not having a dad at home. To try to make sense of the world, Frankie doodles her daily adventures in a journal. One day, when Frankie sneaks into her mom's room and sees her biological father's name on her birth certificate, she decides to go on a mission to track him down. Could Frankie's father be the key to finding out why Frankie feels so adrift?

A unique story told with a light touch and an abundance of warmth and wit, Frankie's World is laugh-out-loud funny and a love letter to daring to be different.

View Details >>

Wink

Rob Harrell

A hilarious and heartwrenching story about surviving middle school--and an unthinkable diagnosis--while embracing life's weirdness.

Ross Maloy just wants to be a normal seventh grader. He doesn't want to lose his hair, or wear a weird hat, or deal with the disappearing friends who don't know what to say to "the cancer kid." But with his recent diagnosis of a rare eye cancer, blending in is off the table.

Based on Rob Harrell's real life experience, and packed with comic panels and spot art, this incredibly personal and poignant novel is an unforgettable, heartbreaking, hilarious, and uplifting story of survival and finding the music, magic, and laughter in life's weirdness.

This paperback edition includes an exclusive sneak peek to Rob Harrell’s next book, Batpig: When Pigs Fly!

View Details >>

Charlie and Frog (A Charlie and Frog book)

Karen Kane

Edgar Award Nominee for Best Middle Grade Mystery
All Charlie Tickler wants is for his parents to listen.


Charlie's parents have left him (again). This time they are off to South Africa to help giant golden moles. And Charlie? He's been dumped with his TV-obsessed grandparents. Lonely and curious, Charlie heads into the village of Castle-on-the-Hudson, where a frightened old woman gives him a desperate message-in sign language. When she suddenly disappears, Charlie is determined to find answers.


All Francine (aka Frog) Castle wants is to be the world's greatest detective.


Frog, who is Deaf, would rather be solving crimes than working at the Flying Hands Café. When Charlie Tickler walks into the café looking for help, Frog jumps at the chance to tackle a real-life case.
Together, Charlie and Frog set out to decipher a series of clues and uncover the truth behind the missing woman's mysterious message. Charlie needs to learn American Sign Language (fast) to keep up with quick-witted Frog. And Frog needs to gather her detective know-how (now) to break the case before it's too late.
Discover the surprising ways people listen in debut author Karen Kane's page-turning mystery filled with humor, intrigue, and heartwarming friendships.

View Details >>

How to Build a Hug

Amy Guglielmo

Amy Guglielmo, Jacqueline Tourville, and Giselle Potter come together to tell the inspiring story of autism advocate Dr. Temple Grandin and her brilliant invention: the hug machine.

As a young girl, Temple Grandin loved folding paper kites, making obstacle courses, and building lean-tos. But she really didn’t like hugs. Temple wanted to be held—but to her, hugs felt like being stuffed inside the scratchiest sock in the world; like a tidal wave of dentist drills, sandpaper, and awful cologne, coming at her all at once. Would she ever get to enjoy the comfort of a hug?

Then one day, Temple had an idea. If she couldn’t receive a hug, she would make one…she would build a hug machine!

View Details >>

Dream Builder

Kelly Starling Lyons

Jane Addams Children's Book Award, Jane Addams Peace Association
Junior Library Guild Selection
Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction, Recommended Title, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Choices, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

You've seen the building. Now meet the man whose life went into it.

Philip Freelon's grandfather was an acclaimed painter of the Harlem Renaissance. His father was a successful businessman who attended the 1963 March on Washington. When Phil decided to attend architecture school, he created his own focus on African American and Islamic designers. He later chose not to build casinos or prisons, instead concentrating on schools, libraries, and museums--buildings that connect people with heritage and fill hearts with joy. And in 2009, Phil's team won a commission that let him use his personal history in service to the country's: the extraordinary Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon celebrates a contemporary black STEAM role model, a man whose quiet work enabled the creation of an iconic building reflecting America's past and future. With a stirring text by Kelly Starling Lyons, vibrant pictures by Laura Freeman, and an afterword from Philip Freelon himself, it is sure to inspire the next generation of dreamers and builders.

View Details >>

Turning Pages

Sonia Sotomayor

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor tells her own story for young readers for the very first time!

As the first Latina Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor has inspired young people around the world to reach for their dreams. But what inspired her? For young Sonia, the answer was books! They were her mirrors, her maps, her friends, and her teachers. They helped her to connect with her family in New York and in Puerto Rico, to deal with her diabetes diagnosis, to cope with her father's death, to uncover the secrets of the world, and to dream of a future for herself in which anything was possible.

In Turning Pages, Justice Sotomayor shares that love of books with a new generation of readers, and inspires them to read and puzzle and dream for themselves. Accompanied by Lulu Delacre's vibrant art, this story of the Justice's life shows readers that the world is full of promise and possibility--all they need to do is turn the page.

View Details >>

A Different Kind of Normal

Abigail Balfe

In this joyfully illustrated memoir, author-illustrator Abigail Balfe recounts her journey growing up autistic and the challenges of navigating the "normal" world around her.

Hi! My name is Abigail, and I'm autistic. But I didn't know I was autistic until I was (kind of) an adult. This is my true story of growing up in the confusing "normal" world, all the while missing some Very Important Information about myself.

There'll be scary moments involving toilets and crowded trains, heartwarming tales of cats and pianos, and funny memories including my dad and a mysterious tub of ice cream. Along the way, you'll also find some Very Crucial Information about autism.

Important, funny, and completely unique, this book is for anyone who has ever felt different.

View Details >>

Five Things about Ava Andrews

Margaret Dilloway

A heartfelt and funny story about a shy eleven-year-old who learns to manage her anxiety through improv classes--and discovers her activist voice. From Margaret Dilloway, author of Summer of a Thousand Pies, and perfect for fans of Sharon Draper, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, and Holly Goldberg Sloan.

Eleven-year-old Ava Andrews has a Technicolor interior with a gray shell. On the inside, she bubbles with ideas and plans. On the outside, everyone except her best friend, Zelia, thinks she doesn't talk or, worse, is stuck-up. What nobody knows is that Ava has invisible disabilities: anxiety and a heart condition.

Ava hopes middle school will be a fresh start, but when Zelia moves across the country and Ava's Nana Linda pushes her to speak up about social issues, she withdraws further. So Ava is shocked when her writing abilities impress her classmates and they invite her to join their improv group, making up stories onstage. Determined to prove she can control her anxiety, she joins--and discovers a whole new side of herself, and what it means to be on a team.

But as Ava's self-confidence blossoms, her relationship with Zelia strains, and she learns that it isn't enough just to raise your voice--it's how and why you use it that matters.

View Details >>

The Wild Book

Margarita Engle

Fefa struggles with words. She has word blindness, or dyslexia, and the doctor says she will never read or write. Every time she tries, the letters jumble and spill off the page, leaping and hopping away like bullfrogs. How will she ever understand them?

But her mother has an idea. She gives Fefa a blank book filled with clean white pages. "Think of it as a garden," she says. Soon Fefa starts to sprinkle words across the pages of her wild book. She lets her words sprout like seedlings, shaky at first, then growing stronger and surer with each new day. And when her family is threatened, it is what Fefa has learned from her wild book that saves them.

View Details >>

Moonwalking

Zetta Elliott

"This novel in verse, alternately narrated by two boys in 1980s Greenpoint, Brooklyn, one channeled by Elliott and one by Miller-Lachmann, eloquently tackles race, culture and life on the spectrum." — The New York Times

For fans of Jason Reynolds and Jacqueline Woodson, this middle-grade novel-in-verse follows two boys in 1980s Brooklyn as they become friends for a season.

Punk rock-loving JJ Pankowski can't seem to fit in at his new school in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, as one of the only white kids. Pie Velez, a math and history geek by day and graffiti artist by night is eager to follow in his idol, Jean-Michel Basquiat's, footsteps. The boys stumble into an unlikely friendship, swapping notes on their love of music and art, which sees them through a difficult semester at school and at home. But a run-in with the cops threatens to unravel it all.

From authors Zetta Elliott and Lyn Miller-Lachmann, Moonwalking is a stunning exploration of class, cross-racial friendships, and two boys' search for belonging in a city as tumultuous and beautiful as their hearts.

View Details >>

A Kind of Spark

Elle McNicoll

Perfect for readers of Song for a Whale and Counting by 7s, a neurodivergent girl campaigns for a memorial when she learns that her small Scottish town used to burn witches simply because they were different.

Ever since Ms. Murphy told us about the witch trials that happened centuries ago right here in Juniper, I can’t stop thinking about them. Those people weren’t magic. They were like me. Different like me.

I’m autistic. I see things that others do not. I hear sounds that they can ignore. And sometimes I feel things all at once. I think about the witches, with no one to speak for them. Not everyone in our small town understands. But if I keep trying, maybe someone will. I won’t let the witches be forgotten. Because there is more to their story. Just like there is more to mine.

Award-winning and neurodivergent author Elle McNicoll delivers an insightful and stirring debut about the European witch trials and a girl who refuses to relent in the fight for what she knows is right.

View Details >>

Tornado Brain

Cat Patrick

In this heartfelt and powerfully affecting coming of age story, a neurodivergent 7th grader is determined to find her missing best friend before it's too late.

Things never seem to go as easily for thirteen-year-old Frankie as they do for her sister, Tess. Unlike Tess, Frankie is neurodivergent. In her case, that means she can't stand to be touched, loud noises bother her, she's easily distracted, she hates changes in her routine, and she has to go see a therapist while other kids get to hang out at the beach. It also means Frankie has trouble making friends. She did have one--Colette--but they're not friends anymore. It's complicated.

Then, just weeks before the end of seventh grade, Colette unexpectedly shows up at Frankie's door. The next morning, Colette vanishes. Now, after losing Colette yet again, Frankie's convinced that her former best friend left clues behind that only she can decipher, so she persuades her reluctant sister to help her unravel the mystery of Colette's disappearance before it's too late.

A powerful story of friendship, sisters, and forgiveness, Tornado Brain is an achingly honest portrait of a young girl trying to find space to be herself.

View Details >>

The Usual Suspects

Maurice Broaddus

Fans of Jason Reynolds and Sharon M. Draper will love this oh-so-honest middle grade novel from writer and educator Maurice Broaddus.

Thelonius Mitchell is tired of being labeled. He’s in special ed, separated from the “normal” kids at school who don’t have any “issues.” That’s enough to make all the teachers and students look at him and his friends with a constant side-eye. (Although his disruptive antics and pranks have given him a rep too.)

When a gun is found at a neighborhood hangout, Thelonius and his pals become instant suspects. Thelonius may be guilty of pulling crazy stunts at school, but a criminal? T isn’t about to let that label stick.

View Details >>

How to Find What You're Not Looking For

Veera Hiranandani

New historical fiction from a Newbery Honor–winning author about how middle schooler Ariel Goldberg's life changes when her big sister elopes following the 1967 Loving v. Virginia decision, and she's forced to grapple with both her family's prejudice and the antisemitism she experiences, as she defines her own beliefs.

Twelve-year-old Ariel Goldberg's life feels like the moment after the final guest leaves the party. Her family's Jewish bakery runs into financial trouble, and her older sister has eloped with a young man from India following the Supreme Court decision that strikes down laws banning interracial marriage. As change becomes Ariel's only constant, she's left to hone something that will be with her always--her own voice.

View Details >>

OCDaniel

Wesley King

EDGAR AWARD WINNER FOR BEST MYSTERY
BANK STREET BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
SILVER BIRCH AWARD WINNER


From the author of Incredible Space Raiders from Space! comes a brand-new coming-of-age story about a boy whose life revolves around hiding his obsessive compulsive disorder—until he gets a mysterious note that changes everything.


Daniel is the back-up punter for the Erie Hills Elephants. Which really means he’s the water boy. He spends football practice perfectly arranging water cups—and hoping no one notices. Actually, he spends most of his time hoping no one notices his OCD habits—he calls them Zaps: avoiding writing the number four, for example, or flipping a light switch on and off dozens of times over. But everything changes when a girl at school, who is unkindly nicknamed Psycho Sara, notices him for the first time. She doesn’t just notice him: she seems to peer through him.

Then Daniel gets a note: “I need your help,” it says, signed, Fellow Star Child—whatever that means. And suddenly Daniel, a total no one at school, is swept up in a mystery that changes everything for him.

With great voice and grand adventure, this book is about feeling different and finding those who understand.

View Details >>

How to Become a Planet

Nicole Melleby

For Pluto, summer has always started with a trip to the planetarium. It’s the launch to her favorite season, which also includes visits to the boardwalk arcade, working in her mom’s pizzeria, and her best friend Meredith’s birthday party. But this summer, none of that feels possible.
 
A month before the end of the school year, Pluto’s frightened mom broke down Pluto’s bedroom door. What came next were doctor’s appointments, a diagnosis of depression, and a big black hole that still sits on Pluto’s chest, making it too hard to do anything.
 
Pluto can’t explain to her mom why she can’t do the things she used to love. And it isn’t until Pluto’s dad threatens to make her move with him to the city—where he believes his money, in particular, could help—that Pluto becomes desperate enough to do whatever it takes to be the old Pluto again.
 
She develops a plan and a checklist: If she takes her medication, if she goes to the planetarium with her mom for her birthday, if she successfully finishes her summer school work with her tutor, if she goes to Meredith’s birthday party . . . if she does all the things that “normal” Pluto would do, she can stay with her mom in Jersey. But it takes a new therapist, a new tutor, and a new (and cute) friend with a checklist and plan of her own for Pluto to learn that there is no old and new Pluto. There’s just her.
 

View Details >>

Small Things

Mel Tregonning

n this wordless graphic picture book, a young boy feels alone with his worries. He isn't fitting in well at school. His grades are slipping. He's even lashing out at those who love him.

Talented Australian artist Mel Tregonning created Small Things in the final year of her life. In her emotionally rich illustrations, the boy's worries manifest as tiny beings that crowd around him constantly, overwhelming him and even gnawing away at his very self. The striking imagery is all the more powerful when, overcoming his isolation at last, the boy discovers that the tiny demons of worry surround everyone, even those who seem to have it all together.

This short but hard-hitting wordless graphic picture book gets to the heart of childhood anxiety and opens the way for dialogue about acceptance, vulnerability, and the universal experience of worry.

View Details >>

Master Slave Husband Wife

Ilyon Woo

New York Times Bestseller

The remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped slavery through daring, determination, and disguise, with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as “his” slave.

In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in American history. Posing as master and slave, while sustained by their love as husband and wife, they made their escape together across more than 1,000 miles, riding out in the open on steamboats, carriages, and trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to the free states of the North.

Along the way, they dodged slave traders, military officers, and even friends of their enslavers, who might have revealed their true identities. The tale of their adventure soon made them celebrities, and generated headlines around the country. Americans could not get enough of this charismatic young couple, who traveled another 1,000 miles criss-crossing New England, drawing thunderous applause as they spoke alongside some of the greatest abolitionist luminaries of the day—among them Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown.

But even then, they were not out of danger. With the passage of an infamous new Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, all Americans became accountable for returning refugees like the Crafts to slavery. Then yet another adventure began, as slave hunters came up from Georgia, forcing the Crafts to flee once again—this time from the United States, their lives and thousands more on the line and the stakes never higher.

With three epic journeys compressed into one monumental bid for freedom, Master Slave Husband Wife is an American love story—one that would challenge the nation’s core precepts of life, liberty, and justice for all—one that challenges us even now.

View Details >>

Lady Tan's Circle of Women

Lisa See

*NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!*

From “one of those special writers capable of delivering both poetry and plot” (The New York Times Book Review) an immersive historical novel inspired by the true story of a woman physician in 15th-century China—perfect for fans of Lisa See’s classics Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane.

According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient.

From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom.

But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.

How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? A captivating story of women helping each other, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a triumphant reimagining of the life of one person who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.

View Details >>

Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord

Celeste Connally

Bridgerton meets Agatha Christie in Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord, a dazzling first entry in a captivating new Regency-era mystery series with a feminist spin from Celeste Connally.

London, 1815. Lady Petra Forsyth, daughter of the Earl of Holbrook, has made a shocking proclamation. After losing her beloved fiancé in an accident three years earlier, she announces in front of London’s loosest lips that she will never marry. A woman of independent means—and rather independent ways—Petra sees no reason to cede her wealth and freedom to any man now that the love of her life is gone. Instead, she plans to continue enjoying the best of society without any expectations.

But when ballroom gossip suggests that a longtime friend has died of a fit due to her “melancholia” while in the care of a questionable physician, Petra vows to use her status to dig deeper—uncovering a private asylum where men pay to have their wives and daughters locked away, or worse. Just as Petra has reason to believe her friend is alive, a shocking murder proves more danger is afoot than she thought. And the more determined Lady Petra becomes in uncovering the truth, the more her own headstrong actions and desire for independence are used against her, putting her own freedom—and possibly her life—in jeopardy.

View Details >>

Forever Our Home / Kâkikê Kîkinaw

Tonya Simpson

★"This solemn and serene volume should be considered a first purchase. Essential for most collections, and with its wildlife-centric art, it's also a perfect read-aloud for Earth Day."--School Library Journal, starred review

A lullaby of reconciliation and reclamation, celebrating the ancestral relationship between Indigenous children and the land that is forever their home.

Under glowing morning sun and silvery winter moon, from speckled frogs croaking in spring to summer fields painted with fireweed, this meditative lullaby introduces little ones to the plants and animals of the Prairies and the Plains.

Written in both Plains Cree and English and featuring stunning artwork by celebrated artist Carla Joseph, Forever Our Home / kâkikê kîkinaw is a beautiful and gentle song about our spiritual connection to the land.

View Details >>

Two Tribes

Emily Bowen Cohen

In her poignant debut graphic novel inspired by her own life, Emily Bowen Cohen embraces the complexity, meaning, and deep love that comes from being part of two vibrant tribes.

Mia is still getting used to living with her mom and stepfather, and to the new role their Jewish identity plays in their home. Feeling out of place at home and at her Jewish day school, Mia finds herself thinking more and more about her Muscogee father, who lives with his new family in Oklahoma. Her mother doesn't want to talk about him, but Mia can't help but feel like she's missing a part of herself without him in her life.

Soon, Mia makes a plan to use the gifts from her bat mitzvah to take a bus to Oklahoma--without telling her mom--to visit her dad and find the connection to her Muscogee side she knows is just as important as her Jewish side.

This graphic novel by Muscogee-Jewish writer and artist Emily Bowen Cohen is perfect for fans of American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. It is published by Heartdrum, an imprint that centers stories about contemporary Indigenous young people.

View Details >>

Mascot

Charles Waters

What if a school's mascot is seen as racist, but not by everyone? In this compelling middle-grade novel in verse, two best-selling BIPOC authors tackle this hot-button issue.

In Rye, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC, people work hard, kids go to school, and football is big on Friday nights. An eighth-grade English teacher creates an assignment for her class to debate whether Rye’s mascot should stay or change. Now six middle schoolers–-all with different backgrounds and beliefs–-get involved in the contentious issue that already has the suburb turned upside down with everyone choosing sides and arguments getting ugly.

Told from several perspectives, readers see how each student comes to new understandings about identity, tradition, and what it means to stand up for real change.

"Waters and Sorell's plain spoken verse is always sharp and direct." —The New York Times Book Review

“The kids and I are so grateful for this gift you both have given to teachers, kids, and our world.” –Ms. Corgill, 5th Grade Teacher, Alabama

View Details >>

We Still Belong

Christine Day

A thoughtful and heartfelt middle grade novel by American Indian Youth Literature Honor-winning author Christine Day (Upper Skagit), about a girl whose hopeful plans for Indigenous Peoples' Day (and plans to ask her crush to the school dance) go all wrong--until she finds herself surrounded by the love of her Indigenous family and community at an intertribal powwow.

Wesley is proud of the poem she wrote for Indigenous Peoples' Day--but the reaction from a teacher makes her wonder if expressing herself is important enough. And due to the specific tribal laws of her family's Nation, Wesley is unable to enroll in the Upper Skagit tribe and is left feeling "not Native enough." Through the course of the novel, with the help of her family and friends, she comes to embrace her own place within the Native community.

Christine Day's debut, I Can Make This Promise, was an American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Award Honor Book, was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus, School Library Journal, the Chicago Public Library, and NPR, and was also picked as a Charlotte Huck Honor Book. Her sophomore novel, The Sea in Winter, was an American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Award Honor Book, as well as named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus and School Library Journal.

We Still Belong is an accessible, enjoyable, and important novel from an author who always delivers.

View Details >>

My Name Is Barbra

Barbra Streisand

The long-awaited memoir by the superstar of stage, screen, recordings, and television

Barbra Streisand is by any account a living legend, a woman who in a career spanning six decades has excelled in every area of entertainment. She is among the handful of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and has one of the greatest and most recognizable voices in the history of popular music. She has been nominated for a Grammy 46 times, and with Yentl she became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major motion picture. In My Name Is Barbra, she tells her own story about her life and extraordinary career, from growing up in Brooklyn to her first star-making appearances in New York nightclubs to her breakout performance in Funny Girl (musical and film) to the long string of successes in every medium in the years that followed. The book is, like Barbra herself, frank, funny, opinionated, and charming. She recounts her early struggles to become an actress, eventually turning to singing to earn a living; the recording of some of her acclaimed albums; the years of effort involved in making Yentl; her direction of The Prince of Tides; her friendships with figures ranging from Marlon Brando to Madeleine Albright; her political advocacy; and the fulfillment she’s found in her marriage to James Brolin.
 
No entertainer’s memoir has been more anticipated than Barbra Streisand’s, and this engrossing and delightful book will be eagerly welcomed by her millions of fans.

View Details >>

All the Little Bird-Hearts

Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow

Longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize, this poetic and often funny debut -- "a motherhood story unlike any other" (Booklist) -- a by an author with autism is written from the point of view of an autistic woman as she and her headstrong adolescent daughter are befriended by a glamorous, charismatic couple with dark ulterior motives.

I lived for and loved a bird-heart that summer; I only knew it afterwards.

Sunday Forrester lives with her sixteen-year-old daughter, Dolly, in the house she grew up in. She does things more carefully than most people. On quiet days, she must eat only white foods. Her etiquette handbook guides her through confusing social situations, and to escape, she turns to her treasury of Sicilian folklore. The one thing very much out of her control is clever headstrong Dolly, now on the cusp of leaving home.

Into this carefully ordered world step Vita and Rollo, a couple who move in next door, disarm Sunday with their glamor and charm, and proceed to deliciously break just about every rule in Sunday's book. Soon they are in and out of each others' homes, and Sunday feels loved and accepted like never before. But beneath Vita and Rollo's polish lies something else, something darker. For Sunday has precisely what Vita has always wanted for herself: a daughter of her own.

An astute and poignant psychological portrait of a woman coming to terms with what love means, and why discovering our own unique gifts can save us.

View Details >>

And Then She Fell

Alicia Elliott

A mind-bending, razor-sharp look at motherhood and mental health that follows a young Indigenous woman who discovers the picture-perfect life she always hoped for may have horrifying consequences

On the surface, Alice is exactly where she thinks she should be: She’s just given birth to a beautiful baby girl, Dawn; her charming husband, Steve—a white academic whose area of study is conveniently her own Mohawk culture—is nothing but supportive; and they’ve moved into a new home in a posh Toronto neighborhood. But Alice could not feel like more of an impostor. She isn’t connecting with her daughter, a struggle made even more difficult by the recent loss of her own mother, and every waking moment is spent hiding her despair from Steve and their ever-watchful neighbors, among whom she’s the sole Indigenous resident. Even when she does have a minute to herself, her perpetual self-doubt hinders the one vestige of her old life she has left: her goal of writing a modern retelling of the Haudenosaunee creation story.

Then, as if all that wasn’t enough, strange things start to happen. She finds herself losing bits of time and hearing voices she can’t explain, all while her neighbors’ passive-aggressive behavior begins to morph into something far more threatening. Though Steve assures her this is all in her head, Alice cannot fight the feeling that something is very, very wrong, and that in her creation story lies the key to her and Dawn’s survival.... She just has to finish it before it’s too late.

Told in Alice’s raw and darkly funny voice, And Then She Fell is an urgent and unflinching exploration of inherited trauma, womanhood, denial, and false allyship, which speeds to an unpredictable—and surreal—climax.

View Details >>

Ghosts of Honolulu

Mark Harmon

"A fast-paced debut...Espionage buffs will savor this vibrant account." — Publishers Weekly

A U.S. naval counterintelligence officer working to safeguard Pearl Harbor; a Japanese spy ordered to Hawaii to gather information on the American fleet. On December 7, 1941, their hidden stories are exposed by a morning of bloodshed that would change the world forever. Scrutinizing long-buried historical documents, NCIS star Mark Harmon and co-author Leon Carroll, a former NCIS Special Agent, have brought forth a true-life NCIS story of deception, discovery, and danger.

Hawaii, 1941. War clouds with Japan are gathering and the islands of Hawaii have become battlegrounds of spies, intelligence agents, and military officials - with the island's residents caught between them. Toiling in the shadows are Douglas Wada, the only Japanese American agent in naval intelligence, and Takeo Yoshikawa, a Japanese spy sent to Pearl Harbor to gather information on the U.S. fleet.

Douglas Wada's experiences in his native Honolulu include posing undercover as a newspaper reporter, translating wiretaps on the Japanese Consulate, and interrogating America's first captured POW of World War II, a submarine officer found on the beach. Takeo Yoshikawa is a Japanese spy operating as a junior diplomat with the consulate who is collecting vital information that goes straight to Admiral Yamamoto. Their dueling stories anchor Ghosts of Honolulu's gripping depiction of the world-changing cat and mouse games played between Japanese and US military intelligence agents (and a mercenary Nazi) in Hawaii before the outbreak of the second world war.

Also caught in the upheaval are Honolulu's innocent residents - including Douglas Wada's father - who endure the war's anti-Japanese fervor and a cadre of intelligence professionals who must prevent Hawaii from adopting the same destructive mass internments as California.

Ghosts of Honolulu depicts the incredible high stakes game of naval intelligence and the need to define what is real and what only appears to be real.

View Details >>

Thankful

Elaine Vickers

Stunning, diorama illustrations bring to life this “wonderfully evocative” (BookPage) lullaby of a picture book about celebrating everyday things that make life wonderful.

I am thankful for a home where I am safe and warm.
Thankful for parents who read me stories and comb my hair gently, gently.
Who whisper the same poem every night when they tuck me in.

When the first snow falls, a little girl writes down the things she’s thankful for on strips of paper and links them together. As one idea leads to another, her chain grows longer. There’s so much good in her life: a friend, things that are warm, things that are cold, color, things that can be fixed. This beautiful story is a much-needed reminder to observe and honor life’s small joys.

View Details >>

Feeling Thankful

Sheila M. Kelly

What does feeling thankful mean? This photographic essay is designed to give children an awareness of all they have to be thankful for -- a spiritual, nonreligious look at gratitude for kids. A great book for the Thanksgiving season!

View Details >>

Milly and the Macy's Parade

Shana Corey

Inspired by the true story behind the first Macy's Day Parade in 1924, this heartwarming tale celebrates a treasured American passion.

When a spirited girl named Milly imagines a way to combine her family's old country traditions with their new American heritage, the result is a holiday season filled with mirth and magic -- and the creation of a uniquely American event.

Told with facility and flair, and illustrated with exquisite jewel-like paintings, this joyful picture book is a must-have for every American family.

View Details >>

Giving Thanks

Denise Kiernan

The beautifully illustrated true story of how Thanksgiving became a national holiday in America, of Sarah Josepha Hale, the woman who made the holiday happen, and of the role of gratitude the world over. Marvelously brought to life by the New York Times bestselling author Denise Kiernan.

All across the world, among hundreds of cultures and across centuries, people have come together to give thanks. But Americans didn’t have an official Thanksgiving holiday until the 1800s. The holiday Americans know today exists because of a woman named Sarah Josepha Hale, a spirited letter-writing campaign, a sympathetic president, and a civil war.  
 
This beautifully illustrated picture book shares the true story of how Thanksgiving became a national American holiday and offers a look at the timeless and global power of gratitude.

View Details >>

Thanksgiving at the Tappletons'

Eileen Spinelli

You're invited! Join the Tappletons, the nicest bunch of wolves ever, for a very special Thanksgiving meal. Everyone has a job to do. Mrs. Tappleton is making the turkey. Mr. Tappleton is buying the pies. Kenny is in charge of the salad. Jenny is mashing the potatoes. It seems like everything is going smoothly. But be prepared for a big surprise when the rest of the family starts to arrive for Thanksgiving at the Tappletons'!

View Details >>

Thanksgiving Is Here!

Diane Goode

Maggie knows that Gramdma and Grandpa rise early on Thanksgiving morning. They want to get the turkey in the oven before the guests arrive and the commotion begins.

Maggie's glamorous aunt, a crybaby, an uncle with a slippery hairpiece, and an acrobatic cousin are just a few of the twenty-eight relatives and friends who come to help, "yackety-yak," and eat. As day stretches into evening, events unfold. There's a mysterious present, a budding romance, and a little dog that tags after Maggie. But whose dog is he? And what's Great-Grandma knitting? There is so much to discover here?

Like a memorable meal with family and friends, this joyous celebration of Thanksgiving will leave you smiling and fulfilled.

View Details >>

We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga

Traci Sorell


The Cherokee community is grateful for blessings and challenges that each season brings. This is modern Native American life as told by an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation.

The word otsaliheliga (oh-jah-LEE-hay-lee-gah) is used by members of the Cherokee Nation to express gratitude. Beginning in the fall with the new year and ending in summer, follow a full Cherokee year of celebrations and experiences. Written by a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, this look at one group of Native Americans is appended with a glossary and the complete Cherokee syllabary, originally created by Sequoyah.
 

 

View Details >>

Duck for Turkey Day

Jacqueline Jules

AV2 Fiction Readalong by Weigl brings you timeless tales of mystery, suspense, adventure, and the lessons learned while growing up. These celebrated childrens stories are sure to entertain and educate while captivating even the most reluctant readers. Log on to www.av2books.com, and enter the unique book code found on page 2 of this book to unlock an extra dimension to these beloved tales. Real actors will bring the story to life as you read along in your own book.

View Details >>

Bear Says Thanks

Karma Wilson

What better way for Bear to say thanks, than to have a big dinner with all his friends!

Bear has come up with the perfect way to say thanks—a nice big dinner! When Bear decides to throw a feast, his friends show up one by one with different platters of delicious food to share. There’s just one problem: Bear’s cupboards are bare! What is he to do?
     Karma Wilson’s playful text and Jane Chapman’s charming illustrations bring to life this celebration of family and friendship. Young readers will delight in discovering the special gift Bear has to share.

View Details >>

1621

Catherine O'Neill Grace

Countering the prevailing, traditional story of the first Thanksgiving, with its black-hatted, silver-buckled Pilgrims; blanket-clad, be-feathered Indians; cranberry sauce; pumpkin pie; and turkey, this lushly illustrated photo-essay presents a more measured, balanced, and historically accurate version of the three-day harvest celebration in 1621.

View Details >>

Giving Thanks

Kate Waters

Sometime between September 21 and November 9, 1621, the English colonists, whom we call Pilgrims, and the Wampanoag people shared a harvest celebration. That meal has become known as the First Thanksgiving. This is the story of what may have actually happened during those days, as told by Dancing Moccasins, a fourteen-year-old Wampanoag boy, and Resolved White, a six-year-old English boy.

Photographed in full color at the Plimoth Plantation, this fascinating reenactment will let readers experience the time when English colonists settled on the rich and fertile land of the Wampanoag people.

View Details >>

The First Thanksgiving

Jean Craighead George

Through careful research and with great sensitivity, Newbery Medal recipient Jean Craighead George has written the definitive story of our land, its people, and its spirit in the story of the first Thanksgiving. Locker's full-color paintings make this world come to life.

View Details >>

Thanksgiving Treat

Catherine Stock

Join one special family as they get together to create some tasty Thanksgiving treats in this charming holiday story.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, everyone is very busy. Grandma is stuffing the turkey. Dad is chopping firewood. The cousins are shucking corn. But the youngest member of the family fells left out. He has nothing to do! Until Grandpa has an idea, and invites him along to share in the most special Thanksgiving treat ever!

View Details >>

My First Thanksgiving

Tomie DePaola

In this delightful board book, dePaola introduces Thanksgiving to young children with spare text and his signature illustrations. This reissued board book features a 3-D effect on the cover and a larger size. Full color.

View Details >>

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie

Alison Jackson

Children have binged on this riotous takeoff on the popular “I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” for the last decade. This delicious romp by the author of The Ballad of Valentine and the illustrator who created Skippyjon Jones would make a unique and unforgettable hostess gift.

View Details >>

Thank a Farmer

Maria Gianferrari

Infused with jubilance and warmth, this luminous, lyrical picture book celebrates the people and the work that put food on our tables.

Bread, milk, wool, fruits, and vegetables: things that fill our day to day lives. But where, and who, do they come from? Across wheat fields and city rooftop gardens, mushroom beds and maple forests, Thank a Farmer traces the food and clothing that a family uses back to the people who harvested and created them.

 

With Maria Gianferrari's informed and poetic text and monumental artwork from Monica Mikai, Thank a Farmer gently emphasizes the importance of agriculture in our day-to-day lives and reminds readers to give thanks to farmworkers around the world.

View Details >>

We Give Thanks

Cynthia Rylant

From acclaimed and beloved creators Cynthia Rylant and Sergio Ruzzier comes a cozy and quirky picture book that reminds us of all the wonderful things we have to be thankful for.

We give thanks for apple trees
and bushes filled with roses.
We give thanks for nice warm soup
and fires to warm our toeses.


Follow two sweet friends as they zip around town talking to all their pals about the things they love. The pair may even have a plan cooking to show everyone their gratitude! With its themes of thankfulness and inclusion, this playfully illustrated story is the perfect read for Thanksgiving—or for any day of the year.

View Details >>

The First Thanksgiving

Peter Mavrikis

Every November, the United States celebrates Thanksgiving Day. But what actually happened at the first Thanksgiving? And when did it happen? Discover the facts and find out the fiction surrounding one of America's favorite holidays.

View Details >>

Thank You, Omu!

Oge Mora

A 2019 Caldecott Honor Book
Winner of the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award

In this
remarkable author-illustrator debut that's perfect for fans of Last Stop on Market Street and Extra Yarn, a generous woman is rewarded by her community.

Everyone in the neighborhood dreams of a taste of Omu's delicious stew! One by one, they follow their noses toward the scrumptious scent. And one by one, Omu offers a portion of her meal. Soon the pot is empty. Has she been so generous that she has nothing left for herself?

Debut author-illustrator Oge Mora brings to life a heartwarming story of sharing and community in colorful cut-paper designs as luscious as Omu's stew, with an extra serving of love. An author's note explains that "Omu" (pronounced AH-moo) means "queen" in the Igbo language of her parents, but growing up, she used it to mean "Grandma." This book was inspired by the strong female role models in Oge Mora's life.
 

View Details >>

Playing with Lanterns

Wang Yage

Zhao Di wishes the New Year would never end!

Zhao Di and her friends are excited to go out at night with their paper lanterns and celebrate Chinese New Year. Each holding a unique colorful lantern with a lit candle inside, they admire the breathtaking colors while doing their best to avoid the wind and the sneaky boys in the village. Every night, until the fifteenth day of New Year, Zhao Di and her friends take part in this fun tradition, experiencing the thrill of nighttime in their village. And then--it's time to smash the lanterns!

In this cheerful book first published in China, readers are invited along with Zhao Di and her friends as they experience all the joy and excitement of this folk Chinese custom. Details about the paper lantern tradition are also included in an author's note at the end of the book.

View Details >>

Fry Bread

Kevin Noble Maillard

Winner of the 2020 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
A 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Picture Book Honor Winner

“A wonderful and sweet book . . . Lovely stuff.” —The New York Times Book Review

Told in lively and powerful verse by debut author Kevin Noble Maillard, Fry Bread is an evocative depiction of a modern Native American family, vibrantly illustrated by Pura Belpre Award winner and Caldecott Honoree Juana Martinez-Neal.

Fry bread is food.
It is warm and delicious, piled high on a plate.

Fry bread is time.
It brings families together for meals and new memories.

Fry bread is nation.
It is shared by many, from coast to coast and beyond.

Fry bread is us.
It is a celebration of old and new, traditional and modern, similarity and difference.
 

View Details >>