+Click a book cover for more information+
Last updated October 15, 2020
The Little Engine That Could
Piper, Watty
The kindness and determination of the Little Blue Engine have inspired millions of children around the world since the story was first published in 1930. Cherished by readers for ninety years, The Little Engine That Could is a classic tale of a little engine that, despite her size, triumphantly pulls a train full of wonderful things to the children waiting on the other side of a mountain.
Check AvailabilityLayla's Luck
Rooks, Jo
Layla is a very lucky ladybug. When she enters into a baking competition, she realizes she cannot always rely on her luck"--
Check AvailabilityI Am Enough
Byers, Grace
This is a gorgeous, lyrical ode to loving who you are, respecting others, and being kind to one another.
Check AvailabilityCatch That Chicken!
Atinuke
The team behind Baby Goes to Market and B Is for Baby visit a Nigerian village for a humorous ode to childhood ingenuity. Lami is the best chicken catcher in the whole village. Her sister may be speedy at spelling, her friend fast at braiding hair, and her brother brave with bulls, but when it comes to chickens, nobody is faster or braver than Lami. That is, until the day when Lami chases a little too fast, up the baobab tree, and reaches a little too far . . . ow! How can she catch chickens with an ankle that's puffed up like an angry lizard? Could it be, as Nana Nadia says, that quick thinking is more important than quick running? Award-winning author Atinuke celebrates Nigerian village life in a story vibrantly illustrated by Angela Brooksbank with a universal message at its heart"--Amazon.com.
Check AvailabilityUnstoppable!
Rex, Adam
When a bird and a crab team up to combine the advantages of flight and claws, it gives them an idea: why not expand the team to include other animals who have a special trait--and soon they all set out to rescue their lake from development, because united together they are unstoppable.
Check AvailabilitySummer Song
Henkes, Kevin
Illustrations and easy-to-read text introduce the colors, songs, and activities of summer.
Check AvailabilityThe Little Blue Cottage
Jordan, Kelly
The little blue cottage waits each year for summer to arrive--and with it, the girl. Through sunny days and stormy weather, the cottage and the girl keep each other company and wile away the long days and nights together. Until one year, and then another, the cottage is left waiting and empty season after season. In this heartfelt story about change, Kelly Jordan's lilting text and Jessica Courtney-Tickle's lush art captures the essence of cherishing a favorite place.
Check AvailabilityStop! Bot!
Yang, James
When a little boy stops to show a building doorman his new "bot," it floats up out of his hands and the kind doorman runs up to each floor of the building to try and catch it, with help from the building's residents.
Check AvailabilityI Am Perfectly Designed
Brown, Karamo
Told in two voices, as a father and son share a nostalgic day, the father reminds his son he has all that it takes to explore and succeed in the world.
Check AvailabilityCannonball
Cotter, Sacha
Determined to execute the perfect cannonball dive, a boy tries to follow everyone's advice but finally hears Nan, an expert and former champion, who advises doing it his own way.
Check AvailabilitySmashy Town
Zimmerman, Andrea Griffing
With a turn of his crane and a swing of his wrecking ball, Mr. Gilly knocks down the old buildings. He smashes through brick and wood. He crashes through stone and glass. Then, with a push from his bulldozer, Mr. Gilly cleans it all up to make room for something brand-new!" -- Amazon.
Check AvailabilityRot, The Bravest In The World!
Clanton, Ben
Rot the mutant potato must find a way to face his fear after his big brother, Snot, tells him there may be a dangerous Squirm in the magnificent mud pit he found.
Check AvailabilityAntiracist Baby
Kendi, Ibram X
Illustrations and rhyming text present nine steps Antiracist Baby can take to improve equity, such as opening our eyes to all skin colors and celebrating all our differences.
Check AvailabilityMy Cold Plum Lemon Pie Bluesy Mood
Brown, Tameka Fryer.
Jamie describes his mood throughout the day, using colors and rhythmic text, as he changes from an "easy green mood" while drawing a picture for his sister to a "brooding black mood" when he is teased for doing so.
Check AvailabilityNana Akua Goes To School
Walker, Tricia Elam
Zura is worried about how her classmates will react to her Ghanaian Nana's tattoos on Grandparents Day, but Nana finds a way to show how special and meaningful they are.
Check AvailabilityThe Problem With Problems
Rooney, Rachel
In an illustrated book with rhyming text, children describe the characteristics of problems and the strategies they use to tame them.
Check AvailabilityThe Ocean Calls
Cho, Tina M.
Wanting to follow in the footsteps of her free-diving haenyeo grandmother, a young Korean girl dutifully consumes her grandmother's strength-building abalone porridge and practices her breath control before suiting up and overcoming fears to make remarkable discoveries.
Check AvailabilityTad
Davies, Benji
Sometimes the biggest stories come from the smallest beginnings ... Meet Tad. She's the smallest tadpole in a big pond, and lives there with all her tadbrothers and tadsisters. Although something else lives there too ... BIG BLUB! And when everyone else starts to disappear, Tad starts to wonder if Big Blub will get her too ... Or is everyone else going somewhere else; somewhere better? And if so, will Tad ever get there too? A big story about a tiny tadpole -- about growing up, branching out, and taking a leap into life. From the award-winning author and illustrator of The Storm Whale and Granddad's Island, and the perfect story for everyone who's ever grown up, or still has a way to go.
Check AvailabilityBilal Cooks Daal
Saeed, Aisha.
Six-year-old Bilal is excited to help his dad make his favorite food of all-time: daal! The slow-cooked lentil dish from South Asia requires lots of ingredients and a whole lot of waiting. Bilal wants to introduce his friends to daal. They’ve never tried it! As the day goes on, the daal continues to simmer, and more kids join Bilal and his family, waiting to try the tasty dish. And as time passes, Bilal begins to wonder: Will his friends like it as much as he does? This debut picture book uses food as a means of bringing a community together to share in each other’s family traditions.
Check AvailabilityKamala And Maya's Big Idea
Harris, Meena
One day, Kamala and Maya had an idea. A big idea: they would turn their empty apartment courtyard into a playground! Based on a true story, this is the uplifting tale of how the author's aunt and mother first learned to persevere in the face of disappointment and turned a dream into reality. This is a story of children's abillity to make a difference and of a community coming together to transform their neighborhood" --Jacket.
Check AvailabilityM Is For Melanin
Rose, Tiffany
Each letter of the alphabet contains affirming, Black-positive messages, from A is for Afro, to F is for Fresh, to W is for Worthy. This book teaches children their ABCs while encouraging them to love the skin that they're in.
Check AvailabilitySomething Happened In Our Town
Celano, Marianne
After discussing the police shooting of a local Black man with their families, Emma and Josh know how to treat a new student who looks and speaks differently than his classmates.
Check AvailabilityNesting
Cole, Henry
Two robins build a nest together and raise their chicks, navigating a year of changing seasons and serpentine predators.
Check AvailabilityThe Magical Yet
DiTerlizzi, Angela
New things can be tricky, but never you fret. It's time to make friends with the Magical Yet!" -- Page [2] of cover.
Check AvailabilityThe Starkeeper
Pray, Faith
In a dark, rainy, lonely world a girl's wish brings a star to earth, but its light fades until her acts of kindness make the star spark and flame.
Check AvailabilityWho Will You Be?
Pippins, Andrea
A picture book about how family and community help shape the wonderful people our children become"--
Check AvailabilityPlaying Possum
Reinhardt, Jennifer Black
Possums play dead when threatened so Alfred, an unusually nervous possum, avoids attention and even friendship until he meets Sofia, an armadillo who curls into a ball when nervous. Includes facts about the unusual defense mechanisms of animals pictured in the book. Includes three pages of factual information at the end of the book.
Check AvailabilityMy Best Friend, Sometimes
Danis, Naomi
A story that vividly examines the occasionally-turbulent friendships of young girls. My Best Friend, Sometimes is an empathic and honest portrait of the delight in these relationships, but also the confusion, jealousy and vulnerability that can result. "Stephanie and I like each other. And we don't like each other. Both." It all begins on the day Stephanie proposes, "If you give me a cookie, I'll be your best friend." From then on, the two girls are inseparable, but not always at peace. They love to giggle, whisper, observe their classmates, and share their most outlandish, secret dreams. But sometimes they are at odds. Some days one doesn't feel like sharing. Taking turns isn't always easy. If they can't agree on a game to play, who decides? One day it seems like Stephanie is mad for no reason at all. The ups and downs of friendship can be steep, and often unpredictable. My Best Friend, Sometimes navigates the path of two girls moving towards, away from, and back to each other again"--
Check AvailabilityThat's My Carrot!
Na, Il Sung.
From the acclaimed author-illustrator of A Book of Sleep comes a silly tale about a garden rivalry, a giant carrot and bunnies in construction vehicles! When two rabbits find a giant carrot growing between their yards, they do the only thing that makes sense: they argue over whose carrot it is! One rabbit brings a shovel to dig it out, and the other rabbit brings a spade. Next comes the bulldozers and backhoes and cranes . . . and when the dust settles, the carrot is gone! Now, it will be up to the rabbits to join forces and find the giant carrot, and build a friendship along the way. From beloved creator Il Sung Na comes a story of mischief and one very giant carrot.
Check Availability13 Stories About Harris
Schwartz, Amy
Thirteen vignettes reveal the everyday life of Harris, who makes butter with his mother, attends the birthday party of his best friend, Ayana, and begins preschool in their city neighborhood.
Check AvailabilityThe Blue House
Wahl, Phoebe
Both Leo and his father are angry and sad when their landlord says their old house will be torn down, but soon they find a way to make their new house feel like home.
Check AvailabilityTiny Bird
Burleigh, Robert
As autumn nears, flowers fade and insects become quiet, and Tiny Bird leaves his northern home for the long and perilous journey to lush southern forests. Includes facts about hummingbirds.
Check AvailabilityMy Brother The Duck
Miller, Pat Zietlow
Stella Wells, fledgling scientist, has a new baby brother, Drake, and she is seriously considering the possibility that he is a duck--but further research is required to test that hypothesis.
Check AvailabilityDesert Girl, Monsoon Boy
Dairman, Tara
Two families flee extreme weather in India and come together on a mountaintop"--
Check AvailabilityCoral
Idle, Molly Schaar
A disagreement between Coral, Filly, and Manta, three young mermaids who work together to build and safeguard the reef that is their home, must quickly be set right.
Check AvailabilityPlenty Of Hugs
Manushkin, Fran
Illustrations and gently rhyming text follow two mothers and their toddler on a sunny day.
Check AvailabilityThe Bell Rang
Ransome, James
A slave family is distressed when they discover their son Ben has run away.
Check AvailabilityKeeper Of Wild Words
Smith, Brooke
Mimi is a writer and when she finds that some of her favorite words for natural things, such as wren, violet, and dandelion, are disappearing she appoints her granddaughter, Brooke, as the keeper of wild words, and shows her how to bring them to life by knowing, appreciating, and using the things they stand for.
Check AvailabilityRescuing Mrs. Birdley
Reynolds, Aaron
Self-proclaimed animal expert Miranda Montgomery sees her teacher at the grocery store and decides to return her to her natural habitat, the classroom.
Check AvailabilityPeanut Goes For The Gold
Van Ness, Jonathan
Peanut just has their own unique way of doing things. Whether it's cartwheeling during basketball practice or cutting their own hair, this little guinea pig puts their own special twist on life. So when Peanut decides to be a rhythmic gymnast, they come up with a routine that they know is absolutely perfect, because it is absolutely, one hundred percent Peanut.
Check AvailabilityDon't Worry, Little Crab
Haughton, Chris
Little Crab is eager to go with Very Big Crab to see the ocean for the first time, but when he discovers how big the waves are, he is not so sure.
Check AvailabilityWe Will Rock Our Classmates
Higgins, Ryan T.
As the only T. rex in her school, Penelope is often overlooked but when she loses her confidence after signing up for the school talent show, her father and some friends help her find her courage.
Check AvailabilityFirst Day Critter Jitters
John, Jory
It's almost the first day of school, and the animals are nervous. Sloth worries about getting there on time, snake can't seem to get his backpack fastened onto his body, and bunny is afraid she'll want to hop around instead of sitting still. When they all arrive at their classroom, though, they're in for a surprise: Somebody else is nervous too. It's their teacher, the armadillo! He has rolled in as a ball, and it takes him a while to relax and unfurl. But by the next day, the animals have all figured out how to help one another through their jitters. School isn't so scary after all"--FantasticFiction.com.
Check AvailabilityYou Matter
Robinson, Christian
Illustrations and easy-to-read text remind the reader that no matter what happens or how one feels, he or she matters.
Check AvailabilityI Promise
James, Lebron,
I Promise is a lively and inspiring picture book that reminds us that tomorrow’s success starts with the promises we make to ourselves and our community today." -- Amazon.com.
Check AvailabilityHow To Find A Bird
Ward, Jennifer
A non-fiction guide to finding and observing birds for young bird-watchers."--
Check AvailabilityGirl Versus Squirrel
Barrett, Hayley
A resourceful girl named Pearl matches wits with an intrepid squirrel in a rollicking tale of teacups, peanuts, and the satisfying surprise of learning something new"--
Check AvailabilityImogene Comes Back!
Small, David
One day, Imogene woke up to discover that she had sprouted antlers overnight. Her family was confused, her mother was distraught and there was no explanation. Then she woke up the next day and they were gone, but were replaced by something just as curious. Now Imogene has found she has a new curious feature every day. Some are helpful, some are sweet, some are downright strange. But all of them upset her poor mother who just can't handle how improper it all is. Yet even as Imogene discovers something new every day, she always remains Imogene at heart. David Small returns to one of his most beloved characters in this charming tale.
Check AvailabilityLittle Blue House Beside The Sea
Bogart, Jo Ellen.
The narrator lives in a little blue house beside the sea, observing the natural world around her. "This charming read-aloud has an underlying message about global connectivity and environmental awareness." -- Foreword Reviews.
Check AvailabilityMay Saves The Day
Gehl, Laura
As May rescues schoolchildren from bees by making them beets, and scouts from a bear by making it a beard, lasso-wielding Stu asks to be her sidekick but businesswomen do not need sidekicks, do they?
Check Availability
