ELEMENTARY RECOMMENDED

A First Book in American History

Eggleston draws a more in-depth picture of the development of the United States using the stories of the living and breathing Americans who made it all happen.

A Gift From Papa Diego/ Un Regalo de Papa Diego

Diego's birthday is coming, and he longs to see his Papa Diego, who lives far away in Chihuahua, Mexico. He knows his grandfather is old and that it's hard to cross the border. Diego fantasizes about flying there in his new Superman suit, until he walks into the kitchen and finds his beloved grandpa waiting for him.

All the Small Poems and Fourteen More

This collected edition of the Small Poems series includes all the original 99 poems and illustrations

A Movie in my Pillow/Una Peliculaen mi Almohada: Poems/Poemas

Poems in Spanish and in English communicate the poet's memories of being a boy in El Salvador and in San Francisco

Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock

Anansi the Spider happens upon an unusual stone that magically puts him to sleep for an hour. The master trickster decides to use the rock to get the food stores from the rest of the local residents. Each animal is taken in turn to the strange moss-covered rock, says the magic phrase, and promptly falls asleep to have its food pilfered by Anansi.

Angels Ride Bikes: And Other Fall Poems/ Los Angeles Andan en Bicicleta:Y Otros Poemas de Otono

In this bilingual poetry book, Francisco X. Alarcón invites young readers to experience fall in Los Angeles - the City of the Angels - where dreams can come true.

Animal Antics: The Beast Jokes Ever

A collection of jokes and riddles about all kinds of animals.

Animal Disguises

Animal Disguises is about the secret world of animal camouflage. Learn how some animals use disguises to catch their prey while others use camouflage to avoid being eaten. Read about dangerous predators, such as the Bengal tiger, that use camouflage to creep up on their unsuspecting supper. Discover the great lengths to which some prey animals will go to avoid being attacked, even changing their true shape, color, or nature in order to protect themselves. Look at the American fainting goat, which feigns death, or the harmless milk snake, which looks like the poisonous coral snake.

Baseball Saved us

During World War II the author's parents were sent to an internment camp in Idaho. That family history led to this poignant story about a young Japanese-American boy in an internment camp and the baseball diamond that gave the internees a purpose in life and a way of passing the time.

Beautiful Warrior

The story of two legendary female kung fu masters who may have lived in the last part of the 17th century. The first, Wu Mei, born to an aristocratic family, was educated like a boy and excelled at martial arts. Made homeless by the overthrow of the last Ming emperor (1644), the young woman finds her way to the Shaolin Monastery, made famous in television and movies. She convinces the monks to continue her training and becomes a nun and renowned teacher of kung fu

Buffalo Hunt

Freedman presents not a story or description of one hunt but descriptions of the many ways that buffalo hunts were madeby Indians, and later by the whites whose ferocious, firearm slaughter of the ``shaggies''as they were calledbrought the species to near extinction.

Children of the Wild West

ccompanied by evocative photographs, Newbery Medalist Freedman offers a stirring look at life on the Western frontier in these lengthy, informative accounts.

Digging for Bird Dinosaurs: An Expedition to Madagascar

This attractive photo-essay focuses on Cathy Forster, a specialist in bird fossils, and on a 1998 expedition to the island of Madagascar.

El Tiempo: La Pequena Princesa/Weather: Little Princess

The Little Princess knows how to have fun in all kinds of weather, from the sunny hot days at the beach to the fun windy days when you can fly along with your umbrella…

Eric Carle's Animals Animals

In this thoughtfully selected collection of poems about animals, you'll meet creatures of every sort, from an ant to a yak. You'll find selections from many cultures, penned by celebrated poets such as Lewis Carroll, Ogden Nash, Rudyard Kipling, Emily Dickinson, and Jack Prelutsky.

Frida (Spanish Edition)

. Frida, by Jonah Winter and illustrator Ana Juan, is an exquisite and playful glimpse into the artist's life and work.

Frida (English Edition)

. Frida, by Jonah Winter and illustrator Ana Juan, is an exquisite and playful glimpse into the artist's life and work.

Grandma Fina and Her Wonderful Umbrellas: LA Abuelita Fina Y Sus Sombrillas Maravillosas

Grandma Fina is walking through her neighborhood with her wonderful yellow umbrella. She loves her yellow umbrella! She stops to greet everyone she sees

Giants of Science/Gigantes de Ciencia - Bilingual - Galileo Galilei (Giants of Science/Gigantes de Ciencia - Bilingual)

Galileo Galilei was one of the world's greatest scientific pioneers. His work ranged from mechanics and motion, to sound, light, astronomy, and the system of the universe. Despite his outstanding contributions to science, he was labeled a heretic by the Catholic Church and was imprisoned for life.

How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World

A story about a trip to the center of the world. You will have to dig about 8,000 miles. But what an adventure!

How to Talk to Your Cat

This delightful picture book for cat lovers of all ages makes it perfectly clear who has the power in a human-cat relationship: the cat. But you already knew that. What you may not have known is that cats meow as many as 19 different meows (all interpreted here), that cats never purr when they are alone, that no one knows what part of the cat a purr really comes from, and what cats' various tail positions mean.

How to Talk to Your Dog

Dog talk is not merely whimpers, growls, sniffs, barks, and howls. According to award-winning author Jean Craighead George, it's in the tail ("the flag of feelings") and ear twists, too. In this irresistible picture book, you'll learn how to speak to your dog in his or her own language.

I, Freddy

Freddy Auratus, golden hamster extraordinaire, escape artist, and narrator of this humorous adventure. Born at a local pet shop, Freddy engineers his own purchase and comes to live with six-year-old Sophie ("a girl in a million") and her parents.

In My Family/En mi familia

tribute to the family and community that shaped her childhood and her life. Lomas Garza's vibrant paintings and warm personal stories depict memories of growing up in the traditional Mexican-American community of her hometown of Kingsville, Texas.

It's Raining Pigs & Noodles

Collection of Poems

La Llorona / The Weeping Woman

This legendary tale is not only a spine-tingling ghost story, but also a cautionary tale about a breathtakingly lovely, working-class girl.

Laugh-eteria: Poems and Drawings

The poems in this book/ Are meant to be humorous./ If they are not,/ Please laugh just to humor us.

Leonardo da Vinci

children will certainly appreciate the wealth of information in this complete and fascinating biography of Leonardo da Vinci. Illustrated in an Old Masters style, the book follows the life of da Vinci from birth to death and gives a detailed account of his extraordinary achievements, not only in his painting but also as an engineer, scientist, and inventor who is centuries ahead of his time.

Lincoln: A Photobiography

This work is perhaps the most complete and enjoyable children's book ever written about one of the nation's most fascinating and important figures, Abraham Lincoln. Russell Freedman covers Lincoln's life and career in a balanced treatment that is enhanced by period photographs and drawings.

Linnea in Monet's Garden

Linnea, a fresh-faced European girl with a mop of black hair and a white smock, gives a solid lesson in art history in the gentlest way, through a first-person account. Her story is like a scrapbook, reliving a trip she took to Paris and Giverny to learn about Monet's water-lily paintings.

Lives of Extraordinary Women: Rulers, Rebels (and What the Neighbors Thought)

Krull whets readers' appetites with brief biographies of some amazing individuals. Most of these women will be familiar to students, but a few obscure figures are introduced. The writing tends toward gossip in places. (Isabella I of Spain reportedly took only two baths in her lifetime.) Like gossip, each chapter is enticing.

Lives of the Artists: Masterpieces, Messes (and What the Neighbors Thought)

informative short biographies that focus on the subjects' personal lives and eccentricities rather than chronologies of their masterpieces. A few notes on major artworks follow each biography. Among the 19 artists discussed are Leonardo, Bruegel, Cassatt, Van Gogh, Picasso, O'Keefe, Dali, Noguchi, Rivera, Kahlo, and Warhol.

Lives of the Presidents: Fame, Shame (and What the Neighbors Thought)

This briskly written book presents our presidents as human beings first, figureheads second.

My Diary from Here to There/Mi diario de aqui hasta alla

In her first diary entry, Amada is anxious about her family's move from Juarez, Mexico, to Los Angeles. Despite her father's assurances, she worries that they will never return to Juarez, that she won't be able to learn English, and that he will have problems finding work

My Very Own Room/Mi propio cuartito

Tired of sharing a room with her five brothers, an eight-year-old Mexican American girl longs to find a corner of the house she can call her own ("a place where I could read the books I loved, write in my diary, and dream"). She persuades her mother to let her take up residence in a storage room, and the whole family gets involved in refurbishing the new space.

People

It informs with simple facts about how many people in different lands inhabit the planet and how amazing we all are with our dress, and creative expressions.

Pleasing the Ghost

A disappointing tale about a boy led on a treasure hunt by a ghost. Dennis, nine, has received a parade of spectral visitors since his father's death, though none, alas, is the one he wishes to see. Occasionally, the boy recognizes deceased family members, including his late Uncle Arvie, who wishes to pass on messages to his widow, Julia.

Pyramid

When children catch their first glimpse of a pyramid, a sea of questions inevitably tumbles forth. "Why are they shaped like that?" "How were they made?" "Who made them?" "What were they used for?

Ramona la chinche

Las aventuras de Ramona, las pequeñas cosas que enlazan el día escolar, suenan tan claras como la campana del recreo.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 25th Anniversary Edition: Collected from American Folklore (Scary Stories)

A fine collection of short tales to chill the bones of young and old with interesting notes for folktale buffs.

Shipwreck At the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Schackleton and the Endurance

When their ship, Endurance, became icebound in Antarctica and sank in 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his 27 crewmen were 100 miles from land.

Snapshots from the Weddding

There's nothing like a wedding, and this book about a wedding is not quite like any other. Soto takes readers to a Mexican American nuptial, and young Maya, the flower girl, is the lens through which the action is seen.

So You Want to be President? Revised and Updated Edition

Tired of books about the presidency that present themselves as history books? Author Judith St. George--along with Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator David Small--has created a book about the presidency that's serious fun. The basic theme is that anyone can be president: a fat man (William Howard Taft) or a tiny man (James Madison), a relative youngster (Teddy Roosevelt at 42) or oldster (Ronald Reagan at 69).

Sol a Sol: Original and Selcted Bilingual Poems

Read in order, these 14 poems by Carlson and a variety of other poets describe a Hispanic family's activities during one day, depicting such scenes as mama making tortillas, grandpa playing the guitar, and the family cat somersaulting through the air. Each selection appears in both English and Spanish

Subira Subira

This retelling of a traditional African folktale is about two siblings who live in a small village in Tanzania. Since their mother's death, Tatu is in charge of her younger brother, Maulidi. They are caught in a daily power struggle until Tatu finally seeks out a local spirit woman for advice.

Tales from Old Ireland

Northern Ireland native Doyle (Jody's Beans) celebrates his country's centuries-old oral legacy in this collection of seven stories.

Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born

A sweet and sunny look at adoption, the story is framed as a much-loved and clearly much-requested family tale, and rings true from beginning to end.

The Children We Remember

This pictorial account uses a chronological organization, beginning with "Before the Nazis... some children lived in towns like this," showing ordinary settings. Later, children roam hungry in the streets;

The Day It Snowed Tortillas / El Dia Que Nevaron Tortillas, Folktales told in Spanish and English

The tales are full of magic and fun. In the title story, for instance, a very clever woman saves her silly husband from a band of robbers. She makes the old man believe it snowed tortillas during the night!

The Emerald Lizard: Fifteen Latin American Tales to Tell in English and Spanish

A bilingual anthology of 15 traditional folktales, myths, and legends, each from a different Latin American culture.

The Great Gilly Hopkins

Gilly Hopkins is a determined-to-be-unpleasant 11-year-old foster kid who the reader can't help but like by the end. Gilly has been in the foster system all her life, and she dreams of getting back to her (as she imagines) wonderful mother.

The Hoboken Chicken Emergency

When young Arthur Bobowicz brings home a 266-pound live chicken instead of a turkey for Thanksgiving, listeners know they're in for a hilarious tale

The New Kid on the Block

This exuberant valise of verse bulges with more than 100 poems about things you've never thought about, such as Underwater Wibbles who dine exclusively on cheese, and things you probably have thought about, such as sneezing oysters and the dot-gobbling Flotz

The Whipping Boy

The plot involves the orphan Jemmy, who must take the whippings for the royal heir, Prince Brat. Jemmy plans to flee this arrangement until Prince Brat beats him to it, and takes Jemmy along.

La mujer que brillaba aún más que el sol / The Woman Who Outshone the Sun

Lucia Zenteno is a mythic character, a woman of great beauty who is perfectly in tune with nature. She is indeed larger than life, and though beloved by the creatures of the countryside, she becomes the target of human hatred and fear and is driven out of her village because she is different.

Wackiest White House Pets

Davis has chosen 15 presidents, briefly summarizing their terms of office and highlighting the unusual animals they kept, as well as the quirky behavior of both the creatures and their owners.

Wayside School Is Falling Down

Wayside School is 30 stories high with only one room on each floor.

Working Like a Dog: The Story of Working Dogs through History

As entertaining as it is informative, this comprehensive volume traces the evolution and remarkable service history of man's best friend.