Groundwood Books

A splendidly illustrated collection of poems inspired by young children that address common themes such as having a hard day at school, feeling shy or being a newcomer.

The poems in Climbing Shadows were inspired by a class of kindergarten children whom poet and playwright Shannon Bramer came to know over the course of a school year. She set out to write a poem for each child, sharing her love of poetry with them, and made an anthology of the poems for Valentine’s Day.

This original collection reflects the children’s joys and sorrows, worries and fears, moods and sense of humor. Some poems address common themes such as having a hard day at school, feeling shy or being a newcomer, while others explore subjects of fascination — bats, spiders, skeletons, octopuses, polka dots, racing cars and birthday parties. Evident throughout the book is a love of words and language and the idea that there are all kinds of poems and that they are for everyone — to read or write.

Cindy Derby’s dreamy watercolor illustrations gently complement each poem. Beautiful, thoughtful, sensitive and funny, this is an exceptional collection.

Key Text Features
illustrations
table of contents
author’s note

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1
With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4
Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4
Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4
Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

A road trip that takes readers into a big, wide world—and into a small, narrow one, too! With the same sophisticated, minimalist design that characterized Work: An Occupational ABC, Drive is an exploration of opposites.

Any child (or adult) who has stared out the window of their family’s car counting license plates and state lines will recognize the highs and lows of being on the road. Sit back, or front, if you’d prefer, and come along for the ride.

Stacey May Fowles’ debut picture book is a whimsical, warmhearted story of how a super-special surprise can lead to anxiety — or invite imagination.

One beautiful fall day, Fern opens her mailbox and finds an envelope. After much worrying about what it could possibly contain, her friend Fawn encourages her to open it. Inside, she finds an invitation to a super-special surprise at the museum — but Fern doesn’t like surprises! 

Luckily, Fawn offers to come with her to the party. What could possibly happen, he asks. Along the way, Fern voices her worries: What if they can’t make it in time? What if they don’t know anyone there? 

Fawn playfully follows his friend's way of thinking, while gently suggesting twists to her story and a fun new cast of characters — the chipmunk who could show them a shortcut, the grumpy bear who could clear their path, the brave dentist who might treat the bear’s toothache — until at last they arrive, and Fern is able to enjoy the wonderful surprise happening around her. 

Marie Lafrance’s delightfully dreamy illustrations bring the imagined world of Fern and Fawn to life in this super-special story about catastrophic thinking.

Key Text Features

illustrations

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3

Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4

Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7

Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

When Federica invites the animals from the park back to her house, chaos ensues!

Federica’s busy family can’t keep their house clean! To get away from the buzzy, buggy mess, she escapes to the peaceful park where she can spend time with her animal friends…which gives her an idea.

She brings home sheep and goats, spiders and dragonflies, a toad, an owl, and some raccoons. Then she takes her family to the park for a picnic, and while they’re gone, the animals chomp the overgrown grass in the backyard, eat the garbage and catch the pesky bugs overrunning the house. After a peaceful afternoon at the park, Federica’s family comes home to a clean house — and raccoons doing the dishes!

Scot Ritchie’s warm art and original story bring a fresh perspective to the busy-family challenge of keeping the house clean, while featuring a clever and resourceful young girl who knows that, sometimes, letting nature back into our lives is the best answer.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.3
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events

The amazing, dramatic, and painful autobiographical story of Ange Zhang as he came of age during the Cultural Revolution in China.

When Mao’s Cultural Revolution took hold in China in June 1966, Ange Zhang was thirteen years old. His father was a famous writer. Shortly after the revolution began, many of Ange’s classmates joined the Red Guard, Mao’s youth movement, and they drove their teachers out of the classrooms.

But in the weeks that followed, Ange discovered that his father’s fame as a writer now meant that he was a target of the new regime. When his father was arrested, he began to question everything that was happening in his country. Finally, Ange was forced to join many other young urban Chinese students in the countryside for re-education where he found the emotional space to develop his own artistic talent and to find that he, like his father, was an artist — except that Ange’s talent lay in painting and drawing.

This dramatic, painful autobiographical story is complemented by photographs, many drawn from Ange’s personal collection, as well as a non-fiction section that explains the historical period and is also illustrated with archival images.

Key Text Features
author’s note
glossary

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.7
Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

José Mujica is a former revolutionary, past president of Uruguay and climate activist.

José’s speech to the UN is famous for criticizing the contemporary economy, the inequalities of the world and the consumerism that drives our daily lives and pushes us to buy more and more.

José condemns our wasteful way of life, explaining that if we all lived like the average American we would need three earths. Today, he says, it is time to consider the planet as a home where we are all equal. Only through governing ourselves as a species will we be able to make way for a world that focuses on what is truly important: our relationships with each other, and how we relate to the world we live in.

José’s famous speech, translated for middle-grade readers, is strikingly illustrated by acclaimed illustrator Guridi and followed by an analysis written by Dolors Camats, showing young readers the greater context of who José is, the audience he was addressing and what made this speech so powerful.

The Speak Out series publishes the most inspiring speeches of our times, then deconstructs them to give young readers a deeper understanding of global issues and the power of language to influence them.

Key Text Features

biographical information

definitions

explanation

facts

headings

historical context

illustrations

informational note

Correlates to the Common Core States Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.3

Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6

Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.

“[A] dazzling vision of the way art transcends the everyday.” — Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

On a gray and crowded city sidewalk, a child discovers a book. That evening, the child begins to read and is immediately carried beyond the repetitive sameness of an urban skyscape into an untamed natural landscape. The child experiences a moment of true joy, and as if in response to that single blissful moment, people seem to come alive in all the other rooms of the apartment block. Thanks to the power of one book, an entire society is transformed.

In creating this book, Geraldo Valério was inspired by the German Expressionist group known as Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), which formed in Munich in 1911 and included painters Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky. These artists sought to find the spiritual significance in art, with an emphasis on form and color. In turn, Valério has created a wordless book that speaks volumes about how art can transform us beyond the sometimes-dreary world of the everyday.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1
Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

Ingenuity saves the day in this cleverly constructed board book!

Bestselling author/illustrator Cybèle Young is back with a board book for the very young. The main character of this charming, nearly wordless story is a small unidentified mammal who accidentally loses his ball one day. Too small to look out the window, the little creature is frustrated at first in his attempts to see where his precious ball has gone. But undeterred, he perseveres until he comes up with a solution to his problem, at which point he discovers that an unusual parade is underway. This parade doesn't feature the usual floats and mascots-instead, it is made up of amazing machines and strange hybrid creatures. Our young hero is thrilled, as young readers will be. And best of all? On the very last page of the book, the lost ball is returned to its rightful owner.

This leporello-style board book is designed so that the first half of the story focuses on the attempt to see what is happening out the window, while the second half, revealed only when the book is flipped over, shows a wonderfully inventive parade. Despite its simplicity, this is a story with much humor and many surprises. Nearly wordless, it is a book that even the youngest child will want to read independently as well as enjoy with others.

Winner of the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize

Jessica knew that the family meeting Dad had called for that evening probably wouldn't be good news. Family meetings usually meant Mum talking a lot and then the whole family getting involved in some project that left everything in a mess until they gradually forgot about it.

But at school that day, Jessica forgot about the meeting. A teacher announced a new class project: They were to choose partners, pick an animal to study and present a paper. Jessica's partner would be her best friend, Margaret. And so it was Margaret whom Jessica called with the tremendous news from the family meeting: Mum was pregnant. Margaret was nearly as excited as Jessica, and very quickly the two of them decided that instead of studying the duck-billed platypus for the school project, they would study babies. But all their reading, discussions and research did not prepare Jessica or her family for the drastic changes baby Lucie would bring to their lives.

A stunning album of some of the most beautiful birds in North America.

Geraldo Valério is an artist who loves birds, from majestic Golden Eagles and Snowy Owls to brilliant cardinals and jays to the tiniest of hummingbirds. Here he presents his favorites, with beautiful collage illustrations and brief descriptions that highlight intriguing facts about each one.

The illustrations show a variety of feathered creatures in their natural habitats as they hunt for food, impress their mates, nest, and care for their young. The concise, accessible text provides information ranging from clever techniques for finding food to remarkable physical features to fascinating behaviors. But above all, Geraldo Valério shares his passion for birds in this lovingly created album, inspiring young readers with their beauty and the excitement of discovery.

Includes an introduction, glossary, index and sources for further information.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.4
With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

All of the animals on the savannah are grumpy — no, they will not take a nap! But one little girl may know just what to do to make sure these creatures can get some much-needed shut-eye.

The crocodile and hippo insist that naps are for babies, the ostrich hides its head in the sand, and the hyena simply laughs at the suggestion.

But the cranky expressions on the animals’ faces give them away — these grouchy beasts are all in serious need of a nap!

Fortunately for these sleepy creatures a little girl appears who knows the secret to a good snooze: first close one eye, then close the other one. And, just like that, all of the animals are out like a light. It’s naptime on the savannah!

It’s 2021, and the Taliban have regained power in Afghanistan. Parvana and Shauzia, the brave protagonists of The Breadwinner, must now flee to escape new dangers from an old enemy.

In Kabul, 15-year-old Damsa runs away to avoid being forced into marriage by her family. She is found by a police officer named Shauzia, who takes her to Green Valley, a shelter and school for women and girls run by Parvana.

It has been 20 years since Parvana and Shauzia had to disguise themselves as boys to support themselves and their families. But when the Taliban were defeated in 2001, it looked as if Afghans could finally rebuild their country. Many things have changed for Parvana since then. She has married Asif, who she met in the desert as she searched for her family when she was a child. She runs a school for girls. She has a son, Rafi, who is about to fly to New York, where he will train to become a dancer.

But Shauzia is still Parvana’s best friend. And Parvana is still headstrong, bringing her in conflict with her spoiled sister Maryam.

While Asif tries to get Maryam and Rafi on one of the last flights out of Kabul, the Taliban come to the school, and Parvana must lead the girls out of Green Valley and into the mountains.

All royalties will be donated to Right to Learn Afghanistan.

Key Text Features

dialogue

literary references

multiple POV

alternating narrative

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3
Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6
Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

“...explore how painting, writing, and building things with your hands can be the outlet that helps a person get through the hell that is high school.” — Quill & Quire

The kids at school call her rag girl because she hides under layers of oversized clothing, but she calls herself Ophelia. She hardly speaks to anyone — until one day a visiting author comes to give a talk in the school library. The writer speaks about what it means to create art, and at the end of her talk, she thanks Ophelia for asking the first question by giving her a blue notebook with her address on it.

Ophelia starts to write to the author in the notebook — letters that become a kind of lifeline. The idea that someone, somewhere, might care, is enough for her to keep writing, an escape from her real life. By day she goes to school and works at the dollar store before returning home to her mother, a former addict who once had to put her daughter in care. At night she creates graffiti around town, leaving little broken hearts as her tag.

One night she finds an abandoned building that she decides to use as her workshop, where she can make larger-than-life art. When she finds that a classmate, an overweight boy named Ulysses, is also using the space to repair an old van, the two form an uneasy truce, with a chalk line drawn down the middle to mark their separate territories. As time passes, Ophelia and Ulysses forge a fraught but growing friendship, but their cocooned existence cannot last forever. One night, intruders invade their sanctuary, and their shared bond and individual strength are sorely tested.

Key Text Features
illustrations
doodles
sketches
photographs

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3
Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

The fourth book in the internationally bestselling series that includes The Breadwinner, Parvana’s Journey and Mud City.

In this stunning sequel, Parvana, now fifteen, is found in a bombed-out school and held as a suspected terrorist by American troops in Afghanistan.

On a military base in Afghanistan, after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, American authorities have just imprisoned a teenaged girl found in a bombed-out school. The army major thinks she may be a terrorist working with the Taliban. The girl does not respond to questions in any language and remains silent, even when she is threatened, harassed and mistreated over several days. The only clue to her identity is a tattered shoulder bag containing papers that refer to people named Shauzia, Nooria, Leila, Asif, Hassan — and Parvana.

In this long-awaited sequel, Parvana is now fifteen years old. As she waits for foreign military forces to determine her fate, she remembers the past four years of her life. Reunited with her mother and sisters, she has been living in a village where her mother has finally managed to open a school for girls. But even though the Taliban has been driven from the government, the country is still at war, and many continue to view the education and freedom of girls and women with suspicion and fear.

As her family settles into the routine of running the school, Parvana, a bit to her surprise, finds herself restless and bored. She even thinks of running away. But when local men threaten the school and her family, she must draw on every ounce of bravery and resilience she possesses to survive the disaster that kills her mother, destroys the school, and puts her own life in jeopardy. 

A riveting page-turner, Deborah Ellis’s final novel in the series is at once harrowing, inspiring and thought-provoking. And, yes, in the end, Parvana is reunited with her childhood friend, Shauzia.

The paperback edition includes a new cover and map, and an author’s note to provide background and context. Royalties from the sale of this book will go to Right to Learn Afghanistan.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3
Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3
Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.9
Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.

Shortlisted for the Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Awards 2013 Diamond Willow Award, selected as an American Library Association 2012 Notable Children's Book, a Booklist Editors' Choice, nominated for the OLA Golden Oak Tree Award, and a finalist for the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Awards: Young Adult/Middle Reader Award, the Governor General's Literary Awards: Children's Text and the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award

There's not much that upsets young Valli. Even though her days are spent picking coal and fighting with her cousins, life in the coal town of Jharia, India, is the only life she knows. The only sight that fills her with terror are the monsters who live on the other side of the train tracks -- the lepers. Valli and the other children throw stones at them. No matter how hard her life is, she tells herself, at least she will never be one of them.

Then she discovers that she is not living with family after all, that her "aunt" was a stranger who was paid money to take Valli off her own family's hands. She decides to leave Jharia … and so begins a series of adventures that takes her to Kolkata, the city of the gods.

It's not so bad. Valli finds that she really doesn't need much to live. She can "borrow" the things she needs and then pass them on to people who need them more than she does. It helps that though her bare feet become raw wounds as she makes her way around the city, she somehow feels no pain. But when she happens to meet a doctor on the ghats by the river, Valli learns that she has leprosy. Despite being given a chance to receive medical care, she cannot bear the thought that she is one of those monsters she has always feared, and she flees, to an uncertain life on the street.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3
Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3
Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6
Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

"What are you doing, Sam?" calls Stella.

Sam and his dog, Fred, are creating joyful havoc throughout the house. Be it snorkeling in the bathtub, teaching Fred to read or roll over, or cooking up a pancake feast, they are having a marvelous time. Of course, Stella joins in the fun as she observes the inventive antics of Sam and his beloved companion.

In this wonderful addition to the Stella and Sam series, Marie-Louise Gay has created another charming picture book. Delicate watercolors, full of expression and humor, bring her delightful story to life.

A balm for adolescent anxiety, this inclusive collection offers sometimes imperfect but always frank short stories of first sexual experiences.

Although to be honest, there isn’t ever really a first time, is there? Rather there are many: first times with yourself. First times with another person. First times you look forward to. First times you wish you could forget. First times that are sexy as hell. First times that are definitely, definitely not.

First Times: Short Stories about Sex collects nine stories by nine different authors, writing from a vast range of perspectives, cultural backgrounds and sexual orientations — revealing how unreasonable it is to define ourselves by a single, overhyped moment. (What a relief!)

With stories by Laurence Beaudoin Masse, Edith Chouinard, Vanessa Duchel, Schelby Jean-Baptiste, Alexandra Larochelle, Jérémie Larouche, Nicolas Michon, Olivier Simard and Pierre-Yves Villeneuve; edited by Karine Glorieux and translated by Shelley Tanaka.

Key Text Features

introduction;doodles

The fourth in a beautifully photographed series of four board books showing us the major stages in a baby's first year

This beautifully photographed series of four board books shows us the major stages in a baby's first year -- the first day, sitting, crawling and walking. Because the images are shot by the baby's own photographer-father, we see a very intimate portrait of this baby's world -- something an outsider could never capture. Mother, father and big brother also appear.

These books will fascinate babies, who love to look at other babies. They will also be of great interest to older siblings and even new parents, who can see what is to come or enjoy memories of earlier phases.

Winner of the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award

Stella and her little brother, Sam, are spending the day playing in the snow. The forest, snowballs, snow angels and the mysterious white stuff itself provide fuel for Sam's questions and Stella's answers as they discover the world of winter together.

Exquisite, evocative watercolors bring a snowy day alive and make this a wonderful winter story. Gently humorous, the book also captures the relationship between an older sister and her little brother -- a fun yet sometimes trying responsibility. Stella and Sam explore the wonders of snow with the same magic that they bring to all their adventures.

In this second book in Nancy Vo’s Crow Stories trilogy, a ranger and a fox form a special and unexpected friendship while navigating an indifferent and dangerous wilderness.

In this memorable and beautifully illustrated story, a ranger comes across a fox caught in a trap. The ranger frees the fox and promises only to tend to its wounds. The fox recovers and remains curiously close to the ranger, and when unexpected twists occur, the fox ends up being the helper. The ranger asks the fox, “Does this make us even?” and almost immediately feels regret—keeping score has no place in friendship. And so the two continue their journey together.

In this second book in the Crow Stories trilogy, Nancy Vo explores themes of friendship and how meaningful bonds form when we can openly give and receive. Vo’s stunning, spare illustrations are a delight, and complement the journey of these two nuanced characters toward understanding and companionship.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2
Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

Annabelle discovers an animal bone in the woods and decides to make it her new plaything. But nature ends up moving Annabelle in mysterious ways.

At first, Boney, as Annabelle names him, makes the perfect companion. While Mom is busy with the baby, Boney and Annabelle share a meal, play at the park, and share a bedtime story before Annabelle tucks Boney into his shoebox-bed for the night.

But when creatures run wild through her dreams, Annabelle considers for the first time where Boney really belongs.

This thought-provoking story by award-winning picture-book creators Cary Fagan and Dasha Tolstikova encourages a deeper sense of wonder about the natural world and celebrates the wilderness that lives within us all.

Key Text Features

illustrations

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

In the sequel to the award-winning Boy O'Boy, it's spring in post-World War II Ottawa and Martin O'Boy has finally found a true home with Grampa Rip. Martin's also found a job, working for the Pure Spring soft drink company. Best of all, he's in love with beautiful Gerty McDowell.

But everything's not perfect. Martin lied to kindly Mr. Mirsky, Pure Spring's owner, to get the job. Grampa Rip's brain increasingly goes missing. There's that mysterious, yet oddly familiar, man in the park. There are also Martin's memories, the sudden appearance of famed Soviet defector Igor Gouzensko, and Martin's shady boss, Randy. And worst of all, Randy is robbing Gerty's grandfather, and he's forcing Martin to be his accomplice. Martin's happiness, sense of duty, and love for Gerty collide. Can he find his way through these dire developments?

Brian Doyle's fast-paced plot and vivid characterizations, along with the lively colloquial dialogue and period detail, create a rich historical portrait that confirms the author's place as a master storyteller.

On a train trip with her grandmother, young Banafsheh meets a woman who reminds her of her dead mother. The woman is a teacher and a writer, and she promises she will call Banafsheh and come and tell her stories. Later, the teacher weaves the encounter into a story that she tells to the children in her classroom. The children are entranced by the story and imagine how it will turn out. Surely, they say, the teacher will call the little girl.

But the teacher never calls, though Banafsheh waits faithfully by the phone and refuses even to go out to play. Meanwhile, the teacher is disconcerted by her class's reaction, and she agonizes over how to end her story. As a writer, she feels that the story is more important than anything else, and that the ending must be exciting and eventful, no matter what. Perhaps Banafsheh will even have to become ill and die?

In the end, the teacher does visit Banafsheh, but finds that it is too little too late. Banafsheh is very angry with the teacher, and hurt. Finally, the teacher makes the biggest sacrifice she knows -- her manuscript -- in order to save the friendship.

This is a thought-provoking and emotionally powerful novel that raises intriguing and child-friendly questions about how real life and stories are interwoven, who owns stories, and whether they can ever truly disappear.

The sequel to the award-winning Book Uncle and Me features bird lover Reeni and her quest to save her city’s bird count event when the mayor tries to shut it down.

Reeni is wild about birds! So when she and her best friend, Yasmin, have to pick a survey topic for a school project, asking their neighbors what they know about birds is an obvious choice. They are shocked to learn that no one — not one single person! — has heard about Bird Count India and the major event it is about to launch all over the country. Thousands of birdwatchers will be out counting birds as part of a global movement. Global means world, and isn’t this city part of the world? How come people don’t seem to care about the threats to city birds? And why is the mayor intentionally thwarting their city’s bird count event?

Reeni and Yasmin enlist help from Book Uncle, Reeni’s family and even their school bus driver. They must get people interested in the bird count, get them to ask the city government to support the event. After all, what’s good for the birds is good for all of us … right?

A funny, triumphant story about learning to advocate for both the human and non-human inhabitants of your community.

Key Text Features

chapters

dialogue

illustrations

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2

Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6

Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3

Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

From award-winning author and illustrator Scot Ritchie comes this lively look at the journey of a West Coast tugboat towing a log boom, as seen through the eyes of a young boy. 

"I’m helping Dad on the tugboat. We’re going to tow a log boom to the sawmill on the river… I look out for ferries and other boats in the harbor… Then I see it — a deadhead!"

Follow a child and his father through their workday on a tugboat on the West Coast as they watch a log boom being made, then tow it to a mill upriver. The pair must steer clear of other ships, race against the tide and weather a storm along the way. 

Told from a child's perspective, this fun, accessible picture book explores the key role of a tugboat in the logging process. As explained in the author's note, the story is inspired by Scot Ritchie’s childhood memories of seeing tugs and log booms off the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia, with additional information provided in the note about forestry on the West Coast today.

Key Text Features

author's note

diagrams

glossary

illustrations

facts

map

speech bubbles

writing inspiration

Winner of the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award

It is late at night in the city. From his father's shoulder, a sleepless baby watches the snow drift down from the sky onto the busy street below. What are all those noises? What are all those lights? His tired but patient father explains everything, from the bustle of taxis swishing through the slush to the grinding and slamming of the early-morning garbage trucks.

Teddy Jam’s lyrical prose and Eric Beddows’s detailed illustrations cast Night Cars in that magical light between sleep and waking. This classic baby book, now available in a board book format, is a perennial favorite.

From the international best-selling author of Sidewalk Flowers and the illustrator of The King of the Birds, a picture book about crime, punishment…and art.

When Holland is arrested for the thirty-seventh time for stealing beautiful things, he must make a very difficult decision. A police officer says that he must either go to jail or become a soldier. He chooses to join the army and is sent south, where he finds himself surrounded by beautiful things: palm trees, parrots, flowers and big blue waves…and fish!

Holland starts painting pictures of the fish, which he sells at the market on the weekend. Soon, he has money to send home to his parents. They are worried that he’s gone back to his stealing ways, so his father writes to ask if he earned the money honestly. Holland writes back to reassure him that he has decided to paint instead of steal because “not everything that’s pretty can be stuffed in your pockets!”

Based on a true story about JonArno Lawson’s uncle, and accompanied by Natalie Nelson’s collage illustrations, this quirky picture book is about making choices – and art.

Key Text Features
author’s note
true story

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3
Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

From award-winning author Sarah Ellis comes the story of an American draft dodger who turns up to stay with thirteen-year-old Charlotte and her family.

In 1970 Vancouver, thirteen-year-old Charlotte and her best friend, Dawn, are keen to avoid the pitfalls of adolescence. Couldn’t they just skip teenhood altogether, along with its annoying behaviors—showing off just because you have a boyfriend, obsessing about marriage and a ring and matching dining-room furniture? Couldn’t one just learn about life from Jane Austen and spend the days eating breakfast at noon, watching “People in Conflict,” and thrift-store shopping for cool castoffs to tie-dye for the upcoming outdoor hippie music festival?

But life becomes more complicated when the girls meet a Texan draft dodger who comes to live with Charlotte’s Quaker family. Tom Ed expands Charlotte’s horizons as they discuss everything from war to civil disobedience to women’s liberation. Grappling with exhilarating and disturbing new ideas, faced with a censorship challenge to her beloved English teacher and trying to decode the charismatic draft dodger himself, Charlotte finds it harder and harder to stick to her unteen philosophy, and to see eye to eye with Dawn.

Key Text Features
historical context

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3
Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6
Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

An Anishinaabe child and her grandmother explore the natural wonders of each season in this lyrical, bilingual story-poem.

In this lyrical story-poem, written in Anishinaabemowin and English, a child and grandmother explore their surroundings, taking pleasure in the familiar sights that each new season brings.

We accompany them through warm summer days full of wildflowers, bees and blueberries, then fall, when bears feast before hibernation and forest mushrooms are ripe for harvest. Winter mornings begin in darkness as deer, mice and other animals search for food, while spring brings green shoots poking through melting snow and the chirping of peepers.

Brittany Luby and Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley have created a book inspired by childhood memories of time spent with Knowledge Keepers, observing and living in relationship with the natural world in the place they call home — the northern reaches of Anishinaabewaking, around the Great Lakes.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4
Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1
Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5
Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.

Burl Crow hasn't had many breaks in his young life. His father is a manipulative lout with a dangerous temper; his mother, worn down by years of abuse, now resorts to her little helpers to get her through the days. Then he meets Nathaniel Orlando Gow, the Maestro, and in just one day, this eccentric genius changes Burl's life forever.

Caramba is a sweet, shy cat who bravely accepts that he is different, and then discovers his own special talent.

Award-winning author and illustrator Marie-Louise Gay, best known for her Stella and Sam books, brings us an endearing character in Caramba, a sweet, shy cat who bravely accepts that he is different, and then discovers his own special talent.

Caramba is a fat, furry, striped cat with a big problem. Every single cat in the world can fly, he sighs, except me!

Caramba would love to swoop and glide between the clouds, to feel the wind whistling through his fur. He tries to soar into the sky over and over again but always lands flat on his face, until finally he sadly accepts that he is earthbound. Don't be such a scaredy-cat, cry his cousins. All cats are meant to fly! They grab his paws and whisk him up into the sky for an impromptu flying lesson that ends with a big splash and a surprising discovery.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7
Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5
Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.

Hold Fast is the widely acclaimed story of a young boy's struggle to survive in a new environment and his fight against those who stand as threats to his pride in himself and his way of life.

Michael turned fourteen in May. By June, both his parents are dead, victims of a car crash. And for Michael, who has lived all his life in a small Newfoundland outport community, this means being suddenly uprooted and sent to live with relatives in St. Albert, a city hundreds of miles away.

Hold Fast is the story of Michael's struggle to survive in his new world. In vivid, honest prose, it depicts his fight against those who threaten him - the loud-mouthed Kentson who makes fun of the way he talks at school, and his uncle who tries to rule life at home with an iron hand. It is also the story of the friendship that develops between Michael and Curtis, his cousin, and of his new uncertain feelings for Brenda.

The book was written, Kevin Major says, “out of love for a way of life and a people. It is an appeal for us Newfoundlanders to be like certain of the species of seaweed that inhabit our shores, which, when faced with the threat of being destroyed by forces they cannot control, evolve an appendage to hold them to the rocks, a holdfast.”

Finalist for the 2011 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction

"On behalf of the Nova Scotia government, I sincerely apologize to Mrs. Viola Desmond’s family and to all African Nova Scotians for the racial discrimination she was subjected to by the justice system … We recognize today that the act for which Viola Desmond was arrested, was an act of courage, not an offence." -- Darrell Dexter, Premier of Nova Scotia, April 15, 2010

In Nova Scotia, in 1946, an usher in a movie theatre told Viola Desmond to move from her main floor seat up to the balcony. She refused to budge. Viola knew she was being asked to move because she was black. After all, she was the only black person downstairs. All the other black people were up in the balcony. In no time at all, the police arrived and took Viola to jail. The next day she was charged and fined, but she vowed to continue her struggle against such unfair rules. She refused to accept that being black meant she couldn't sit where she wanted.

Viola's determination gave strength and inspiration to her community at the time. She is an unsung hero of the North American struggle against injustice and racial discrimination whose story deserves to be widely known.

The African Canadian community in Nova Scotia is one of Canada's oldest and most established black communities. Despite their history and contributions to the province the people in this community have a long experience of racially based injustice.

Like Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks, who many years later, in 1955, refused to give up their bus seats in Alabama, Desmond's act of refusal awakened people to the unacceptable nature of racism and began and process of bringing an end to racial segregation in Canada.

An afterword provides a glimpse of African Canadian history.

Tess has visited her grandmother many times without really being aware of the garden. But today they step outside the door and Tess learns that all of nature can be a garden. And if you take care of the plants that are growing, if you learn about them -- understanding when they flower, when they give fruit, and when to leave them alone -- you will always find something to nourish you. This gentle story demonstrates the First Nations' tradition of taking care of Mother Earth.

When a child is asked to “Please, be quiet!” they sit silent … and their imagination sweeps them away on a breathtaking journey. 

Through the window, the child can hear the trees breathe and watches them sway back and forth as they begin to dance. Then bears join in, accompanied by the child on their drum, making so much noise they wake up a dragon! The dragon’s smoky breath fills the sky, and the wind forms a knight on a steed that gallops through the stars. The child’s adventure continues, as one wonderful flight of fancy leads to the next, from pirates to mermaids to whales, until they find themselves sitting silent once again among the trees. 

Jean E. Pendziwol has written a charming story-poem that looks at silence and stillness as an opportunity for the imagination and creativity to flourish. Carmen Mok’s magical illustrations flow from one spread to the next like animation, in a palette inspired by vintage printmaking.

Key Text Features

dialogue

illustrations

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3
Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7
Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

Alone on his lot, a sturdy little house has stood for as long as anyone can remember, stoically weathering the storms. But one day, the wind brings change.

One house, then another, is built off in the distance. Then a road is paved through his field, and more and more houses appear all around. The house closes his shutters to wait out this alarming development.

But in the dark, the house notices he is no longer pushed by the snowdrifts or battered by spring storms. And when he peeks open a shutter, he sees the house next door glowing with a golden light. Just like his. Throwing open his shutters, he finds himself surrounded by a diverse neighborhood of homes. Together, they look forward to seeing what the wind will blow in next.

With great wit and an eye-popping use of cardboard, paint and fabric, multimedia artist Claudine Crangle explores our fear of difference through the viewpoint of a small country house beset by urbanization. But not everything that’s new is bad, as the little farmhouse learns in this timely and hopeful picture book about embracing the changes in life we can’t control.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4
Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3
Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7
Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)

Love shines through in the sticky notes shared between a mother and daughter in this picture book about making time for family in the midst of our busy lives.

Between work and school, homework and housework, a mother and daughter don’t always get to spend as much time together as they’d like. Add to that a little girl’s fears about leaving home for the first time, and the need to stay close through handwritten notes becomes even more important. As the camp departure date gets closer, Mom does her best to soothe her daughter’s nerves. A visit from her grandmother helps to calm her fears and convince her that she’ll have a good time, even away from her mother and beloved cat. Camp ends up being a wonderful adventure – but nothing is sweeter than a back-at-home reunion.

Qin Leng’s watercolor illustrations are the perfect complement to Emil Sher’s simple text. This nuanced story about a parent and child’s unconventional way of connecting is full of humor and affection. Young readers will enjoy spotting Lester the cat as he paws his way into the story.

Key Text Features

speech bubbles

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

This deceptively simple book about adapting to new situations will appeal to children who are just starting school or daycare, children who are about to move to a new home, or children who are learning a new language.

In this delightful picture book, a small duck finds itself in a place full of unusual creatures who speak an unfamiliar language. Eventually, it meets an animal whose big feet are a bit like its own. And with a friend by its side, the small duck soon can feel at home.

The illustrations are gently humorous, while the simple text affirms the importance of knowing who you are and being open to change. Without making unrealistic promises, this story reassures children that, with time, they can adapt to any new environment and make new friends to explore it with. And if, as happens to the little duck in this story, those new friends have to leave, the child, like the little duck, will be able to greet the next wave of newcomers with compassion and generosity.

It's winter and little bear doesn't want to go to sleep. He's sure he won't get cold outside. He doesn't mind how long the winter is, how deep the snow might get or how hard the wind might blow. Until, that is, he finds himself all alone in a snowstorm. After a few panicky moments, he finds his mother again. "Mamma, I'm back," he says. "Winter is very long and you might get lonely."

Claudia Rueda's classic picture-book illustrations, with their simple strong lines and shapes, show a very determined little bear and his mother in an increasingly snowy landscape. Little bear is a character that children everywhere will identify with.

A funny, offbeat story about how disruptive change can be — even if it’s a holiday!

Early one morning, a strange visitor arrives — a visitor whose name is Holiday. “I’ll be taking over for you today!” Holiday tells Monday. And before long, Holiday has met the other days, even Saturday and Sunday, who usually sleep all week.

With each introduction, Monday becomes more and more upset. She is used to starting the week, and she’d like to keep it that way. When Holiday announces how much fun he’s having, and that he’d like to stay, Wednesday and Friday admit that they are a little worried, too. Meanwhile, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday are completely smitten by this exciting new day.

Finally, Monday (with Wednesday and Friday in tow), asks Holiday to kindly pack his things and go. Then just in time, Tuesday comes up with a solution that will work for everyone.

Natalie Nelson’s ingenious characterizations of the days of the week will delight readers young and old, as will her story that pokes fun at how set in our ways we can be and how we might instead choose to be open to change and embrace the unexpected.

Key Text Features
speech bubbles
illustrations
labels

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.6
Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.

Teddy is the king of the dump!

Teddy and his dad are going to the dump. At the rural waste management center, Teddy helps to sort the recyclables, using a garbage claw to rescue a missorted bottle, chasing scrap paper and watching (and hearing!) the compactor at work. “Got to make it as small as possible,” Dad says as they watch forklifts and bulldozers moving garbage into piles that stretch as far as the eye can see, “because there’s soooo much.” Finally, it’s time to visit the “As Is” store, where Teddy is sad to be leaving his beloved ride-on dog toy. Teddy is too big for the toy now, but will he be able to part with it?

A fun, thoughtful story about big machinery, recycling and learning to let go of the things we no longer need.

Key Text Features

dialogue

illustrations

speech bubbles

Correlates to the Common Core States Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7

With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4

Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7

Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

A book that will inspire readers to connect more deeply with the natural world, from the award winning author of Sometimes I Feel Like A Fox.

Inspired by the expression “once in a blue moon,” Danielle Daniel has created a book of short poems, each one describing a rare or special experience that turns an ordinary day into a memorable one. She describes the thrill of seeing a double rainbow, the Northern Lights or a shooting star as well as quieter pleasures such as spotting a turtle basking in the sun or a family of ducks waddling across the road.

In accessible language and delightful, naïve images, Once in a Blue Moon celebrates the magical moments that can be found in the beauty and wonders of nature.

With the same simple yet sophisticated design as Danielle’s award-winning picture book Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox, this book is a very accessible and inviting introduction to poetry for young readers.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.5
Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4
Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4
Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7
Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)

Following the success of Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox and Sometimes I Feel Like a River, this companion book explores the nature and beauty of trees.

Twelve lyrical poems look at twelve different trees, from early spring to deep winter. In each poem, a child identifies with a feature of the tree — such as the smooth trunk of a birch whose bark has peeled away, the strong branches of a spruce that shelter small birds or the pink flowers of a cherry blossom that tumble like confetti. The poems provide an opportunity to learn about each tree, inspiring us to look afresh at the trees around us — whether in the schoolyard, neighborhood or park — and get to know them better.

Danielle Daniel’s passion for trees is beautifully matched by Jackie Traverse’s paintings, which bring each tree to life. In the pages following the poems, children are invited to consider what different kinds of trees might mean to them. In an author’s note, Danielle Daniel shares her belief, similar to her Algonquin ancestors’, that trees are sentient beings with much to give and teach us.

Key Text Features

illustrations

author’s note

poems

Correlates to the Common Core States Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.5

Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.6

With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4

Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

A New York Times Book Review choice as one of the 10 Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2011, an Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award Honour Book, and finalist for the Governor General's Award: Children's Illustration and Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards: Picture Book

Each spring Anna leaves her home in Mexico and travels north with her family where they will work on farms. Sometimes she feels like a bird, flying north in the spring and south in the fall. Sometimes she feels like a jack rabbit living in an abandoned burrow, as her family moves into an empty house near the fields. But most of all she wonders what it would be like to stay in one place.

The Low German-speaking Mennonites from Mexico are a unique group of migrants who moved from Canada to Mexico in the 1920s and became an important part of the farming community there. But it has become increasingly difficult for them to earn a livelihood, and so they come back to Canada each year as migrant workers in order to survive. And while they currently have the right to work in Canada, that right may be challenged. Working conditions are difficult for all migrant workers, most of whom have to leave families far behind. And yet countries like Canada and the United States benefit greatly from their labor.

Beautifully written by Maxine Trottier and imaginatively illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault, this book describes what it is like to be a child in a migrant family.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1
With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3
Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7
Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

A lyrical, beautifully illustrated poem about a baby’s birth.

In this lyrical poem, author John Sobol brings us his imagined vision of a universal experience, that of being born. As she is born, the baby in this story goes through a time of intense movement and change before she takes her first breath and cries. Warm hands wrap her in a blanket, and she is held in loving arms. She has arrived!

Sobol captures the mystery and wonder of the birth experience in this deeply sympathetic tale. Reading this book together will enable children and their parents to celebrate the joy and emotional power of that remarkable moment.

Cindy Derby’s soft, gentle illustrations beautifully complement the poem.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7
Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)

Words are powerful. Words spread truth. Words turn to action. Words matter in this lyrical account of the White Rose Resistance.

The White Rose Resistance was the German student movement that used the power of the written word to speak out against the Nazis during World War II. They worked in secret to distribute leaflets condemning the government’s actions at a time when doing so meant putting your life at risk.

The story follows siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl, who were instrumental members of the resistance. Words Matter transports readers through the world the siblings inhabited, from their idyllic childhood to becoming leaders in the Hitler Youth groups; the Nuremberg Rally; witnessing the arrests and murders of innocent people; and finally emerging as leaders of the White Rose Resistance — while still believing in the goodness that lived in the hearts of the German people. The Scholl siblings were arrested and executed in 1943 but their legacy, and the words of the Resistance, live on.

Written in verse and strikingly illustrated for middle-grade readers, Words Matter brings to life an unforgettable true story of nonviolent resistance. Hans and Sophie’s story demonstrates the enduring power of words, especially in times of propaganda and fear.

Includes a historical note.

Key Text Features

author's note

further reading

historical context

illustrations

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.7

Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3

Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

Once Upon a Northern Night has received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.

In this exquisite lullaby, the beauty and wonder of a northern winter night unfold, with images of a soft snowfall, the wild animals that appear in the garden, the twinkling stars, the gentle rhythm of the northern lights and the etchings of frost on the window pane.

As the young child sleeps, wrapped in a downy blanket, a snowflake falls, and then another and another. The poem describes the forest of snow-covered pines, where a deer and fawn nibble a frozen apple, and a great gray owl swoops down with its feathers trailing through the snow. Two snowshoe hares scamper and play under the watchful eyes of a little fox, and a tiny mouse scurries in search of a midnight feast. When the snow clouds disappear, stars light up the sky, followed by the mystical shimmering of northern lights - all framed by the frost on the window.

Jean E. Pendziwol's lyrical poem reflects a deep appreciation of the magic of a northern winter night where, even as a child slumbers, the world outside does not rest but continues its own natural rhythms.

Isabelle Arsenault's spare, beautifully rendered illustrations, with their subtle but striking use of color, make us feel that we too are experiencing the enchantment of that northern night. They simultaneously evoke winter's nighttime life and the cozy warmth and security of a beloved child's sleep.

The sequel to the award-winning Book Uncle and Me features bird lover Reeni and her quest to save her city’s bird count event when the mayor tries to shut it down.

Reeni is wild about birds! So when she and her best friend, Yasmin, have to pick a survey topic for a school project, asking their neighbors what they know about birds is an obvious choice. They are shocked to learn that no one — not one single person! — has heard about Bird Count India and the major event it is about to launch all over the country. Thousands of birdwatchers will be out counting birds as part of a global movement. Global means world, and isn’t this city part of the world? How come people don’t seem to care about the threats to city birds? And why is the mayor intentionally thwarting their city’s bird count event?

Reeni and Yasmin enlist help from Book Uncle, Reeni’s family and even their school bus driver. They must get people interested in the bird count, get them to ask the city government to support the event. After all, what’s good for the birds is good for all of us … right?

A funny, triumphant story about learning to advocate for both the human and non-human inhabitants of your community.

Key Text Features

chapters

dialogue

illustrations

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2

Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6

Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3

Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

Cats have always fascinated us!

When human beings first encountered wild cats, they could see things in the dark that our eyes couldn’t, and their hunting helped keep pests away. Eventually, they became our companions, and joined us on journeys across the sea to faraway lands. Soon, the whole world became obsessed with cats!

Over the centuries and all around the world, the cat has appeared in myths, legends, superstitions and stories. From the time we first admired cats in ancient Egypt, to the creation of cat cafés in Korea in the present day, cats continue to fascinate and intrigue us. While they allow us to understand some things about them, cats have still managed to retain an aura of mystery even today. Do any of us really know what’s going on in their heads?

Based on extensive research, this narrative nonfiction picture book traces the special relationship between humans and these furry felines — a purr-fect introduction for the youngest of readers to the mysterious world of cats! Includes backmatter with further information on the cat breeds featured in the book. A companion book to Dogs and Us.

Key Text Features

illustrations

facts

further information

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.1

With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.2

With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.5

Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.7

With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.2

Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.5

Know and use various text features (e.g., headings, tables of contents, glossaries, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.6

Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.9

Identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).

Working with his dad in the park, Owen gets to do his favorite job all by himself. First, he clears the park of picnickers, checkers players, sleepy dogs and geese, and then the magic happens …

It’s a busy morning in the park. All along the boulevard, families are picnicking and people are napping, playing checkers and reading on the grass. But Owen and his dad are hard at work, raking and mowing the grass. And today, Owen gets to do the best job all on his own. With his dad’s encouragement, Owen gathers his courage and goes around to everyone in the park. He tells the families, the checkers players and the readers what he has to do, and they rush off. Finally, when the park is empty, it is the moment Owen has been waiting for. He turns the tap for the sprinkler system, and water cascades over the trees and flower beds.

In creating this book, Scot Ritchie was inspired by his trip to the beautiful Tiergarten park in Berlin. Owen at the Park is a sweet story illuminating the small pleasures in everyday life and the excitement of a child taking on new responsibilities.

Key Text Features
author’s note

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3
Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3
Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

Lily wants a tree for her birthday. Although she and her father live in a tiny dark apartment, she promises to give it water and sun and air. But after she receives her tree—whom she names George—even Lily can’t imagine how their daily walks will change the neighborhood!

With George in a wagon, the two friends explore Lily’s street, greeting neighbors who are happy to sit in George’s shade. It turns out he’s the only tree on the street! Soon Lily’s friends want trees of their own. And together they become a small forest that travels from one end of the city to the other. Once word gets around, more people join in—with plants and flowers, chairs and picnic blankets, books and instruments.

This uplifting new picture book by Marie-Louise Gay is inspired by a project by the landscape artist Bruno Doedens and the late Joop Mulder called Bosk (meaning “forest”) in the Dutch city of Leeuwarden. It reminds us that—if we dare to imagine it—we can change the world, one tree at a time.

Key Text Features

dialogue

illustrations

author's note

gatefold

Correlates to the Common Core States Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2

Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4

Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7

Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

A classic story of an Inuit girl's first experience going alone under the ice to collect mussels.

Eva's journey is a very special one. Today, she will walk on the bottom of the sea alone. She will go into the cave that is under the ice when the tide is out. She will search for mussels as her people have done for centuries. She will find herself in darkness. She will find too she has brought what she needs with her. She will come again into the light.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5
Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.

Accompanied by quirky line drawings by Spanish illustrator Erica Salcedo, this is a gently humorous and remarkably informative nature-adventure story about an unlikely pointy-nosed hero with big dreams and an even bigger heart.

After he nearly drowns in a parking-lot puddle, Dinnn Needles is fearful of many things, including flying. When his four hundred siblings swarm off without him, he finds time to dream —about family stories, a lost brother, adventure in The Wild and, above all, how to be cool.

At school in an abandoned air-conditioner, Dinnn learns about the deadly Pondhawk dragonfly and other dangers that lie beyond his home under a drive-in theater screen. But Dinnn never really takes to city life. Lonely and left out, he is filled with an unexplained longing. He sips spilled cola from abandoned pop cans, but it is not as tasty as flower nectar. He tries to make friends with the local street mosquitoes, but that just lands him in a sewer filled with spiders and water snakes. He hears about the red mini-van that brought his parents together and wonders about his extended family in the country. He even finds a great black jacket in a roadside ditch, but it doesn’t make him cool.

And then one day, as fate would have it, the red mini-van reappears, giving Dinnn a chance to visit to his relatives in The Wild, where new perils await an inexperienced city mosquito — being struck by a raindrop, zapped by a porch light or snapped up by a hungry fish at dusk. But in the end Dinnn discovers that being cool is a matter of what you do, especially for one’s friends and family, including two new brothers. 

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.3
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events

Nominee for the 2012 Silver Birch Express Award in the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading Program.

Jeremiah Birnbaum is stinking rich. He lives in a house with nine bathrooms, a games room, an exercise room, an indoor pool, a hot tub, a movie theater, a bowling alley and a tennis court. His parents, a former hotdog vendor and window cleaner who made it big in dental floss, make sure Jeremiah goes to the very best private school, and that he takes lessons in all the things he will need to know how to do as an accomplished and impressive young man: etiquette lessons, ballroom dancing, watercolor painting. And, of course, classical piano.

Jeremiah complies, because he wants to please his parents. But one day, by chance, he hears the captivating strains of a different kind of music -- the strums, plucks and rhythms of a banjo. It is music that stirs something in Jeremiah's dutiful little soul, and he is suddenly obsessed. And when his parents forbid him to play one, he decides to learn anyway -- even if he has to make the instrument himself.

A teenaged boy struggles as he watches his family and relationships fracture after the death of his mother, and is now faced with the terrible possibility that his twin brother may have just killed their father.

Seventeen-year-old Rad comes home to find his father lying broken and dead at the bottom of the ravine behind their house. Rad’s twin brother, shaken but very much alive, had watched their father fall.

Desperate to understand what has happened before calling the police, Rad confronts his brother and the complicated landscape of their past. He reconstructs not just the circumstances leading to his father’s death, but the history of his family.

How can a family simply disintegrate? Were they ever happy, or were the roots of unhappiness always there? What plagued his father? What plagues Rad?

As the time comes to do the right thing, the question remains. Did his brother kill their father? And what will happen to the boys now?

Winner, Children's Africana Book Award - Best Book for Older Readers

For young Kariuki, life in a small village in central Kenya is one great adventure. And when he meets Nigel life becomes even more interesting. Nigel is from England and he has come to visit his great grandfather, the fearsome Bwana Ruin who owns the farm where all the villagers work. The villagers call Nigel the mzungu boy, and they view him with suspicion and fear.

Nevertheless, Kariuki becomes friends with Nigel and the two spend happy days exploring the forest together. Then one day the two boys decide to hunt down Old Moses, the biggest, ugliest, oldest and meanest warthog in the forest. The hunt takes them deeper into the jungle than Kariuki has ever gone, and his beloved forest becomes a frightening place, filled with dangerous creatures, including the Mau-mau, the mysterious men who have guns and are plotting against Bwana Ruin and the white soldiers. And when Nigel suddenly disappears, Kariuki realizes that it is up to him to save his friend.

In this sweetly funny picture book, a tiny mouse, Chico Canta, saves his entire family from the clever kitten, Little Gato-Gato, when he uses his quick wits and ability to speak another language.

Mrs. Canta lives with her family in an old theatre, and she has her hands full trying to keep track of her twelve children—especially Chico Canta, the youngest, tiniest, and most mischievous of the mice. She is always telling them, “Hurry! Hurry! ¡Pronto! ¡Pronto!” She speaks many languages, and she encourages her children to learn more, too. “Bilingual, bravo!”

One evening, after a wonderful performance of The Three Little Pigs, the mouse family narrowly escapes Little Gato-Gato. Undaunted and inspired by the production, they decide to mount their own version of the play. A frenzy of sewing costumes and building sets ensues under the direction of Mr. Canta, while Mrs. Canta oversees the cricket musicians, the spider stage crew, and the moths who will be the ushers. But on the night of the play itself, it is tiny Chico who is the star of the show when he spots Little Gato-Gato in the shadows, and uses his own special gift for languages to avert disaster.

Amelia Lau Carling’s charming illustrations show the pleasures, fears, antics and glories of Chico Canta and his family, all against the backdrop of the elegant old theater. A note from author Pat Mora describes how she and her daughter Libby were inspired to write this story together after she read the kernel of this bilingual joke in a book of Mexican American folktales.

Key Text Features
author’s note

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.2
Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.

Doctor Kiss is quite prepared to say yes when she finds a letter asking her to come to the aid of a young knight who has been injured in battle. She waits until after her usual goodnight kisses and hugs from her parents, and then she takes her medical bag and climbs through her bedroom window into a gilded, magical world from the age of chivalry.

Teddy Jam and Joanne Fitzgerald have created a richly satisfying story about a very imaginative young heroine. Winner of the Governor General's Award (Children's Illustration) when it was first published in 1991, this new edition will delight a whole new generation of young readers.

All royalties from the sales of this book will be donated to the Joanne Fitzgerald Fund at IBBY Canada.

A quiet, gentle story about a family working together written in Cree and English.

A young child, her grandmother and mother are going out to pick wild yarrow. As Grandmother gets ready, the child and her mom wait. Grandmother leads the way to the field of blossoms, where they can finally start to pick … only now they have to wait for Mom!

The simple story, written in Cree and English and accompanied by rich acrylic illustrations, shows the patience, love and humor involved as three generations accommodate one another on a family outing. nipêhon / I Wait was translated by Leona Morin-Neilson, who was the inspiration for the book.

This companion volume to Niwechihaw / I Help includes a recipe for yarrow tea, known for its refreshing and soothing effects.

Key Text Features
recipe
author’s note

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4
Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

A spellbinding story about chasing love, fighting family, losing friends and starting all over again, from the internationally acclaimed Lisa Moore.

Sixteen-year-old Flannery Malone has it bad. She’s been in love with Tyrone O’Rourke since the days she still believed in Santa Claus. But Tyrone has grown from a dorky kid into an outlaw graffiti artist, the rebel-with-a-cause of Flannery’s dreams, literally too cool for school.

Which is a problem, since he and Flannery are partners for the entrepreneurship class that she needs to graduate. And Tyrone’s vanishing act may have darker causes than she realizes.

Tyrone isn’t Flannery’s only problem. Her mother, Miranda, can’t pay the heating bills, let alone buy Flannery’s biology book. Her little brother, Felix, is careening out of control. And her best-friend-since-forever, Amber, has fallen for a guy who is making her forget all about the things she’s always cared most about — Flannery included — leading Amber down a dark and dangerous path of her own.

When Flannery decides to make a love potion for her entrepreneurship project, rumors that it actually works go viral, and she suddenly has a hot commodity on her hands. But a series of shattering events makes her realize that real-life love is far more potent — and potentially damaging — than any fairy-tale prescription.

Written in Lisa Moore’s exuberant and inimitable style, Flannery is by turns heartbreaking and hilarious, empowering and harrowing — often all on the same page. It is a novel whose spell no reader will be able to resist.

Sienna looks forward to drawing a picture for her school’s spring art show, until she ends up with the last two crayons …

By the time Sienna arrives at the art table in her classroom, all the crayons are gone except dark brown and light brown. Now how can she make a special picture for the art show? Andy teases that all she’ll be able to draw is mud and dog poop. Her teacher tries to cheer her up, telling her that lots of wonderful things are brown. So Sienna imagines some of her favorite things — her grandma’s rose garden, her new bicycle, rainbows — but none of them are brown! Her friends remind her that chocolate ice cream is brown, and so is the grizzly bear at the zoo. Sienna draws both, with the help of her friends, but neither picture seems special enough. In the end, inspired by an early memory, Sienna comes up with her own idea for a drawing that’s perfect for the art show.

The Last Two Crayons looks at the beautiful world of brown, with a heartwarming and empowering ending that celebrates diversity, creativity and family.

Key Text Features

dialogue

illustrations

vignettes

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2

Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4

Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7

Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

Drawing on his own memories of the best days of summer in the city, Gary Clement brings us an illustrated version of the beloved classic “Swimming, swimming in a swimming pool,” full of fun and humor.

The illustrations show a young boy and his friends spending a carefree day at the neighborhood pool. We see them walk to the pool together, change into their trunks and then spend hours swimming, cavorting, splashing and diving. The pool is full of moms, dads, other kids and babies, all enjoying a chance to cool off on a hot summer day. The boy returns home, tired but happy, and falls asleep holding onto his goggles in anticipation of another delightful day at the pool.

Includes a short explanation of the hand gestures for the song and a link to a video demonstration.

Nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Prize

Nocturne: Dream Recipes is a unique bedtime book that hints at the magic inherent in dreaming.

Twelve glow-in-the-dark pictures present possible inspirations for a night in which the hidden world becomes visible. Just choose a dream from among the pictures and descriptions in the book, and then turn off the light to see a surprising glow-in-the-dark image. Included are dreams such as the dream of going far away, the boring book dream, the dream of the cat who smelled the tuna casserole, and even the drawn dream (which children can create themselves).

Once again Isol's extraordinary creativity and humor have produced a truly wonderful, very original book.

A splash of paint, a place to sit, a popup park or playground bring life and a sense of fun to our cities.

Neighborhoods where people look out for each other, eat together, make art and build community are healthier, happier, greener and cleaner. Journey around the world to discover how people have been dreaming up new ways to ensure their cities and neighbourhoods are creative, inclusive and environmentally sustainable.

These placemaking ideas can be big — like the skateboard park built on the grounds of an orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya — or small — like the painted rock snake that winds along a beach in Toronto, Ontario. Together, we can create public spaces where everyone belongs. Includes a list of ideas for children to get involved in their neighborhoods, along with a glossary and sources for further reading. 

The ThinkCities series is inspired by the urgency for new approaches to city life as a result of climate change, population growth and increased density. It highlights the challenges and risks cities face, but also offers hope for building resilience, sustainability and quality of life as young people advocate for themselves and their communities.

Key Text Features

fact

further information

further reading

glossary

historical context

illustrations

resources

references

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.1

Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6

Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.

A spellbinding story about chasing love, fighting family, losing friends and starting all over again, from the internationally acclaimed Lisa Moore.

Sixteen-year-old Flannery Malone has it bad. She’s been in love with Tyrone O’Rourke since the days she still believed in Santa Claus. But Tyrone has grown from a dorky kid into an outlaw graffiti artist, the rebel-with-a-cause of Flannery’s dreams, literally too cool for school.

Which is a problem, since he and Flannery are partners for the entrepreneurship class that she needs to graduate. And Tyrone’s vanishing act may have darker causes than she realizes.

Tyrone isn’t Flannery’s only problem. Her mother, Miranda, can’t pay the heating bills, let alone buy Flannery’s biology book. Her little brother, Felix, is careening out of control. And her best-friend-since-forever, Amber, has fallen for a guy who is making her forget all about the things she’s always cared most about — Flannery included — leading Amber down a dark and dangerous path of her own.

When Flannery decides to make a love potion for her entrepreneurship project, rumors that it actually works go viral, and she suddenly has a hot commodity on her hands. But a series of shattering events makes her realize that real-life love is far more potent — and potentially damaging — than any fairy-tale prescription.

Written in Lisa Moore’s exuberant and inimitable style, Flannery is by turns heartbreaking and hilarious, empowering and harrowing — often all on the same page. It is a novel whose spell no reader will be able to resist.

Abukacha finally throws away his worn out shoes and gets himself a new pair. But the old shoes, somehow, keep finding their way back to him.

When author and illustrator Tamar Tessler was a little girl, her aunt would tell her the story of Abukacha and his shoes — a story that had been told to her by her own Polish aunt, Fella. The plot was always different, but the problem remained the same — Abukacha had the biggest shoes in the world, and he couldn’t get rid of them no matter what he did. Inspired by her husband, who refused to throw away a worn-out pair of shoes, Tamar wrote her own version of the story, and created art that incorporates her cherished family photos.

Finalist, Governor General's Literary Award, Translation

Each year, more than 400 minors arrive alone in Canada requesting refugee status. They arrive without their parents, accompanied by no adult at all.

Alone relates the journey of three of them: Afshin, Alain and Patricia. Their story opens a window onto the many heartbreaks, difficult sacrifices and countless hardships that punctuate their obstacle-filled path. But Alone most especially tells of the courage and resilience that these young people demonstrated before being able to finally obtain a life where threats and danger are no longer a part of their everyday existence.

Key Text Features:

author's note

captions

chapters

character drawings

comic

map

dialogue

flags

further information

illustrations

introduction

maps

writing inspiration

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.3

Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.7

Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

Marcel was born with webbed toes and an extra chromosome in this tender exploration of a child’s life with Down syndrome.

When Marcel is born, the first thing the midwife notices is his webbed toes. Otherwise, he eats, he sleeps, he eats again, just like any baby. And then the doctors start to notice Marcel’s almond-shaped eyes, weak muscle tone and unusually shaped ears. They come to a conclusion: Marcel has Down syndrome. Marcel’s parents don’t know what to do with this medical terminology, so they bury it in the bottom of the garden, where it can grow in its own time and they can keep an eye on it.

But Marcel doesn’t care about words yet. He grows and learns, taking to life like a fish in water. In many ways, Marcel is just like any child. He loves to laugh, be silly with his friends and go swimming during summer vacation.

Marcel with a Splash goes beyond medical terms and the accompanying prejudices to discover Marcel himself. Inspired in part by her experiences as the mother of a child with Down syndrome, artist and author Julia Sørensen takes us on a poetic stroll between naps, chromosomes and tall grass, through Marcel’s beautiful, ordinary life.

Key Text Features

illustrations

Correlates to the Common Core States Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4

Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7

With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1

Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

These ten original ghost stories dramatize the history of Chinese immigration to North America -- from the poor village men who first came searching for gold in the late 1850s to the new immigrants who arrived from Hong Kong in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. These stories describe the resilience and struggle of people trying to make new lives for themselves in a strange land. But these are also ghost stories, a popular narrative form in China. Though men and women seek their fortune in the New World, the links to China are strong.

Wherever they go, the Chinese immigrants are reminded of their home country -- the curse of a friend betrayed, the ghost of a faithful spouse, the spirit of a dead parent. The tales describe the plights and dreams of men and women, rich and poor, greedy and good, young and old. Together, they tell the tumultuous story of 140 years of Chinese immigration to North America, creating a New World mythology of immigrant stories.

"All girls [should read] The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis." — Malala Yousafzai, New York Times

The three books in Deborah Ellis's Breadwinner trilogy bound into one handsome volume

Deborah Ellis's novels The Breadwinner, Parvana's Journey and Mud City have been a phenomenal success, touching the hearts of readers the world over.

Here are the three books bound into one handsome volume -- for readers new to Deborah Ellis and for those who would like a collector's edition for their libraries.

“The bond between Buddy and Earl is as strong as ever in their fourth book, as is the playful banter and cheerful artwork that capture their relationship so well.” Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

Buddy and Earl know that with the right education they can become anything — even a dentist or a hot-dog vendor! So they eagerly gather their silly, smelly supplies and head to school.

Soon after they arrive, their teacher, Miss Meredith, is called away and Professor Earl takes charge of the classroom. Buddy works hard at lessons like Sniffing Things, Tail Chasing and Scratching Itches. And when Professor Earl announces that one very special student is going to win a major award? Buddy cannot imagine who that lucky student might be…

In this fourth book in the critically acclaimed Buddy and Earl series, the dog who likes to play by the rules and the hedgehog who knows no limits learn just how much fun school can be.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1
With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.3
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

Baba Wagué is only four years old when he is sent to the tiny Malian village of Kassar, West Africa, to be raised by his paternal grandparents, according to the family tradition. He is most unhappy about this at first, but under his grandmother's patient and wise tutelage, he comes to love his close-knit village community, as he listens to his grandmother's stories, learns about his own history and traditions, and experiences many hilarious and sobering adventures along the way. He learns how to catch a catfish with his bare hands, learns the true meaning of the appearance of a snake in the granary, flees from an army of bees and mistakes a hungry albino cobra snake for a pink inner tube. And he survives, with trepidation and pride, his circumcision - a ceremony that brings together the entire village.

Finally, Grandma Sabou decides that Baba is educated enough to go to school, and he moves back to the city, where his family struggles to provide him with a formal education. But he brings his village stories with him, and in the process of sharing them with his neighborhood, he not only uncovers his immense artistic and storytelling talents, but eventually finds his way to America, where he embarks on a new life as a writer and artist.

Diakité's engaging storytelling style and bright, bold illustrations make this a beautiful gift book and a wonderful tribute to Malian village life.

The amazing, dramatic, and painful autobiographical story of Ange Zhang as he came of age during the Cultural Revolution in China.

When Mao’s Cultural Revolution took hold in China in June 1966, Ange Zhang was thirteen years old. His father was a famous writer. Shortly after the revolution began, many of Ange’s classmates joined the Red Guard, Mao’s youth movement, and they drove their teachers out of the classrooms.

But in the weeks that followed, Ange discovered that his father’s fame as a writer now meant that he was a target of the new regime. When his father was arrested, he began to question everything that was happening in his country. Finally, Ange was forced to join many other young urban Chinese students in the countryside for re-education where he found the emotional space to develop his own artistic talent and to find that he, like his father, was an artist — except that Ange’s talent lay in painting and drawing.

This dramatic, painful autobiographical story is complemented by photographs, many drawn from Ange’s personal collection, as well as a non-fiction section that explains the historical period and is also illustrated with archival images.

Key Text Features
author’s note
glossary

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.7
Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

In this book in the Stella and Sam series, Marie-Louise Gay has gone back in time to answer the questions often asked by the children who read and love the books.

Where does Stella get her wild ideas? How big is Stella's imagination? What did Stella look like when she was small? How did Stella come to be the big sister to Sam that we all know and love?

Although Marie-Louise Gay didn't know what she would find when she started to explore Stella's childhood, she soon realized that when Stella was very small, she saw the world in her own unique way -- with wonder, curiosity and the sense that everything is possible. And when Sam came along, what could be more natural than to pass this sense of wonder on to him?

A story of a lovely, tiny Stella, whose world is full of small adventures and slivers of magic.

Deborah Ellis presents the stories of children of the war-torn Middle East, based on interviews with Israeli and Palestinian children.

In a rehabilitation center for disabled children, twelve-year-old Nora says she loves the color pink and chewing gum and explains that the wheels of her wheelchair are like her legs. Eleven-year-old Mohammad describes how his house was demolished by soldiers. And we meet twelve-year-old Salam, whose older sister walked into a store in Jerusalem and blew herself up, killing herself and two people, and injuring twenty others. All these children live both ordinary and extraordinary lives. They argue with their siblings. They dream about their wishes for the future. They have also seen their homes destroyed, their families killed, and they live in the midst of constant upheaval and violence.

This simple and telling book allows children everywhere to see those caught in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as children just like themselves, but who are living far more difficult, dangerous lives.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.6

Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities and differences in the point of view they represent.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.3

Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6

Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.

Hello! Who do you see and hear in the woods today? Meet a variety of woodland and water animals in this story written in Anishinaabemowin and English.

Can you see a fox digging, spot two minnows dancing or hear a swarm of bees buzzing? Boozhoo! / Hello! introduces children to familiar animals as they go about their daily activities: walking, running, swimming, climbing and finally — when the day is done — sleeping! Illustrated in a vibrant and colorful Woodland style that will appeal to readers young and old alike, and accompanied by an author’s note.

Key Text Features

Author’s note

translations

illustrations

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3

Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7

Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

Malaika learns about her father, who came to Canada as a migrant farm worker when she was just a baby and who shared her love of carnival.

Malaika dreams about a man with a basket of fruit and guesses that the dream is about her father. Mummy explains that her daddy passed away long ago, and Grandma decides it’s time Malaika knew more about her father’s life.

The family drives to a far-off farm where they receive a warm welcome and visit the orchard where Malaika’s father picked fruit. The farm workers tell Malaika that her daddy had always dreamed of celebrating carnival there, just like back home. Will Malaika agree to be their Carnival Queen for the harvest festival?

Nadia L. Hohn and Irene Luxbacher have created another compelling story about Malaika, who finds a way to cope with her sadness about her father through their shared love of carnival. Includes an author's note.

Key Text Features

dialogue

glossary

illustrations

vignettes

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.6

With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7

With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1

Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

This stunning exploration of butterflies from around the world is a companion to My Book of Birds

Geraldo Valério grew up in Brazil, watching white butterflies visit the vegetable patch behind his house. As he got older, he learned more about these unique and beautiful insects, which can be found on every continent except Antarctica.

In this gorgeous album, Geraldo presents his favorite butterfly species from around the world. Paint and paper collage illustrations show the butterflies in flight, sipping nectar, laying eggs and resting among flowers and foliage. The text provides fascinating information about each species — from familiar Monarchs and Giant Swallowtails, to dazzling Blue Morphos and tiny Snowflakes, from beautifully patterned European Peacocks to endangered Queen Alexandra’s Birdwings. Colorful endpapers, showing the butterflies as caterpillars and chrysalides, complete this beautiful book for budding young naturalists.

Includes an introduction, world map, fully illustrated spreads showing a butterfly’s life cycle and body parts, as well as a glossary, index and suggestions for further reading.

Key Text Features

scientific illustrations

introduction

further information

foreword

author's note

facts

scientific nomenclature

scientific illustrations

map

additional information

captions

glossary

index

labels

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.1
With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.4
With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).

Tom lives in the countryside in the mid 1800s and he’s curious — what is it like in the town, the city and the world beyond? It’s all “work and more work,” everyone tells him. Determined to find out for himself, Tom sets off with a bit of bread and cheese in a bundle…

He encounters crowded marketplaces, bustling wharves and storms on the high seas. In China he sees how tea is made; in India he watches men make deep blue dye from indigo; in Ceylon he marvels at the skill of cinnamon peelers. Eventually, he returns home with stories and gifts, showing his parents the riches to be found all over the world.

Includes an illustrated afterword about the different kinds of work mentioned in the story when, in the days before steam, nothing moved except through the power of wind, water and muscle.

Revised and updated edition

Scientists have been warning the world about global warming for almost three decades. But the rest of us are only now starting to get the message. The planet is warming at an unusually rapid rate, and this warming is largely being caused by human activity. Shrinking glaciers, thawing permafrost, erratic weather and threatened freshwater supplies are already affecting the lives of people around the globe, and the worst is yet to come.

The crisis is real, but there is little consensus about how to confront the problem, not only because the science is complex, but because the economic, political and social implications of taking action are vast, far-reaching and unsettling. And despite the urgency, climate change deniers seem to be more vocal than ever.

This revised and updated edition includes the most recent scientific findings while addressing the main issues. What is happening, and how did we get here? What is the basic science behind climate change? What is going to happen in the future? And, most important, why is it so hard for us to accept what is going on, and what can we do about it?

Charts, maps, a glossary, an index and suggestions for further reading accompany the text.

In the first new Stella book in four years — in a series that has sold two million copies in ten languages — Stella introduces little brother Sam to the pleasures of reading. Sam is as busy and worried as ever, and Stella almost always has her nose in a book these days, but she finds time to help him out, while sharing her new pastime with contagious enthusiasm.

Sam has gathered a wagonload of branches to build a doghouse for Fred, and he wonders if the book Stella is reading tells you how to make one. It doesn't (although it is very funny), but Stella is more than willing to give Sam a hand. As soon as the doghouse is built though, Sam worries that a wolf might come along and blow it down. Stella breezily banishes his fears, suggesting a picnic at Lily Pond. Stella cools her feet in the water, reading a story, while Sam tries to catch a frog. Are there frogs in Stella's book, he wonders. No, Stella tells him, but there is a toad wearing a velvet jacket…

With her characteristically light touch, Marie-Louise Gay imparts the pleasures and importance of reading to her young audience, whether it be humor, fiction, nonfiction or poetry. Her detailed, beautifully rendered and often-amusing watercolor illustrations (spot the tiny bunny reading a book!) show yet again that Marie-Louise Gay is one of the very best artists creating picture books today.

The land, hunting, hunger, magic and extreme weather are themes that resonate for Inuit who live in the Far North. These stories, drawn from the lives of four Inuit artists, offer young readers a glimpse into this rich, remote culture, past and present. Accompanying each story are illustrations by Jirina Marton, who has spent time in the Arctic and whose deep appreciation for its subtle beauty shines through her art. In addition to the stories, there is a feature spread on each artist with a photograph, a brief biography and a reproduction of one of the artist's works.

This delightful novel in verse follows the adventures of a brother and sister around the neighborhood, and especially at the corner grocery store!

Race you to our corner grocery store!

Stanstones’ corner store is the heart of the neighborhood for the brother and sister in this story. They help to close the store every Saturday and save their pennies to buy candy. The store is the source of many adventures, where they spend a memorably spooky Halloween, play tricks on Mr. and Mrs. Stanstones, and form a search party to find Toby the store cat when he goes missing. What will happen to their beloved corner store when a brand-new supermarket opens up in town?

Full of humor and playful language, this novel in verse is a sweetly nostalgic celebration of a time when children had more freedom and a mom-and-pop corner store might be the center of a kid’s world. Based on Robert Heidbreder’s childhood, this follow-up to Rooster Summer can be read as a sequel or a stand-alone story. Chelsea O’Byrne’s vibrant illustrations bring the corner store and its colorful cast of characters to life.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4
Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

A family car trip across Canada brings Megan and her dad face to face with how sad and happy growing up can be.

An American Library Association 2012 Notable Children's Book and a USBBY Outstanding International Books Honor Book

The Ramayana -- one of the great legends of ancient India -- is presented here in the form of a visually stunning and gripping graphic novel. Told from the perspective of the queen, Sita, it explores ideas of right vs. wrong, compassion, loyalty, trust, honor and the terrible price that war exacts from women, children, animals and the natural world.

After Sita, Rama and his brother are banished from their kingdom, Sita is captured by the arrogant King Ravana and imprisoned in a garden across the ocean. Ravana tries to convince Sita to be his wife, but she steadfastly refuses his advances. Eventually, Rama comes to her rescue with the help of the monkey Hanuman and his army, magic animals and gods. But Rama is unable to trust Sita and forces her to undergo an ordeal by fire to prove herself to be true and pure…

The Ramayana was first written in Sanskrit by the poet Valmiki around 300 B.C. It contains important Hindu teachings and has had great influence on Indian life and culture over the centuries.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6
Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

Imagine that you are holding a device that will allow you to see the monsters that live invisibly all around us. All you have to do is follow the simple instructions and…total chaos!

Technology isn’t always easy, and this monster viewer disguised as a book is no exception. If you hold the viewer too high, all you see are the tops of the monsters’ heads. Too low, and all you see are their feet. And things don’t get any better when the monsters themselves try to help out.

Full of puns and visual jokes, Super Duper Monster Viewer pokes gentle fun at our obsession with technology and the next cool thing. And while the two monsters we meet in this book might be terrible at tech support, they make pretty fun companions just the same.

Written and illustrated by the irrepressibly funny and highly acclaimed children’s author Kevin Sylvester, Super-Duper Monster Viewer is sure to bring laughter — and maybe a little mayhem — into your day.

Winner, Canadian Jewish Literary Awards Best Children's Book

When a Jewish army captain is falsely accused of treason and sent to prison, a writer uses his pen to fight for justice.

In 1895 a prisoner watches the ocean through the bars of his cell. Accused of betraying France, Captain Alfred Dreyfus is exiled to a prison on Devil’s Island, far from his wife and children. It’s a horrible fate — but what if he’s innocent?

Seven thousand miles away, the famous writer Emile Zola wonders: Is Alfred a traitor to France? Or a victim of antisemitism? Convinced that Alfred is innocent, Emile knows that it is his DUTY to help. He pens the famous letter “J’Accuse …!”, explaining that Alfred was blamed, charged, tried and convicted … only because he is Jewish.

This powerful middle-grade story written in verse with full-page illustrations is told from the perspectives of both Alfred Dreyfus and Emile Zola, two men whose courage changed the world. The true story of the Dreyfus Affair, published in time for the 125th anniversary of “J’Accuse …!”, acts as a reminder that a person committed to truth, justice and equality must stand up and speak out against prejudice for themselves — and for others. Includes an author’s note and further historical context.

Key Text Features

author's note

illustrations

sources

references

informational note

historical context

historical note

further information

afterword

headings

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3
Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3
Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.7
Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).

While volunteering at a local graveyard, Derek discovers that solving a mystery from long ago will also help him put his own present-day fears to rest.

While tracking clues from a secret code penciled in the margins of mystery novels at a public library, Derek Knowles-Collier discovers a time capsule that may finally put his haunting past to rest.

At QueensviewElementary, grade-six students are required to complete a community service unit as part of their school curriculum. Derek Knowles-Collier was sick when groups were assigned, so he is stuck with what’s leftover: landscape and repair duty at the local cemetery.

Derek is not happy about his assignment. When he was very young, his friend Dennis was killed by a car after running into the road to catch a ball. Ever since, Derek has had recurring nightmares, and he is afraid that spending time in a cemetery will make it even harder for him to sleep through the night.

It’s a relief, therefore, when his group’s lessons on all aspects of cemetery care are so interesting and strange that Derek just doesn’t have time to dwell on his experience with death. And when it rains, the lessons take place in the nearby public library, which takes him out of the cemetery altogether, at least for an afternoon.

One day, a book arrives at the library, an anonymous donation that happens every year. On reading the book, Derek and his group mates find a secret code written on an inside margin. One code leads to the next, with the last code leading the students to a time capsule.

Through a series of discoveries and deductions, Derek and his friends discover who has been sending books to the library every year. They also discover the truth behind Dennis’s long-ago death, which means that Derek is finally able to put his terrifying memories (and his nightmares) to rest.

INCLUDES A SECRET CODE FOR READERS TO DECIPHER!

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.3
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.6
Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6
Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.

Maggie Lou’s grandpa doesn’t call her Firefox for nothing. She’s always finding ways to make life more interesting — even if this means getting into big trouble. 

When her grandfather Moshôm finally agrees to teach her how to box, she decides that the rank odors, endless drills and teasing won’t stop her from wearing a tutu to the gym. Joining her father’s construction crew uncovers a surprising talent — besides learning how to use a broom — and a great source of scrap wood to build a canine hotel for her dogs. And when she turns thirteen, she figures out an ingenious way to make some smokin’ good camouflage to wear on her first deer hunt, where she joins a long family tradition. 

Through it all she is surrounded by her big extended gumbo soup of a family, pestered by annoying younger siblings, and gently guided by her strong female relatives – her mother, her kohkom and her ultra-cool cousin Jayda. “Keep taking up space,” Maggie’s mother says. “You’re only making room for the girls behind you.” 

A heroine for today, Maggie Lou discovers that with hard work and perseverance she can gain valuable new skills, without losing one iota of her irrepressible spirit.

Key Text Features

author’s note

biographical note

chapters

dialogue

epigraph

illustrations

Wangari Maathai was the first African woman and first environmentalist to receive a Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1977 in Kenya, she started the Green Belt Movement. Wangari’s goals had been to use tree planting to restore the environment while providing income and resources to African women. The group’s objectives broadened to the protection of human and environmental rights, civic education, and the promotion of democratic values while valuing the cultural heritage of Africa. The GBM has now planted tens of millions of trees. 

In her acceptance speech, Wangari explains that “the state of any country’s environment is a reflection of the kind of governance in place, and without good governance there can be no peace.” The efforts of the GBM and other organizations led to the peaceful transition to a democratic society in Kenya, and the tree became a symbol of the democratic struggle. Her speech is strikingly illustrated and followed by an analysis written by Laia de Ahumada.

The Speak Out series publishes the most inspiring speeches of our times, then deconstructs them to give young readers a deeper understanding of global issues and the power of language to influence them.

Key Text Features

biographical information

definitions

explanation

facts

headings

historical context

illustrations

informational note

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.2

Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.3

Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6

Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.9

Compare and contrast one author's presentation of events with that of another (e.g., a memoir written by and a biography on the same person).

This lively board book introduces young ones to a colorful collection of very busy birds.

These birds are busy!

Most of our feathered friends fly, but what about the ones that soar or strut, paddle or perch? Explore the kinetic lives of birds through captivating collage illustrations, filled with bright colors and strong shapes. Playful text will introduce infants and toddlers to a variety of verbs, making this a fun read-aloud for bird lovers of all ages.

Key Text Features

labels

illustrations

It's Zeke's first day at his new school and his head is filled with one big question: what will he do when they call him the N-word like they did at his old school?

Zeke is expecting the worst day ever, and that's what it's turning out to be. His favorite shirt has a mustard stain on it, the bus driver is unfriendly, and his teacher covers material Zeke has heard a million times. It’s not until another student performs a small act of kindness that Zeke realizes that no one has called him the N-word all day. Not once. And tomorrow could be even better …

Ken Daley’s vibrant illustrations bring warmth and humor to the story, while showing hints of what makes this new school a safer space. 

The One and Only Question will prompt young readers to ask questions of their own about how to handle bullying — while also encouraging conversations about everyone’s right to a safe learning environment.

Includes an author’s note explaining the authors’ personal connection to this story, as well as a list of suggestions about what to do about racism-based bullying to help educators, caregivers and victims.

Key Text Features

illustrations;dialogue;author's note

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3

Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4

Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7

Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.6

Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.

Winner of the 2011 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, the 2010 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the 2011 Ezra Jack Keats and New York Public Library New Writer Award, and a finalist for the Governor General's Award for Children's Illustration

The little girl in this story lives with her family in a trailer in northeastern Saskatchewan, where her father is building a dam. She knows everything about the place she lives -- her road, her school, the forest where she plays hide-and-seek and where the wolf howls at night, the hill where she goes tobogganing in winter . . .

But the dam is nearly finished and when summer comes the family is moving to Toronto -- a place marked by a big red star on the map at school. Have people in Toronto seen what I've seen? the little girl asks. And with her teacher's help she finds a way to keep everything she loves about home.

This simple, beautifully written story, complemented by Matt James's vibrant, imaginative illustrations, will resonate deeply with anyone who has had to leave their home for a new place.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7
Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

In this new cooking poem, Jorge Argueta brings us a fun and easy recipe for a yummy salsa.

A young boy and his sister gather the ingredients and grind them up in a molcajete, just like their ancestors used to do, singing and dancing all the while.

The children imagine that their ingredients are different parts of an orchestra — the tomatoes are bongos and kettledrums, the onion, a maraca, the cloves of garlic, trumpets and the cilantro, the conductor. They chop and then grind these ingredients in the molcajete, along with red chili peppers for the “hotness” that is so delicious, finally adding a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of salt. When they are finished, their mother warms tortillas and their father lays out plates, as the whole family, including the cat and dog, dance salsa in mouth-watering anticipation.

Winner of the International Latino Book Award for Guacamole, Jorge Argueta has once again written a recipe-poem that families will delight in.

Each book in the cooking poem series features a talented illustrator from the Latino world. In Salsa the text is complemented by the rich, earthy illustrations of multiple award-winning illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh. His interest in honoring the art of the past in contemporary contexts is evident in these wonderful illustrations, which evoke the pre-Columbian Mixtec codex.

Key Text Features
recipe

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4
Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4
Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

The second in a beautifully photographed series of four board books showing us the major stages in a baby's first year

This beautifully photographed series of four board books shows us the major stages in a baby's first year -- the first day, sitting, crawling and walking. Because the images are shot by the baby's own photographer-father, we see a very intimate portrait of this baby's world -- something an outsider could never capture. Mother, father and big brother also appear.

These books will fascinate babies, who love to look at other babies. They will also be of great interest to older siblings and even new parents, who can see what is to come or enjoy memories of earlier phases. In Look Around, Baby! the young baby gazes at the world, sits up and begins to play and to interact with his older brother.