children\'s

The Dot (Irma S and James H Black Honor for Excellence in Children's Literature (Awards))

A frustrated grade school artist, Vashti sits slumped over her blank piece of paper at the end of art class. "I just CAN'T draw!" she tells her teacher. Her teacher first uses wit, then subtle yet clever encouragement to inspire her student to go beyond her insecurities and become, in the words of a younger boy who "canÂ’t" draw either, "a really great artist."

Peter H. Reynolds crafts a quiet, pleasing story in The Dot--one that will strike a chord with children who have outgrown the self-assurance of kindergarten and begun to doubt their own greatness. His marvelous watercolor, ink, and, yes, tea illustrations are appealing in a Quentin Blakey way, especially as Vashti begins to go wild with her dots. The delightfully open-ended conclusion will have readers of all ages contemplating how they can make their own mark in the world. Highly recommended. (Ages 5 to 9) --Emilie Coulter

With a simple, witty story and free-spirited illustrations, Peter H. Reynolds entices even the stubbornly uncreative among us to make a mark - and follow where it takes us.

Her teacher smiled. "Just make a mark and see where it takes you."

Art class is over, but Vashti is sitting glued to her chair in front of a blank piece of paper. The words of her teacher are a gentle invitation to express herself. But Vashti can’t draw - she’s no artist. To prove her point, Vashti jabs at a blank sheet of paper to make an unremarkable and angry mark. "There!" she says.

That one little dot marks the beginning of Vashti’s journey of surprise and self-discovery. That special moment is the core of Peter H. Reynolds’s delicate fable about the creative spirit in all of us.

Wild About Books (Irma S and James H Black Honor for Excellence in Children's Literature (Awards))

It started the summer of 2002, when the Springfield librarian, Molly McGrew, by mistake drove her bookmobile into the zoo.

In this rollicking rhymed story, Molly introduces birds and beasts to this new something called reading. She finds the perfect book for every animal—tall books for giraffes, tiny ones for crickets. “She even found waterproof books for the otter, who never went swimming without Harry Potter.” In no time at all, Molly has them “forsaking their niches, their nests, and their nooks,” going “wild, simply wild, about wonderful books.” Judy Sierra’s funny animal tale coupled with Marc Brown’s lush, fanciful paintings will have the same effect on young Homo sapiens. Altogether, it’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

The Children's Blizzard (P.S.)

Thousands of impoverished Northern European immigrants were promised that the prairie offered "land, freedom, and hope." The disastrous blizzard of 1888 revealed that their free homestead was not a paradise but a hard, unforgiving place governed by natural forces they neither understood nor controlled, and America's heartland would never be the same.

S.O.S. Social Skills in Our Schools: A Social Skills Program for Children with Pervasive Developmentaly Disorders, Including High-Functioning Autism and Asperger Syndrome, and Their Typical Peers

S.O.S. Social Skills in Our Schools: A Social Skills Program for Verbal Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders and Their Typical Peers by Michelle Dunn is an innovative approach to social skills learning. Despite the often serious deficits children with pervasive developmental disorders exhibit, most schools do not provide social skills intervention through trained therapists to these students. However, simply exposing children with PDD to typically developing children does little to develop their social skills. They do not learn appropriate social interaction by “osmosis.” The widely tested S.O.S. program addresses this issue head-on. Operating on a schoolwide basis, the S.O.S. program consists of four major components that come together to increase the social skills of children with PDD as well as create tolerance and a sense of fairness among typical children: Pull-out social skills lessons for children with PDD, social skills lessons in the classroom for all children, peer mentoring and parent information

U.S. Presidents Flash Cards (Brighter Child Flash Cards)

Brighter Child U.S. Presidents Flash Cards offer children a fun and easy way to learn about the U.S. Presidents. Featuring fascinating facts including their political parties, terms of office, and accomplishments these cards also include full-color portraits. Bonus cards featuring information about some of the most popular first ladies and a special card offering creative game ideas designed to reinforce learning are also included.

The popular Brighter Child® Flash Cards give children a fun and easy way to practice important skills. Offering 24 titles encompassing preschool to grade 5, each title focuses on an important subject including early concepts, math, phonics, and U.S. History. Fun game ideas and learning suggestions are included to help children build proficiency and confidence. Game cards also allow children to develop thinking, decision-making, turn-taking, and social skills while playing fun games at the same time.

Selected titles are also available in English-Spanish and Spanish only versions.

One Day the Soldiers Came: Voices of Children in War (P.S.)

Today, in violence-torn regions across the globe, 20 million children have been uprooted, orphaned, or injured by war, famine, and poverty. This is their story . . . and ours.

In this powerful and unforgettable book—by turns painful, funny, terrifying, and triumphant—Charles London takes us into the world of refugee children, celebrating their unique skills for survival and reflection. Their remarkable stories and drawings chill the blood and touch the heart, offering an indelible, first hand portrait of the war that rages beyond the headlines.

Epossumondas (Irma S and James H Black Honor for Excellence in Children's Literature (Awards))

Veteran children's lit professor Coleen Salley tells a variation on her signature story, an archetypal "noodlehead" tale based on the time-honored Southern legend of Epaminondas. A "sweet patootie" named Epossumondas headlines here as a be-diapered young possum who follows his mama's instructions a little too literally.

"Queen Coleen" (as Salley sometimes goes in her native New Orleans) tells her story in slow, old-South cadence, repeating a cycle where Epossumondas visits his auntie "most every day" and receives something to take home to his mama's. His gifts, however, never seem to arrive intact: After Epossumondas arrives home with a piece of cake that's been squinched into a fistful of crumbs, his mama scolds, "Oh, Epossumondas, you don't have the sense you were born with! That's no way to carry cake! The way to carry cake is to put the cake on your head, put a hat on your head, and come along home." But the next day, Auntie gives him butter, which then gets carried home cake-style (on his head). The next day, he gets "a sweet little puppy," which then gets carried home butter-style (wrapped in leaves and cooled in a brook), etc.

Caldecott Honor-winner Janet Stevens has obvious fun capturing Epossumondas's ridiculous errands in watercolor and colored pencil, especially as other bayou animals look on in puzzlement. But Steven's biggest coup has to be conveying the story's subtle secret--that Epossumondas might not be as dumb as he looks. (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes

Uncle Tom's Children (P.S.)

Set in the American Deep South, each of the powerful novellas collected here concerns an aspect of the lives of black people in the post-slavery era, exploring their resistance to white racism and oppression. Originally published in 1938, Uncle Tom's Children was the first book from Richard Wright, who would continue on to worldwide fame as the author of numerous works, most notably the acclaimed novel Native Son and his autobiography, Black Boy.

Story S-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-r-s: Activities to Expand Children's Favorite Books (Pre-K and K)

It's original. It's fun. It's 450 terrific teaching ideas that are based upon the latest research on how young children become good readers. It connects 90 of the best children's books to every learning center-science, nature, math, art, music movement, cooking and circle time.

Each book is "s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d" five ways with lively learning activities that heighten reading readiness and sharpen comprehension.

Lucky Child: A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind (P.S.)

After enduring years of hunger, deprivation, and devastating loss at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, ten-year-old Loung Ung became the "lucky child," the sibling chosen to accompany her eldest brother to America while her one surviving sister and two brothers remained behind. In this poignant and elegiac memoir, Loung recalls her assimilation into an unfamiliar new culture while struggling to overcome dogged memories of violence and the deep scars of war. In alternating chapters, she gives voice to Chou, the beloved older sister whose life in war-torn Cambodia so easily could have been hers. Highlighting the harsh realities of chance and circumstance in times of war as well as in times of peace, Lucky Child is ultimately a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and to the salvaging strength of family bonds.