Books

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Fans of adventure, romance, and a strong heroine will love this this action-packed historical trilogy by three-time Newbery Honor winner and New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Holm.1855.

FROM SARAH:

I feel like I recommend a book by David Macaulay just about every week. Macaulay's work is the epitome of illustration you want to look at longer than necessary. Highly recommended.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Readers worldwide recognize Caldecott Medal winner David Macaulay's imaginary Cathedral of Chutreaux. This critically acclaimed book has been translated into a dozen languages and remains a classic of children's literature and a touchstone for budding architects. Cathedral's numerous awards include a Caldecott Honor and designation as a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year for Macaulay's intricate pen-and-ink illustrations.

FROM SARAH:

I feel like I recommend a book by David Macaulay just about every week. This is one of my favorites, and it inspired my then-twelve-year-old daughter to create an entire, accurate castle out of clay. Macaulay's work is the epitome of illustration you want to look at longer than necessary. Highly recommended.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

The word itself conjures up mystery, romance, intrigue, and grandeur. What could be more perfect for an author/illustrator who has continually stripped away the mystique of architectural structures that have long fascinated modern man? With typical zest and wry sense of humor punctuating his drawing...

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

But does Little Otter listen? Oh, no! No. No. No. Little Otter thinks he's a big otter now, big enough to take care of himself. But watch out, Little Otter, because no matter how big you get, it's good to have loved ones looking out for you.

FROM SARAH:

The quiet, gentle wakening of an island. Beware: you just might want to take a trip to a peaceful, quiet island after reading this one!

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Conjuring the morning life around a cabin fragrant with berry pancakes, this timeless book wakens the child in every reader to the wonders of nature that greet every new day in the charmed world of a northern woodland island.

FROM SARAH:

A fun story similar to Mr. Gumpy's Outing, but with Minnesota flair and a whole lot of humor!

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

I set off one morning in my little red canoe.My dog wagged his tail."Can I come, too?""You bet," I said."A trip for two―just me and you."When a girl and her dog set out on a canoe trip together, they're expecting a quiet afternoon for two. Then a beaver decides to join them, even when the girl pro...

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

"What good shall I do today?" How Ben Franklin answered that question -- through his work as a writer, printer, statesman, and inventor -- forever established him as one of America's greatest figures.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

A new take on The Little Red Hen -- Cajun stylePoor Monsieur Gator is getting old and is moving so slow he can't catch himself a taste of possum or otter, or even a whiff of skunk. Day after day those animals tease and taunt him until, finally, he decides to cook up some gumbo just like Maman used to.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Candace Fleming deftly maneuvers between the plight of Russia’s poor masses and the extravagant lives of the Romanovs, from their opulent upbringings to the crumbling of their massive empire, and finally to their tragic murders. Using captivating photos and compelling first-person accounts throughout, The Family Romanov is history at its most absorbing.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Meet Imogene Tripp, a plucky girl with a passion for history. As a baby, her first words were “Four score and seven years ago.” In preschool, she finger-painted a map of the Oregon Trail.

FROM SARAH:

If I'm reading to a group of kids (especially at homeschool co-op), I will almost always choose this book. It's page-turning-tension and perfect read-aloud cadence makes it a kid favorite again and again. Highly recommended.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Young children will delight in repeating the refrain "OH, NO!" as one animal after another falls into a deep, deep hole in this lively read-aloud. This simple and irresistible picture book by hugely popular picture book creators—Candace Fleming and Caldecott medalist Eric Rohmann—feels like a classic-in-the-making. Fans of Rohmann's Caldecott Medal­-winning My Friend Rabbit, will be thrilled to see a new book created in the same expressive and comical style.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Nora's managed to make it to the fifth grade without anyone figuring out that she's not just an ordinary kid, and she wants to keep it that way. But then Nora gets fed up with the importance everyone attaches to test scores and grades, and she purposely brings home a terrible report card just to prove a point. Suddenly the attention she's successfully avoided all her life is focused on her, and her secret is out. And that's when things start to get really complicated....

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

May the verse be with you! Return once more to a galaxy far, far away with this retelling of George Lucas’s Star Wars® Trilogy in the style of the immortal William Shakespeare.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The Mary Celeste was discovered adrift on the open sea by another ship in 1872 -- with no sign of captain or crew. What happened? Did the crew mutiny? Were they attacked by pirates? Caught in a storm? No one ever found out. Inside this book are the clues that were left behind ...

FROM THE PUBLISHER

When Charlie moves to the small town of Taper, Florida, he discovers a different world. There are things in the swamp, roaming the cane at night, that cannot be explained, and they seem connected to sprawling mounds older than the swamps.

FROM SARAH:

N.D. Wilson books are not for the faint of heart... and two of my kids gobbled up everything he wrote, as fast as he wrote them! This was my daughter's favorite. Best for ages 12+.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Thomas Hammond has always lived next to Leepike Ridge, but he never imagined he might end up lost beneath it! The night Tom's schoolteacher comes to dinner and asks Tom's mother to marry him, Tom slips out of the house and escapes down a nearby stream on a floating slab of packing foam. The night and stars lull Tom to sleep, and when he wakes, he has ridden his foam raft all the way to the ridge, where the stream dives underground.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Each of us is in the middle of a story. In this astoundingly unique book, bestselling author N.D. Wilson reminds us that to truly live we must recognize that we are dying. Cause of death: life.

**Description from Amazon: What is this World? What kind of place is it?“The round kind. The spinning kind. The moist kind. The inhabited kind. The kind with flamingos (real and artificial). The kind where water in the sky turns into beautifully symmetrical crystal flakes sculpted by artists unable to stop themselves (in bo...

FROM SARAH:

A fantasy series by N.D. Wilson starts here, with The Legend of Sam Miracle. Fast-paced, Wilson's fantasies are some of my favorites to recommend (especially to boys).

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Sam Miracle’s life is made up of dreams, dreams where he’s a courageous, legendary hero instead of a foster kid with two bad arms that can barely move. Sometimes these dreams feel so real, they seem like forgotten memories. And sometimes they make him believe that his arms might come alive again.

FROM THE PUBLISHER: 

For Babymouse, school is a constant battle between good (Babymouse), evil (Felicia Furrpaws), and more evil (gym class!). Can things get any worse? Yup. Because it’s time for the annual dodgeball tournament. What’s a mouse to do? Don’t miss the excitement in Our Hero—the 2nd hilarious, action-packed installment of the beloved Babymouse graphic novel series!

The mills at Wicksbridge are imaginary, but their planning, construction, and operation are quite typical of mills developed in New England throughout the nineteenth century.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Through concise text and richly detailed black and white illustrations we come to know the philosophy of life and death in ancient Egypt.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

High above the rooftops of Rome, Angelo begins his work restoring the façade of a once glorious church. There, among the sticks and feathers, he discovers a wounded bird. Angelo becomes the bird’s reluctant savior.

**Description from Amazon: ‘Thirty-five imaginative and humorous poems for an adult and a child to read aloud together. . . . The entertaining verses are varied as to length, rhythm, and subject and are illustrated with harmoniously amusing drawings.’ —BL.

**Description from Amazon: The third volume in J.R.R. Tolkien's epic adventure THE LORD OF THE RINGS One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them As the Shadow of Mordor grows across the land, the Companions of the Ring have become involved in separate adventure...

**Description from Amazon: The paperback edition of the legendary, record-breaking, best-selling fourth Harry Potter novel.Harry Potter is midway through his training as a wizard and his coming of age. Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys and go to the International Quidditch Cup. He wants to find out about ...

**Description from Amazon: Using a town’s mayoral election as a model, this lively introduction to voting covers every step in the process, from the start of the campaign all the way to the voting booth. There’s even a recount! The cast of characters includes two dogs (and a cat), whose questions and comments mirror those...

**Description from Amazon: "Where are the girls?" When Grace's teacher reveals that the United States has never had a female president, Grace decides to be the first. And she immediately starts off her political career as a candidate the school's mock election! Author Kelly DiPucchio not only gives readers a fun introduct...

FROM SARAH:

This book of maps is a visual feast for readers of all ages, with lavishly drawn illustrations from the incomparable Mizielinskis. It features not only borders, cities, rivers, and peaks, but also places of historical and cultural interest, eminent personalities, iconic animals and plants, cultural events, and many more fascinating facts associated with every region of our planet.

FROM SARAH:

An absolutely stunning atlas with large pages and tons of detail that will keep your favorite geography buffs happy for hours.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Animalium presents the animal kingdom in glorious detail with illustrations from Katie Scott, an unparalleled new talent.Welcome to the Museum is a series of books set on the "walls" of the printed page, showcasing the world’s finest collections of objects — from natural history to art.

**Description from Amazon: Loving the Little Years is a bestselling book of thoughts for mothering young children. It's written by a mom, for you moms -- for when you are motivated, for when you are discouraged, for the times when discipline seems fruitless, and for when you are just plain old tired. When you're a mom, the op...

FROM THE PUBLISHER:
A thoughtful follow-up to Loving the Little Years, Rachel's first book, Fit to Burst will help us to be moms who parent with the story in mind rather than the snapshot, who know how to give much and to require much from their children in the everyday mayhem, and who understand the importance of biscuits.

Description from Amazon: There's a corpse in the bathtub, wearing nothing but a pair of pince-nez spectacles. Enter Lord Peter Wimsey, the original gentleman sleuth. Urged to investigate by his mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver, Lord Peter quickly ascertains that the sudden disappearance of a well-known financier is i...

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Touted by its 1885 publisher as “the most amazing story ever written,” King Solomon’s Mines was one of the bestselling novels of the nineteenth century. H. Rider Haggard’s thrilling saga of elephant hunter Allan Quatermain and his search for fabled treasure is more than just an adventure story, though: As Alexandra Fuller explains in her Introduction, in its vivid portrayal of the alliances and battles of white colonials and African tribesmen, King Solomon’s Mines “brings us the world of extremes, of the absurdly tall tales and of the illogical loyalty between disparate people that still informs this part of the world.”

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

The dark forces that were repulsed in Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra are massed for an assault on the planet Earth itself. Word is on the wind that the mighty wizard Merlin has come back to the land of the living after many centuries, holding the key to ultimate power for that force which can find him and bend him to its will.

** Description from Amazon: The second volume in J.R.R. Tolkien's epic adventure THE LORD OF THE RINGS One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them Frodo and his Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from fal...

**Description from Amazon: In her own singularly beautiful style, Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech intricately weaves together two tales, one funny, one bittersweet, to create a heartwarming, compelling, and utterly moving story of love, loss, and the complexity of human emotion.Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle, prou...

**Description from Amazon: More than 300 poems by such masters as Maya Angelou, A. A. Milne, Robert Frost, Dr. Seuss, and W.B. Yeats. Designed to be shared by parents and children, it is organized into appealing categories and includes 50 black-&-white illustrations.

FROM SARAH:

I'll be honest, I've never read Beowulf... but this is the version I've seen recommended most often, and the one my own teens read as part of their history class at our homeschool co-op.

Recommended for ages 13+.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Composed toward the end of the first millennium, Beowulf is the elegiac narrative of the adventures of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero who saves the Danes from the seemingly invincible monster Grendel and, later, from Grendel's mother. He then returns to his own country and dies in old age in a vivid fight against a dragon. The poem is about encountering the monstrous, defeating it, and then having to live on in the exhausted aftermath

FROM THE PUBLISHER:
This anthology embodies Robert Pinsky's commitment to discover America's beloved poems, his special undertaking as Poet Laureate of the United States.

FROM SARAH:

There is everything to love about every book featuring Henry Huggins, and this is the best place to start! Great as a read-aloud, a read-alone, or an audiobook. All ages.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

This book continues to delight kids for another generation. He might be an average boy, but he doesn't have average adventures! Especially wonderful for dog-lovers.

** Description from Amazon: Horton is back! After his first appearance in Horton Hatches the Egg, everyone’s favorite elephant returns in this timeless, moving, and comical classic in which we discover that “a person’s a person, no matter how small.” Thanks to the irrepressible rhymes and eye-catching illustrations, yo...

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Scholastic is re-releasing the ten original Magic School Bus titles in paperback. With updated scientific information, the bestselling science series ever is back!

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Clear, easy principles to spot what's nonsense and what's reliable Each year, teachers, administrators, and parents face a barrage of new education software, games, workbooks, and professional development programs purporting to be "based on the latest research." While some of these products are rooted in solid science, the research behind many others is grossly exaggerated. This new book, written by a top thought leader, helps everyday teachers, administrators, and family members who don't have years of statistics courses under their belts separate the wheat from the chaff and determine which new educational approaches are scientifically supported and worth adopting.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Cognitive scientist Dan Willingham focuses his acclaimed research on the biological and cognitive basis of learning. His book will help teachers improve their practice by explaining how they and their students think and learn. It reveals-the importance of story, emotion, memory, context, and routine in building knowledge and creating lasting learning experiences. Nine, easy-to-understand principles with clear applications for the classroom Includes surprising findings, such as that intelligence is malleable, and that you cannot develop "thinking skills" without facts How an understanding of the brain's workings can help teachers hone their teaching skills

FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Winner of 3 Emmy Awards these exceptional animated stories have been designed to introduce children and young adults to some Shakespeare's most popular works. Each play has been animated in it own unique style by the exceptional talents of the leading directors of Russia's Christmas Films.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Professional storyteller Patrick Ryan has brought together the stories that are at the heart of seven of Shakespeare's masterpieces.

FROM SARAH:

Comic book style depictions of seven of Shakespeare's plays. These are funny and well done. Your library might have this book!

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Come wend your way along London’s Thames River to the Globe Theatre, where seven favorite Shakespearean plays are being performed! Marcia Williams brings to life ROMEO AND JULIET, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, JULIUS CAESAR, HAMLET, MACBETH, THE WINTER'S TALE, and THE TEMPESTt, making liberal use of Shakespeare’s rich dialogue.

**Description from Amazon: All of Jane Kenyon's published poems gathered in one definitive collection, now in paperbackYes, long shadows go outfrom the bales; and yes, the soulmust part from the body:what else could it do?―from "Twilight: After Haying"Jane Kenyon is one of America's most prized contemporary poets. Her previ...

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Every day people tune in to The Writer's Almanac on public radio and hear Garrison Keillor read them a poem. And here, for the first time, is an anthology of poems from the show, chosen by Keillor for their wit, their frankness, their passion, their "utter clarity in the face of everything else a person has to deal with at 7 a.m."

FROM THE PUBLISHER:
A fresh design and appealing new cover enliven this award-winning collection in the acclaimed Poetry for Young People series. Showcasing the extraordinary Langston Hughes, it's edited by two leading poetry experts and features gallery-quality art by Benny Andrews that adds rich dimension to the words.

FROM THE PUBLISHER: 
See the beauty and magic of the everyday world through the eyes of Emily Dickinson, one of America’s best-loved and most renowned poets. Flowers, birds, sunrises, sunsets, the moon, and even her own existence take on surprising meanings and colorful illustrations accompany more than thirty-five of her best-loved poems. An ideal way to introduce young readers to the marvels of prose, the Poetry for Young People series opens up the world of wonderful word images by pairing classic verses with beautiful illustrations, and by providing helpful definitions and commentary.

**Description from Amazon: Venture into the world of poetic genius, with a fascinating glimpse into the personality and struggles of a complex, mysterious priest

Book by Delli-Carpini, John

**Description from Amazon: Described by Robert Hass as "unquestionably one of the great living European poets" and by Charles Simic as "one of the finest poets living today," Szymborska mesmerizes her readers with poetry that captivates their minds and captures their hearts. This is the book that her many fans have been anxio...

**Description from Amazon: Collecting some of the most beloved poems of Emily Dickinson, a young reader's anthology includes such pieces as ""There is no frigate like a book,"" ""I'm Nobody,"" and ""The sea said, `come'.""

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

This gripping story, written in sparse first-person, free-verse poems, is the compelling tale of Billie Jo's struggle to survive during the dust bowl years of the Depression. With stoic courage, she learns to cope with the loss of her mother and her grieving father's slow deterioration.

**Description from Amazon: As selected by the author, Opened Ground includes the essential work from Heaney's twelve previous books of poetry, as well as new sequences drawn from two of his landmark translations, The Cure at Troy and Sweeney Astray, and several previously uncollected poems. Heaney's voice is like no other--"b...

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

My Book House Complete Set. Volumes 1-12. Rainbow Edition. Volume colors gradually change from light green to dark green to dark blue to light blue. First published in 1937 and continuously reprinted from 1937 through 1965 by The Book House for Children, Lake Bluff, Illinois.

**Description from Amazon: With a fresh and deceptively simple style, acclaimed author Sharon Creech tells a story with enormous heart. Written as a series of free-verse poems from Jack's point of view, Love That Dog shows how one boy finds his own voice with the help of a teacher, a writer, a pencil, some yellow paper, and o...