Brave as a Mountain Lion by Ann Herbert Scott

Brave as a Mountain Lion by Ann Herbert Scott, Clarion Books, 1996,ISBN 0-395-66760-7
Publisher's Summary: Spider is afraid to get up on stage in front of everybody in the school spelling bee, but after listening to his father's advice, decides he too will try to be as brave as his Shoshoni ancestors.
My tags: courage, stage fright, Shoshoni, Native Americans, simile, Indians

Let the Celebrations Begin by Margaret Wild and Julie Vivas

Let the Celebrations Begin by Margaret Wild and Julie Vivas, Orchard Books, 1991, ISBN 0-531-05937-5
Summary: A child, who remembers life at home before life in a concentration camp, makes toys with the women to give to the other children at the very special party they are going to have when the soldiers arrive to liberate the camp.
Tags: Concentration camps, Jews, WWII

The Remembering Stone by Barbara Timberlake Russell

The Remembering Stone by Barbara Timberlake Russell and Claire B. Cotts, Melanie Kroupa Books, 2004, ISBN 0-374-36242-4
Summary: As a young girl and her mother watch the flocks of blackbirds preparing for their journey south, the mother dreams of returning to Costa Rica, where she was born. In the book, the child has a shiny black rock as a remembering stone; the rock is hardened lava from Costa Rica.
Use with The Memory String by Eve Bunting.

Redwoods by Jason Chin

Redwoods by Jason Chin, Roaring Brook Press, 2009, ISBN 1-59643-430-9. Good for grades 4-5. A boy riding the subway finds an abandoned book about redwoods, and begins a fantastical journey which teaches him all about the trees. Nice illustrations, very imaginative.

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown, Little, Brown and Co., 2009, ISBN 978-0-316-01547-9
A young boy brightens up a dull town by cultivating a small scrap of a garden, which in turn inspires others to garden. Shows how just one person doing something can make a difference.

The Snow Day by Komako Sakai

The Snow Day written and illustrated by Komako Sakai, Arthur A Levine Books (Scholastic), 2005, ISBN 978-0-545-01321-5
You know how when it snows everything is very quiet? This book is quiet. The book itself, through the words and especially the illustrations, is quiet. Publisher's summary: A little rabbit enjoys having a day off from kindergarten and spending time with his mother during a snowstorm, but his father's flight home is cancelled until the snow stops falling." Actually, everything is put on hold...until the snow stops falling. "Mommy went out to the balcony. It was cold but quiet. No cars drove by. No one walked around. There was just falling snow." Can't you just hear it?

Website of the Week

Wow! Look at this website about animals. A to Z Animalshas a lost of animals, a glossary of terms, pictures, games, you name it!