Together in Pinecone Patch by Thomas F. Yezerski

Together in Pinecone Patch by Thomas F. Yezerski, Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publishers, 1988, ISBN 0-374-37647-6
Publisher's Summary: A girl from Ireland and a boy from Poland overcome the prejudices held by the residents of the small American town to which they have emigrated.
Tags: immigrants, prejudices
Lots of possible uses for this book: character (they change a lot!), setting (from Europe to America), problems and solutions, and even sequence. The last page sums it up beautifully: "Keara and Stefan lived happily together for the rest of their days. Stefan told his children stories...His favorite story was about a boy from a land of golden meadows and a girl from a land of green hills, who came thousands of miles to a town of nightmares and dreams, just to be together."
Here's a link to the book on the author's website.

Read It, Don't Eat It! by Ian Schoenherr

Read It, Don't Eat It! written and illustrated by Ian Schoenherr, Greenwillow Books, 2009, ISBN 978-0-06-172456-5
Publisher's Summary: Rhyming advice on how to take care of a library book. Very elementary instructions ("Borrow, don't steal" and "TRY not to squeal") for the most part, but there is some vocabulary that is above that level ("Don't censor, delete, or deface"). so. if you use this with younger children, as the font and illustrations would suggest, be prepared to do some heavy-duty vocabulary instruction as well. A few recommendations, such as "Be careful with it at the pool" and "Leave no trace--or at least erase" may leave the door open for the child to actually TAKE the book to the pool (not recommended for younger children) or WRITE in the book and then erase it. Just be prepared to discuss any interpretations of these rules that might come up in those bright little minds!

Spot the Plot by J. Patrick Lewis

Spot the Plot: A Riddle Book of Book Riddles by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, Chronicle Books, 2009, ISBN 978-0-8118-4668-4
"The sky shook, the wind tossed..me in the air. Toto-ly lost." Remind you of a book? That's the premise behind this clever collection of riddles. All are designed, of course, to get you to think of a book you may have read (hopefully!). Some are well known, such as Peter Rabbit and Cinderella, and others might require a little more reading experience, such as Ferdinand the Bull and Pinocchio. Included is one of my favorites from early childhood: the one about the rabbit who can't go to sleep til he says goodnight to the _____. Answers are given in the back, if you really need them.
Good for a year end read-aloud.
Sylvia Vardell has a great write-up about this book and other Riddle Poems on her blog: Poetry for Children. Credit goes to Deborah Sloan's blog, The Picnic Basket, for this link to Sylvia Vardell.

Pele: King of Soccer by Monica Brown

Pele: King of Soccer/El Rey del Futbol: a bilingual picture book by Monica Brown, illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez, Harper Collins, 2009, ISBN 978-0-06-122779-0
"...Watch as he runs across the field like a cheetah, dribbling like a dancer...". So begins the story of one of the world's most famous soccer (futbol or football) players. As the story traces his roots which begin in a poor Brazilian town, using a grapefruit for a soccer ball, Pele promises his father: "I will win the World Cup for you one day." Pele's little team could not afford shoes, and earned the nickname: Barefoot Team. But they kept winning! Follow Pele from his Barefoot Team to the World Cup match. Be inspired by this famous athlete who helped spread the game of soccer to much of the world. Read about the one thing he did that no other soccer player has ever done.
Wild colorful illustrations help tell this story, adding flavor and excitement to the pages. All the words of the book are presented in both English and Spanish.
Learn more about Pele at Encyclopedia.com.

No Star Nights by Anna Egan Smucker

No Star Nights by Anna Egan Smucker, illustrated by Steve Johnson, Dragonfly Books, 1989, ISBN 0-679-86724-4. Winner of National Reading Assn Award.
"No star nights" refers to the fact that this narrator cannot see the stars at night. That is because she lives in the steel-mill town of Weirton, West Virginia. She describes her town: "Some days it seemed as though there was a giant lid covering the valley, keeping the smoke in. It was so thick you couldn't see anything clearly. On days like that I felt as if we were living in a whirling world of smoke." The book portrays the steel mill from a child's perspective, saying "Sometimes we would imagine that the mill itself was a huge beast, glowing hot, breathing heavily, always hungry, always needing to be fed." Smucker creates the setting well, as she relays the everyday life of our young narrator and the way she relates to the steel mill. Her father works there, her schoolroom must be dusted everyday because of the dust and grit, and her playtime activities sometimes take her to the slag hill, a byproduct of the mill. She refrains from ever commenting on the environmental effects of all this "smoke", but the reader can see from the illustrations and the ever-present smoke in the story that the consequences are there. This somewhat biographical story is an interesting look at how one thing in your community can so dominate the way of life in that community.

Mama Miti by Donna Jo Napoli

Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya by Donna Jo Napoli, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, Paula Wiseman book (Simon & Schuster), 2010, ISBN 978-1-4169-3505-6.
The story of a remarkable woman, Wangari Maathai, the FIRST African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, the FIRST woman in central or eastern Africa to earn a PhD, the FIRST woman to become the head of any department (in her case, veterinary medicine) at any university in Kenya. She taught the women of Kenya to "plant trees" and in doing so, restored strength and peace to her country and its people. The author states in the Afterword: "Maathai's work is the embodiment of the Kenyan notion of 'harambee'--the spirit of pulling together for the common good." Napoli does a wonderful job of conveying this sense of community in this beautifully written story of a very wise woman. Kadir Nelson's collages are colorful, interesting, and the perfect way to illustrate this simple, peaceful story. It's a strong reminder that one person can do one thing to make a big difference.

Crow Call by Lois Lowry

Crow Call by Lois Lowry, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, Scholastic Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-545-03035-9
This is the story of young Liz, her father, and their strained relationship. Dad has been away at WWII for longer than she can remember, and they begin their journey of reconnection through a hunting shirt, cherry pie, tender conversation, and the crow call. This allegorical story shows how, like the birds gathered above, the relationship between the girl and her father is graced with the chance to fly. (Note: above work is not mine, but I do not have a cite). This is a true story based on the author's life around 1945.
This story would fit in well with Rick Shelton's "make a story out of a single event." Take a moment (or short period of time) and draw it out, using details.
This book is mentioned in a blog called the Lesson Machine.
This is a true story based on the author's life around 1945. Reminds me of Rick Shelton's advice to take a single moment or event out of your life and make a story out of it. Draw it out with lots of details and vivid descriptions.