Required Books 21-40

  Room to Dream is a Front Desk novel by New York Best Selling author Kelly Yang.  After years of hardwork the main character, Mia Tang, finally gets to go on a family vacation to China.  Mia can´t wait to see her family again, especially her cousin Shen.  While traveling through Beijing, she notices all of the changes that have happened and thinks about the changes in her own life.  Mia is determined more than ever to overcome her challenges. YANG, K. E. L. L. Y. (2021). Room To Dream . SCHOLASTIC (US).

  A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin is a 2019 Caldecott Honor Book.  In the book, Little Star´s mom bakes a big mooncake and lays it in the night sky to cool.  Little Star promises she won´t touch, but she wakes up and takes a nibble.  Each night Little Star wakes up and eats away at it in the shape of a waning moon until its narrowed down to just a crescent.  One night, Mama discovers the mooncake is gone and all that is left is crumbs.  Little Star tells her the truth and they both go back to bake another mooncake.   Lin, G. (2018). A Big Mooncake for Little Star . Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

  Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold is a Coretta Scott King winner, a Caldecott Honor Book, and on the New York Best Sellers List for illustrations.  The main character, Cassie Louise Lightfoot has a dream to go wherever she wants for the rest of her life.  One night up on the rooftop, ¨Tar Beach¨, of her family´s Harlem apartment building her dream comes true.  The stars lift her up and she flies throughout the city of 1939 Harlem claiming it as her own.  The illustrations are stunning and beautiful! Ringgold, F. (1996). Tar Beach . Dragonfly Books.

  Goggles! by Ezra Jack Keats was awarded the Caldecott Medal and Honor.  It is about two small boys that have to evade bullies.  The boys are outnumber and outweighed, therefore they are left to outsmart the bullies.  Goggles! is a great reminder that brainpower can be more effective than brute power.  Readers will love the richly colored and detailed illustrations. Keats, E. J. (1998). Goggles! Puffin Books.

  The Very Hungry Catepillar by Eric Carle is a classic about a catepillar´s development that is full of colorful illustrations.  As the catepillar snacks through the pages, it leaves a hole to stick a little finger through.  As it eats, the catepillar gets bigger and fatter, then turns into a beautiful butterfly with vibrantly colored wings.  The Very Hungry Catepillar is great for teaching kids the days of the week, as well as what catepillars eat. Carle, E. (1970). The Very Hungry Catepillar . Penguin Group.

  Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History is written by award winning author Walter Dean Myers and illustrated by Coretta Scott King Award winner Floyd Cooper.  It is a biographical picture book of abolitionist Frederick Douglass.  It is an inspirational story that begins with his life as being a slave as a young boy to his long career as an orator, activist, and author.  As a child, Frederick taught himself how to read even though it was against the law for slaves.  As he grows, it follows his life as he became successful in his career and began an advocation for oppressed groups such as African Americans and women. His success led him to be able to meet with Abraham Lincoln to advice his on abolition and emancipation. Then later he held different government posts.   Myers, W. D., & Cooper, F. (2017). Frederick Douglass: the lion who wrote history . Harper Collins Books.

  The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales written by Virginia Hamilton is anthology of twenty four folktales told by African American slaves.  It includes animal tales, fairy tales, stories of the supernatural, along with tales of slavery and gaining freedom. Each story tells of a loss - of family, beliefs, custom, and language.  They also tell the heritage and overcoming their loss.  The People Could Fly is an excellent book that covers American History. Hamilton, V., Dillon, L., & Dillon, D. (2016). The people could fly: American Black folktales . A.A. Knopf.

  One Last Word: Wisdom From the Harlem Renaissance is a collection of poems written by Nikki Grimes.  This book contains Golden Shovel poetry which is poetry that takes part of an already published peom and then uses it to create a  new poem.  One Last Word includes poetry from Harlem Renaissance poets such as Langston Hughes, Gwendolynn Bennett, Clara Ann Thompson, and Jean Toomer.  Nikki Grimes takes their wisdom and words and applies them to new ideas.  The peoms cover a variety of topics such as racial injustice, interacial relationships, and self image. Grimes, N., Bennett, G., Cabrera, C. A., Christie, R. G., Cullen, C., Cummings, P., Cuney, W. W., Dunbar, P. L., Gilchrist, J. S., Glenn, E., Hughes, L., Johnson, G. D., Lewis, E. B., Morrison, F., Myers, C., Pinkney, J. B., Qualls, S., Ransome, J., Steptoe, J., … Zunon, E. (2020). One last word: wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance . Bloomsbury Children's Books.

The Adventures of Beekle  is a 2015 Caldecott Medal winner for excellence in illustration.  Beekle is an adorable white, doughy looking imaginary friend that is born on a fantasy island among other imaginary friends that are waiting to be chosen by a child.  He begins to feel worried when other imaginary friends get chosen and he is left behind.  He sets off across the ocean in a place similar to New York City in hopes to frind his friend.  He finds the city dark and dreary until he comes upon a colorful playground where he sees other imaginary friends with their humans.  It is here where he meets a timid and artistic young girl named Alice who imagined him in a picture and names him Beekle. Santat, D. (2019).  The adventures of Beekle: the unimaginary friend . Little, Brown and Company.

  Grand Canyon is a beautifully illustrated informational book written by Jason Chin.  It is a 2018 Caldecott Medal winner.  The book follows a father and daughter that are hiking from the North to the South rim of the Grand Canyon.  Grand Canyon explains and explores its geographical processess that took place over millions of years.  As the pair descends into each layer of the canyon, each biome is described and illustrated, showing the different plant and wildlife that resides there.  Grand Canyon also shows the different fossil life from millions of years ago.  There are diagrams and beautiful illustrations to support the heavy research Jason Chin conducted on the Grand Canyon to share with readers. Chin, J. (2017). Grand Canyon . Roaring Brook Press.

  The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka is told from the point of view of the main character, Alexander T. Wolf, who is in prison for eating the pigs.  In this hilarious version, the wolf tells his side of the story, but their is a distinct possibility that he is lying.  In his version, he goes to the first bigs house to borrow a cup of sugar where he sneezes and ACCIDENTALLY blows his house down.  He admits to eating the pigs, but only because wasting food is wrong.  This book is great for talking about how there are different sides to every story. Scieszka, J., & Smith, L. (1996). The true story of the 3 little pigs . Penguin Group.

  Family Pictures is written by Carmen Lomas Garza who is a renowned artist.  In Family Pictures , she shares about her life growing up in Kingsville, Texas.  She shares how they celebrate birthdays, make tamales, pick cactus, and how she confided in her sister about growing up to become an artist.  Each illustrations shares Carmen´s different Mexican American cultures growing up.  They also a reflect a strong sense of family, community, and how hard Carmen´s mom worked to support her in achieving her dream of becoming an artist.   Garza, C. L. (2005). Family pictures . Children's Books Press.

  Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis is a Newberry Honor Book that also won a Coretta Scott King Award.  Set in 1859, Elijah is the first child that is born in freedom in Buxton, Ontario, which is a settlement for former slaves.  Elijah lives with his parents, goes to school, and is able to go fishing after his chores.  However, he is surrounded by the talk of the brutality slaves have suffered enslaved and on the run.  Many of Elijah´s neighbors work hard to gather money to buy loved ones that are slaves.  One day news arrives about a neighbor´s loved one.  Elijah is asked to read the letter since many cannot read.  Elijah has to let the woman know that her loved one has passed away.  The woman decides to give all of the money she had collected Mr. Leroy, who still has a chance to free his family.  Elijah and his father decide to help Mr. Leroy get his family back. Curtis, C. P. (2018). Elijah of Buxton . Scholastic Press....

  Jason Reynolds is an award winning author for young adults and middle grades.  Long Way Down is a novel written in free verse.  Will´s big brother, Shawn, is killed and he immediately knows what he needs to do.  He wants to get revenge on the person who killed his brother.  Will takes his brother´s gun and sets off to kill the person he is certain murdered his brother.  It is a long way down in the elevator.  Most of the novel takes place on this 60 second elevator ride.  He must think about the rules he has learned about being tough along with the conversations he has had with friends and family that has been the victims of gun violence. Will has to make a tough decision whether he will go through with it or not. While Long Way Down does deal with real teen issues, it does have occurences of violence and bad language.  Reynolds, J. (2021). Long Way Down . Faber & Faber Children's.

  Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper is a New York Times bestselling book.  It is narrated by a girl, Melody, with cerbral palsey who is very intelligent, but is unable to express herself verbally or physically.  She has never been able to communicate all of the thoughts in her head to her family.  Melody also feels frustration because she is not able to contol her body, someone has to help feed her and to use the restroom, even though she has a photographic memory.  Things begin to change in 5th grade when she gets a machine that helps her to communicate.  When she gets on a school team, she finally begins to feel regular.  When she starts to finally feel accepted, she learns that her differences will always set her apart.  Out of My Mind is a hearwarming book that follows a girl´s journey that is yearning for acceptance. Draper, S. M. (2019). Out of my mind . Thorndike Press, a part of Gale, a Centage Company.

  Knuffle Bunny is a Caldecott Honor book written by Mo Willems.  Trixie is a toddler who loses her favorite stuffed bunny while walking to the laundromat with her father.  Because she is a toddler, Trixie has a difficut time communicating what is wrong to her bewildered father.  She becomes frutrated and cries, so by the time they get home they are both unhappy.  Luckily mom is able to immediatly figure out the problem when she notices Trixie does not have her bunny.  Together they journey back to the laundromat in search of Knuffle Bunny.  When they find her, Trixie is so thrilled she says her first words, ¨Knuffle Bunny¨. Willems, M. (2011). Knuffle Bunny: a cautionary tale . Hyperion.

  Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy´s Parade is written by Melissa Sweet.  It includes vibrant illustrations of the puppets and character balloons for the Macy´s Day Thanksgiving Parade.   The design of the book includes a combination of watercolors, collage, paper mache, and newspaper clippings.  It is great for kids who want to learn about art, history, and how things work.  Not only does Balloons Over Broadway teach about the history about the artist´s life, but how as a young boy he was full of curiosity and passion.  This life of tinkering led to a life long career in arts and crafts.  Balloons Over Broadway is a great inspiration for readers that are innovative and creative. Sweet, M. (2011). Balloons over Broadway: the true story of the puppeteer of Macy's Parade . Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.

  Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl´s Courage Changed Music is written by poet Margarita Engle and beautifully illustrated by Rafael Lopez is based on the true story who broke down barriers for female drummers in Cuba during the 1930´s.  The story follows a young Chinese Cuban girl who loves drums and hears their beats all around her.  However, she is told that she cannot play drums in Cuba, so instead she plays her bongo alone while she dreams of playing publicly in Cuba.  Even though her father does not let her play with her sister´s band, he eventually allows her to take lessons.  Her teacher is impressed with her talent and her dream finally comes true when she is able to play her drums in front of people in a garden. Engle, M. (2019). Drum Dream Girl How One Girl's Courage Changed Music . Findaway World, LLC.

  Biologist Nic Biship is an author and photographer of many award winning children´s books about the worlds most amazing animals.  In the book Frogs, Nic takes a closer look at the many different types of frogs.  He introduces fun facts about their bodies, their habitats, diet, life cycle, and much more.  The reader will find eye-catching photograghs, easy to read text, and text features such as a table of contents and glossary to help them gain a deeper understanding as they navigate through this informational text. Bishop, N. (2015). Frogs . Scholastic Inc.

The Undefeated  is written by Newberry Award winning poet Kwame Alexander and recieved a 2020 Caldecott Medal by illustrator Kadir Nelson.  The book was also awarded the 2020 Coretta Scott King Award and the 2020 Newberry Honor.   The Undefeated  is a tribute to African Americans throughout American history.  From the time of being captured and take to American by ships, through slavery, the Civil Rights Movement.  It also highlights achievements in sports, literature, music, politics, and other areas.   The Undefeated  is a tribute to African American heroes and regular people that faces struggles, prejiduce, and oppression and survived, as well as those who didn´t.  Kadir Nelson´s art is amazing.  Sometimes it features a single figure or face against a stark white page or two-page spread and other times there is a collage of many heroes of a certain genre, like music or sports. Alexander, K., & Nelson, K. (2020). The unde...