Harriet Ziefert / Grades 1-2 / Here is a priceless story of a mother's devotion to her daughter during the poverty and heartbreak following World War II. Anna needs a new winter coat, but her mother can not afford to buy her one, and all the local stores are empty after the war. Mother...

Connie Peter Roop / Grades 1-2 / In this beginning chapter book, a couple are in danger of losing their candy and toy store. They decide to make a stuffed bear and name it after President Theodore Roosevelt. When their new toy becomes very popular, they write a letter and send a bear to the...

Ann Warren Turner / Grades 1-2 /  What makes greatness possible? For Abraham Lincoln, it was intelligence, kindness, humor, and courage. He was a boy who'd give anything for a book. He was a flatboat worker, a wrestler, a postmaster, a lawyer who learned to lead people with words. And...

Jeanetter Winter / Grades 3-4 /  This engagingly illustrated picture book tells the story of Peg Leg Joe, a white one-legged sailor and handyman, who hired himself out to plantation owners, and eventually made friends with slaves. It turns out that this was all part of his plan, the...

Deborah Wiles / Grades 1-2 / Joe and John Henry are a lot alike. They both like shooting marbles, they both want to be firemen, and they both love to swim. But there's one important way they're different: Joe is white and John Henry is black and in the South in 1964, that means John Henry...

Jean Mazollo / Grades 1-2 / In commemoration of his peaceful fight for freedom and change, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday is celebrated across the nation. This sensitively written picture book provides an introduction to the life of Dr. King, beginning with his birth and childhood through...

Joanna Cole / Grades 1-2 /  What happens when Ms. Frizzle hops a flight to Egypt? She parachutes out of the plane and lands in Ancient Egypt, of course! Fans of The Magic School Bus series will love to join the hilarious and informative Ms. Frizzle in her new adventure, exploring the...

Kay Winters / Grades 1-2 / Oliver, a savvy second grader, has been learning about the president's job, and it seems to him that his teacher would be the perfect candidate. Look at her qualifications! She loves white houses, she's used to being followed everywhere, she attends lots of meetings, ...

Patricia Polacco / Grades 5-6 / The heart-wrenching true story of Civil War valor in which a 15-year old Yankee soldier, Say, alone and bleeding, is dragged to safety by a fellow Union soldier from the Forty-eighth colored regiment. They are ultimately captured and separated, and Say survived...

Eve Bunting / Grades 3-4 / Two young friends, one African American, one Caucasian, explore the grassy fields near the construction site of their new homes. In 1862, this area was a Civil War battleground, and one boy's father explains what may have occurred between the North and South on their...