Fiction
Everything for a Dog
Martin, Ann M.
Dogs can bring so much to our lives – joy, excitement, companionship, grief, sorrow. Experience all of that and more in this well-told tale of three separate characters: Bone, a stray dog who just needs somewhere to call home; Charlie, a boy who has suffered great tragedy; and Henry, who desperately wants a dog to call his own.
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Kelly, Jacqueline
In 1899, girls were supposed to want to learn to cook, sew, dance, keep house. Eleven-year-old Calpurnia Virginia Tate, the only girl in a family with six boys, is the exception to the rule. Her biscuits turn out like stones, and her seams look like rickrack. She’s more comfortable with her eccentric grandfather, a scientist and naturalist, who studies everything from pecan distillation to microscopic river bugs. Callie decides she wants to become a scientist—The Origin of the Species is a lot more interesting than The Science of Housewifery.
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Non-Fiction
Davy Crockett Gets Hitched
Miller, Bobbi
Fun-loving outdoorsman Davy Crockett is happy as can be wandering through forests. He meets his match at a dance given for Miss Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind who can whistle down the wind and outdance any man on two feet. On the way to the dance, Davy gets a burr in his britches, and leads Miss Sally Ann in a wild and energetic dance—Davy trying to dislodge the burr in his britches and Miss Sally Ann trying to outdance him. Finally, they realize they are a good match for each other, and dance into their future together.
Muddy as a Duck Puddle and Other American Similes
Lawlor, Laurie
Lawlor has compiled an A-Z list of uniquely American regional expressions that remind us that not everyone speaks like a newscaster and that real American English has character. Phrases like “busy as a stump tailed cow in fly time,” or “jittery as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs” remind us of the fun of language.
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Classics
Dicey’s Song
Voight, Cynthia
After their mother abandoned them, Dicey Tillerman and her brothers James and Sammy, and sister Maybeth spend the summer on their own, looking for their grandmother in hopes that they can find a home with her. After being responsible for her younger sister and brothers, Dicey is looking forward to having someone else look after them while she works on refurbishing an old sailboat in Gram’s barn. Letting go is hard—Dicey has been responsible for her family for so long, it’s hard to let go and let Gram take care of them.
Stone Soup
Brown, Marcia
Upon seeing soldiers coming down the road, the townspeople hide all the food under mattresses or in barns because everyone knows soldiers are always hungry, and there’s not enough food for the soldiers and the townspeople. What follows is a battle of wills between the people of the town and the intrepid soldiers who ask only for a pot and some water so they can make a soup using a stone. Maybe a carrot or two would add flavor. . . some onion. . . some meat. . . .pooling resources results in a feast fit for a king. . . or selfish townies and weary, hungry soldiers.
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Picture Books
Horace and Morris Say Cheese (Which Makes Dolores Sneeze!)
Howe, James
Horace and Morris, but mostly Dolores love cheese. Swiss is bliss and nothing is better than cheddar. Imagine Dolores’ distress when she discovers she is allergic to cheese and must make do with cookies and peanut butter sandwiches. What’s a cheese lover with a cheese allergy to do? Horace and Morris and mostly Dolores discover that there is more to life than cheese.
My Father is Taller than a Tree
Bruchac, Joseph
Rhyming couplets celebrate these father/son pairs and describe the things they enjoy doing together. Each pair has a different background, and though all the pairs are different, their relationships show the same universal truth: the most simple and familiar activities are special when dads and their kids do them together.
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Looking for more great reads? Visit www.the-best-childrens-books.org for booklists that you can sort by topic and reading level.
