Picture Books
by Debbie Levy
After WWII ended, Europe faced severe food shortages due to decimated farms and a looming harsh winter. Journalist Drew Pearson proposed a "Friendship Train" to collect food donations across America. Starting in California with just a few freight wagons, the train traveled to New York, swelling to over 500 boxcars as communities joined the cause. Among the donors were thousands of children who gave their allowances, sold newspapers, and collected canned goods for strangers overseas.
This is the true story of a nationwide, grassroots initiative that helped provide critical relief to war-torn countries.
by Deborah Hopkinson
Sal is an adventurous and capable young girl who can ride a bronco, fish with her bare hands, and drive a stagecoach just as well as her father. Moreover, she's quite the singer who loves to belt out folksongs for anyone who will listen.
When Sal's father is injured in an accident, she volunteers to make the dangerous mail delivery run through bandit territory alone. Her mother is worried about the notorious, rhyming outlaw "Poetic Pete," who has a reputation for politely robbing stagecoaches. Will she be able to make a safe delivery, or will she have a run-in with the infamous bandit?
This unique historical fiction is loosely based on the life of Delia Haskett Rawson, the first and possibly only woman to deliver U.S. mail by stagecoach in California.
by Beth Ferry
Peddler is a turtle who travels the countryside with a special cart, creating customized puddles for various animals and children, from a small, single-stomp puddle for a child to a perfect drip for a thirsty hummingbird. Peddler brings joy to everyone he encounters. Despite the happiness he brings others, the turtle is constantly on the go and begins to feel lonely. One day, at the ocean—the biggest puddle he's ever seen—his cart gets stuck in the sand. His animal friends, grateful for his kindness, show up to rescue him. They push and pull his cart back to the forest, where they have dug a large hole for him to call home.
by Brinton Turkle
Obadiah, a young Quaker boy, is annoyed because a particular seagull follows him everywhere—to the market, to the meeting (church), and even to his bedroom window where he sits to roost each night. During a bitterly cold winter day, the seagull disappears. Obadiah unexpectedly finds himself missing the bird's company. When the seagull eventually returns, it has a rusted fishhook caught in its beak and is clearly in distress. Obadiah helps the bird, and through this act of kindness, realizes the value of their unique friendship.
This is the first of four books in a delightful living book series about a Quaker family in Colonial America.
Leveled Readers
by James Skofield
Detective Dinosaur’s boss, Chief Tyrannosaurus, gives him an undercover assignment. Misunderstanding the term "undercover," the detective creates an elaborate but exhausting costume using an overcoat, sofa cushions, a blanket, and a wastepaper basket. He eventually learns that a simple disguise is all that is required for the job.
This Level 2 reader contains three stand-alone chapters about the misadventures of a silly detective. Young readers may need help decoding the following character names: Chief Tyrannosaurus, Officer Pterodactyl, Deputy Diplodocus, and Rowena Raptor.
Please note: The illustrations of the second chapter show creatures that look like "cute" ghosts with feet, but they are described as "blobs" that chase the detective in a bad dream. The word "ghost" is never used.
by Eva Moore
At the age of 16, Morris Frank went blind. Realizing there was little support for folks with vision impairments in 1924, Morris traveled to Switzerland to find independence. He met with Dorothy Eustis, a trainer who worked with police dogs. Among her students was Buddy, a German Shepherd who showed great potential to help those with sight struggles. In time, she taught Buddy to be a fresh set of eyes for Morris. Years later, the relationship between the dog and his blind master became the inspiration for America's first Seeing Eye Dog training school.
This is the true story of Buddy, the world's first seeing-eye dog.
Illustrated Chapter Books
The Blue Hill Meadows
by Cynthia Rylant
The Meadow family lives a peaceful life together in the rural town of Blue Hill, Virginia. Each season of the year brings new experiences that help to create new family bonds. In the summer, the Meadows adopt a stray dog named Lady, who eventually gives birth to seven puppies. In the fall, the father and son take a memorable fishing trip together. In the winter, a rare blizzard creates unexpected fun. And in the spring, Mother gets an extra special gift.
Each chapter of this book is a short, stand-alone story of family togetherness reminiscent of a modern Little House in the Big Woods or All-of-a-Kind Family.
by Lavinia Derwent
Bobby is a lively Skye Terrier who is deeply devoted to his master, a cantankerous old shepherd known as Auld Jock, who is constantly trying to shoo Bobby away. When Auld Jock becomes ill and eventually dies, he is buried in Greyfriars Churchyard in Edinburgh, Scotland. Heartbroken, Bobby refuses to leave his master's side. For the next 14 years, he remains in the cemetery, keeping a constant watch over the grave.
Based on a true story, this living book will introduce young readers to the dialect and social tiers of 20th-century Scotland.
Please note: Auld Jock visits a local dining hall on three different occasions. While there, he smokes his pipe and drinks. Though the text does not mention what he is drinking, it's clear by the third visit that it is alcohol, as Auld Jack is seen "staggering back to the lodging house" where he later dies.
Middle-Grade Novels
by Deborah Hopkinson
While serving as a civil defense messenger during the 1944 "Little Blitz," Bertie accidentally collides with an American girl, Eleanor Shea, and discovers a mysterious red notebook she dropped. Nearby, his rescue dog, Little Roo, finds an unconscious woman who vanishes before help can arrive. Bertie and Eleanor team up with David, a Jewish refugee and cipher expert, to decode the notebook. They discover it belongs to Violette Romy, a missing secret agent and Eleanor’s former tutor. The trio realizes the notebook contains critical information regarding a double agent and the upcoming D-Day invasion. They must use their newly-learned skills of deduction and code-breaking to unmask the traitor before Allied secrets are leaked to the Nazis.
by Glenn McCarty
10-year-old Thomas Spencer and his family head to his Aunt Cecelia's house nestled in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina for the summer. While the trip is meant to help his mother recover from cancer treatment, the Spencers soon learn her illness has returned. Seeking solace in the woods, Thomas discovers a mysterious stone tiger named Shalomar that awakens when he sings to it. The two form a deep bond and embark on a mission to find out how the big cat arrived in this world and, more importantly, how to prevent him from permanently turning back into stone.
Thomas’s efforts to "save" Shalomar mirror his internal struggle and grief regarding his mother’s illness. Although not overtly Christian fantasy, the subtle Biblical allegory and the story's fantastical elements will be appreciated by fans of The Wingfeather Saga and The Chronicles of Narnia.
Please note: Like in Narnia, Thomas meets a sorceress determined to thwart the tiger's plans. She is presented as evil and is eventually conquered by the good king of the woods.
by Michael J. Rosen
During a seasonal break, a Floridian family travels to the Appalachian foothills of Ohio to experience the wonder of winter. While on a walk, the father, mother, and son get turned around. Lost in the woods and unprepared for the impending blizzard, they hunker down in the snow. Nearby, an Australian cattle dog hears their cries for help and runs to rescue. Relying on his herding instincts and using the muscle of forty head of cattle, he clears a path through deep snow and guides the family to safety.
Based on a true story, this is the author's account of a harrowing childhood adventure that led him to own his dog, Rescue.
I'm often asked for book suggestions for tweens struggling to read. They don't want to settle for "baby" books. They want age-appropriate content but with a breezy writing style. The Tale of Rescue, with its rich language but small word count, fits the bill.
Please note: When describing the storm, one line reads, "As if some god, suddenly angered, were sending a horrible punishment upon the land."
Miss Hickory
by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey
Miss Hickory is a doll with an apple-wood twig body and a hickory nut head. When her owner, Ann, moves from New Hampshire to Boston for the winter, Miss Hickory is inadvertently left behind to face the harsh elements alone. Her woodland friends try their best to help her, but Miss Hickory is hard-headed, prickly, and stubborn. She spends most of the winter learning lessons in humility, friendship, and trust.
Fans of The Wind in the Willows and Thorton Burgess' Animal Stories will enjoy this award-winning, episodic book. Each chapter tells of Miss Hickory's encounter with a different woodland creature. The author has done an excellent job of personifying each animal while keeping to their natural, God-given traits and peculiarities.
Parents, Be Aware
Introducing Teddy
by Jessica Walton
Errol and his teddy bear, Thomas, are best friends who do everything together, from riding bikes to having tea parties. One day, Errol notices Thomas is sad. Thomas eventually confesses a secret he has been afraid to share: "In my heart, I've always known that I'm a girl teddy, not a boy teddy. I wish my name was Tilly, not Thomas." Errol immediately accepts his friend, reassuring Tilly that what matters most is their friendship, not whether she is a girl or a boy.
Things to know: This is a story that surreptitiously introduces the idea of gender transition through the relationship of a boy and his teddy bear.
The Boy Who Failed Show and Tell
by Jordan Sonnenblick
In this semi-autobiographical memoir, a nervous fourth-grader named Jordan navigates a disastrous year at PS 35 on Staten Island during the 1970s. He faces a hostile teacher, Mrs. Fisher, who seems determined to fail him even when he tries his best, deals with severe asthma and undiagnosed anxiety, which manifests as a habit of pulling out his hair, and in a lapse of judgement brings his pet snake, Hector, for show and tell, only to deal with a crisis when Hector unexpectedly gives birth to numerous babies.
Similar to the movies The Sandlot and The Christmas Story, this book is a satirical and often crass look at a young boy's everyday misadventures.
Things to know: Much of the story depicts Jordan's struggles at school with a few classmates and a teacher he calls boring and mean, and who eventually slaps him across the face. In one scene, he hits a bully in the face with a metal lunch box. In another, he writes a story about people getting murdered.
Jordan desperately wants to learn to play the drums because he thinks it will make him more popular at school. "Drummers are like gods," he remarks.
There are many uses of God's name being used in vain as well as words like "idiot," "stupid," "butthead, and "no freaking way."
Just for you, Mom
by Tea Cooper
The year is 1906. Orphan Jane Piper, adopted at age nine by wealthy philanthropist siblings Michael and Elizabeth Quinn, is proving herself to be a mathematical prodigy. One day, while attending an art exhibition in Maitland, the trio stumble across a mysterious painting. Upon a closer look, Elizabeth begins to tremble. Long-repressed memories of her childhood begin to surface, causing a rapid deterioration of her health and sanity.
Driven by loyalty and love, Jane uses her analytical mind to investigate Elizabeth’s hidden past to uncover the source of her breakdown. Unfortunately, the more Jane learns about the Quinn's early years as penniless young immigrants traveling from England to the gritty Australian goldfields, the more confusing the decades-long puzzle becomes.
Best in Show
by Monica Kulling
Henry Ford is passionate about mechanics and dreams of building a "horseless carriage" that everyday people can afford, rather than just the wealthy. Henry lacks the money needed to mass-produce his prototype. To secure funding and prove his car's capability, he decides to enter a high-stakes car race against experienced drivers. But will he win the $1000 grand prize, or will he go home empty-handed?
This true story is a Level 3 reader with illustrations that will captivate any emergent reader.
by Laura Martin
Regan Fitz and Elliot Mason have loathed each other for as long as they can remember. They are both in training at the Glitcher Academy, a school designed to prepare kids to travel back in time and stop nefarious time travelers from altering the timeline and dramatically changing history forever. But when they are forced to become glitch partners, they must work together to stop the biggest time crime in Glitcher history.
While I didn't love the bickering between the two main characters in the first couple of chapters, I do appreciate the redemption in their relationship as the story unfolds. It is a fast-paced, action-packed story that sneaks in quite a bit of history.