Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation

Pinkney, A.D., Pinkney, B. (2008). Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation. Greenwillow Books.

Boycott Blues is a story of Rosa Parks told in a bluesy, jazzy narration.  In the background of the illustrations the reader can find a hound dog strumming his old guitar and imagine the sound of him telling this story in a sing-songing voice.  The story is inspirational and relays the struggles of Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as they lead African Americans in a fight for equal laws and treatment against the Jim Crow laws.  Imagine yourself reading this story out loud and you might best picture yourself standing on stage with a guitar and jazz band behind you as you read the rythmic lyrics.  Some of you readers out there, if you're brave like Rosa Parks, might make a podcast for the rest of us to enjoy!

Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors

Sidman, J. (2010). Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 

This book is half poems, half informational essays.  The poetry is flowing and rythmic, making the book easy to read and share with youngsters.  The informational sections are full of facts and details about life forms which have survived the enormous changes brought about since the beginning of life.  The illustrations are beautiful, spreading across pages and allowing the poems to flow through them.  The book is created with sparks of information for all readers from the very young who will appreciate the colors and rhythmic poem to the older learners who will appreciate the immense amounts of information about life that has beat the odds.  (Grade 3 and up).

January's Sparrow

Polacco, P. (2009). January’s Sparrow. New York: Penguin Group. 

This is heart-wringing story of a young girl’s family as they travel the Underground Railroad.  It begins with a slave named January who carves a sparrow for the young girl, named Sadie.  Readers may be appalled to read and see what happens to January through the text and illustrations.  When Sadie’s family begins their journey the wooden sparrow is left behind.  This story is written in the dialect of the slave families and the content of the story is emotional and best shared with older elementary or middle school students. (Grade 5 and up).  

Black Elk's Vision

Nelson, S.D. (2010). Black Elk’s Vision: A Lakota Story. New York: Abrams.

Black Elk has a vision at an early age that he is unable to understand, process, or share with his tribe.  He keeps it to himself until it becomes clear that the people need to hear his vision as it contains words of inspiration and wisdom which could be light in a moment of dark peril.  The book contains several photographs which document the era and bring the book to live while grounding it in history.  Black Elk becomes a member of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show and travels to New York City and abroad until he returns home a few years later.  As he ages and matures his message finally resonates with him and becomes the motto for how he lives his life.  Highly informative and told from the perspective of a Native American at a time when Native Americans were gathered onto reservations against their will, this book is sure to captivate readers of all ages.  (Grades 3 and up). 

How to Clean a Hippopotamus

Jenkins, S., Page, R. (2010). How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. 

This delightful book is a colorful depiction of an ordinarily dry subject.  Teaching children about symbiosis between unlikely animals, the comic strip design makes information much easier to absorb and the illustrations are smooth and easy to enjoy.  Readers of all ages are sure to enjoy the informational content of this book in it’s concise and perfunctory manner.  This is a great resource for children doing research on symbiosis or animal relationships and the back of the book includes an appendix full of facts and details about each animal introduced in the book.  A great read and highly recommended! (Grade 3 and up).