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by Wiles, Deborah. Illustrated by LaGarrigue, Jerome
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America: History, Culture, States, Regions
Difficulty: Easy Reading
ASK QUESTIONS
“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 isn’t allowed to do everything his best friend is.
Then a law is passed that forbids segregation and opens the town pool to everyone. Joe and John Henry are so excited they race each other there…only to discover that it takes more than a new law to change people’s hearts.
This stirring account of the “Freedom Summer” that followed the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 powerfully and poignantly captures two boys’ experience with racism and their friendship that defies it.”
Age Range: 4 – 8
Lexile 460 AD
Recommended by Joan Kindig, Ed.D.
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Easy Reading
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Henry and the Kite Dragon [SUMMARIZE & SYNTHESIZE]
by Hall, Bruce Edward. Illustrated by Low, William
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America: History, Culture, States, Regions
Difficulty: Challenging
SUMMARIZE & SYNTHESIZE
“Everyone knows that kids from [New York City’s] Chinatown [in the 1920’s] don’t go to the park when the kids from Little Italy are there. They’re rough, they’re big, and they don’t like Chinese kids. That’s okay-Henry doesn’t like them, either.
But what Henry does like are kites. He loves them. Even more, he loves to help his friend Grandfather Chin make them, and fly them over Chinatown and the park. But when Tony Guglione and his friends from Little Italy keep throwing rocks and destroying their beautiful creations, Henry and his friends decide enough is enough!
In this touching story based on true 1920’s events, two rival groups of children representing two different cultures come face to face, and when they do, they find they share much more than just the same sky.”
Age Range: 6 – 12
Recommended by Joan Kindig, Ed.D.
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Challenging
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Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea [DETERMINE IMPORTANCE]
by Mortenson, Greg. Illustrated by Roth, Susan L.
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America: History, Culture, States, Regions
Difficulty: Average
DETERMINE IMPORTANCE
The author adapted his best-selling book for adults, Three Cups of Tea, for children.
While climbing in the Himalayan mountains, Mortenson meets the people who capture his heart. This is the story of his efforts to build schools in remote areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In this picture book version, the story is told through the voices of children.
Recommended by Joan Kindig, Ed.D.
Ages: 4 – 8
Lexile AD740L
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Average
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Mount Rushmore [SUMMARIZE & SYNTHESIZE]
by Schaefer,Lola
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America: History, Culture, States, Regions
Difficulty: Easy Reading
SUMMARIZE & SYNTHESIZE
This book is part of the Heinemann series Symbols of Freedom. A very interesting book about Mount Rushmore and how it came to be. My second grade boys loved it!
Age Range: 6 to 9
Lexile: 562
Recommended by Elise DeWitt: A good book to teach the skill of summarizing.
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Easy Reading
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Nettie’s Trip South [INFER & VISUALIZE]
by Turner, Ann Warner. Illustrated by Himler, Ronald
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America: History, Culture, States, Regions
Difficulty: Challenging
INFER & VISUALIZE
As Nettie ten-year-old “writes to her friend Addie about her trip from Albany, New York, to Richmond, Virginia, she remembers all the things she saw and heard in that pre-Civil War South. She remembers the sweet cedar smell in the air, but she also remembers Tabitha, the black slave in her hotel who has no last name. She remembers seeing the slave quarters at a nearby plantation, with the heaps of rags in the corners for beds. But most of all she remembers the slave auction, where a woman is sold “like a sack of flour”; and she thinks about what their lives would be like, if she and Addie were slaves…
Based on the real diary of the author’s great-grandmother, this is a powerful and deeply moving account of one girl’s reaction to slavery in the South. Once read and seen through the eyes of master illustrator Ronald Himler, it is not soon forgotten.”
Age Range: 7 – 10
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Challenging
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Purple Death: The Mysterious Flu of 1918 [ASK QUESTIONS]
by Getz, David. Illustrated by McCarty, Peter
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America: History, Culture, States, Regions
Difficulty: Challenging
ASK QUESTIONS
“It was the worst epidemic in this country’s history, and the search for its cause is still one of science’s most urgent quests.
It was 1918, the last year of World War 1. Thousands of men lived in the crowded army training camps that were scattered all across the United States. That spring, a strange flu struck the soldiers at a camp in the Midwest. Healthy young men went to the hospital complaining of sore throats and fevers. Within hours they had suffocated, their skin taking on a terrible purplish hue.
The devastating flu spread like wildfire across the country, infecting soldiers and civilians alike. It killed more than half a million people in a matter of months, then disappeared as suddenly as it had come.”
Age Range: 7 – 12
Recommended by Joan Kindig, Ed.D.
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Challenging
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Summer of Fire: Yellowstone 1988 [ASK QUESTIONS]
by Lauber, Patricia
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America: History, Culture, States, Regions
Difficulty: Challenging
ASK QUESTIONS
This “book on the Yellowstone fire of 1988 is an admirable updating of the environmental history of the area. Interesting, action-filled writing plus a very detailed description of the fire and how it spread make for exciting reading. There is a good explanation of the area’s attractions and the geologic forces of nature at work. The new, clear full-color photographs are outstanding. They are full page, well labeled, and include many of the wildlife species found in the park. A single map shows fire locations… A good glossary and useful bibliography are appended. Lauber raises all the important questions regarding regrowth, loss of species, fire damage, and change, but she doesn’t supply as many concrete, specific answers as serious young scientists will want.”
Ages: 8 – 12
Recommended by Joan Kindig, Ed.D.
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Challenging
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