Croco'nile

By: Roy Gerrard

Genre: Fantasy

Age Range: K-3rd. Excellent for storytelling and easy for children to follow.

Plot: A brother and sister, Hamut and Nekatu, became friends with a baby crocodile. One night they stowed away on a boat and before they knew it, they were hundreds of miles away from home. The captain left them with trusted friends and they became very skilled and popular at young ages. They were captured by slave traders. When the ship capsizes, the crocodile is there to save them and take them home.

Characters: Hamut, Nekatu, and the crocodile.

Setting: Ancient Egypt

Theme: Friends are always there to help you when you least expect it.

Illustrations: By Roy Gerrard. Paintings.

A Pocketful of Poems

By: Nikki Grimes

Genre: Poetry

Age  Range: 2nd - 4th. The poems are short and easy to follow with simple rhyme schemes making it simple for kids just being introduced to poetry to get into it.

Plot: Short poems describing everyday things that children can encounter everyday.

Characters: Tiana, Mama, Daddy

Setting: Harlem

Illustrations: By Javaka Steptoe. Two page illustrations accompanying each poem. Mixed media.

Gingerbread Days

By: Joyce Carol Thomas

Genre: Poetry

Age Range: 3rd - 5th. There are varying rhyme schemes which can help kids new to poetry recognize that poetry is different. The styles vary but are not too difficult to follow.

Plot: This book of African-American poetry has a poem for each month of the year. Each poem reflects traditions or activities that are associated with the month.

Setting: 1960's/70's

illustrations: By Floyd Cooper.  A full page illustration accompanies each poem using colors often associated with that month or celebration. Painting.

Equity Issues: No gender-bias or stereotypes.

A Suitcase of Seaweed

By: Janet S. Wong

Genre: Poetry

Age Range: 4th - 8th. The poems have no clear rhyme scheme and have varying styles that can confuse younger kids who are just being introduced to poetry.

Plot: The poems are divided into three groups: Korean, Chinese, and American. Each section describes a certain part of the author. Mother is Korean, father is chinese, and the author is American.

Characters: Author, Father, Mother, Grandfather.

Equity Issues: No stereotypes or gender bias

Deep Blues: Bill Traylor, Self-taught artist

By: Mary E. Lyons

Genre: Biography Nonfiction

Age Range: 3rd-6th. An easy read for fluent readers but not challenging enough for older readers.

Content: The story of Bill Traylor, a former slave with no formal art training. Contains photos of him, his work, and some depicting what life was like back then. The end of the book contains an index and a sources list for those who would like to learn more.

Organization: It begins with Bill's childhood going to the time he passed all throughout showing various painting and drawings that are related to those events.

Ilusstrations: Bill Traylor's works of art, photos of himself, and various photos showing what life was like. Photo credit given in captions.

Norman Rockwell: Storyteller with a Brush

By: Beverly Gherman

Genre: Biography Nonfiction

Age Range: 4th- 6th. The reading isn't difficult but it is lengthy and younger readers may have difficulty paying attention or remaining interested.

Content: Story of Norman Rockwell and how he became an artist. The back of the book contains a bibliography and an index for all his paintings.

Organization: It begins in Norman Rockwell's childhood and explains how became interested in drawing. From there describing the different events that influenced his art, his family life, and how they all tied together.

Illustrations. Norman Rockwell's paintings and photographs of his family and himself.

Seeing the Circle

By: Joseph Bruchac

Genre: Biography non-fiction

Age Range: K - 2nd. Easy read with short simple sentences and little writing on each page.

Content: A short story of Joseph Bruchac and how he became a storyteller and writer.

Organization: It begins with Joseph Bruchac explaining his daily activities, then his Native American heritage, his childhood and how these events influenced him to become a storyteller and writer.

Illustrations by: John Christopher Fine. Photographs of Joseph Bruchac doing daily activities.

Bill Pickett: Rodeo-Ridin' Cowboy

By: Andrea D. Pinkney

Genre: Biography Nonfiction

Age Range: 2nd - 4th. Easy read with clear text. Little writing on each page.

Content: The story of Bill Pickett and how he became famous for "bull-dogging". At the back of the book more information about black cowboys is given. A list of books relating to cowboys and Bill Pickett is also given.

Organization: Starts from Bill's childhood and ends with his elder years. It tells of how he began bull-dogging, his family, and how famous he became because of his fearlessness.

Illustrations by: Brian Pinkney. Drawing Materials.

Outbreak: Plagues that Changed History

By: Bryn Barnard

Genre: Informational Nonfiction

Age Range: 4th - 8th. The book is lengthy and has a large amount of print on each page. The subject itself is dark often describing how many people died and how they died.

Content: The book discussing six major epidemics that changed history: The bubonic plague, smallpox, tuberculosis, cholera, yellow fever, and influenza. Describing the conditions causing such epidemics to occur, the chaos they caused, how people died, and how they may have come to an end. A glossary full of terms from the book is given in the back of the book.

Organization: The book introduces microbes and the epidemics. Each epidemic is it's own chapter giving descriptions of what happened, how people reacted and how people suffered from it.

Illustrations By: Bryn Barnard. Showing what the individual cell of the disease looked like, maps showing how the epidemics spread and paintings and drawing of those that it caused so much pain.

Pterosaurs: Rulers of the Skies in the Dinosaur Age

By: Caroline Arnold

Genre: Informational Nonfiction

Age Range: 1st - 6th. This book is excellent for introducing Pterodactyls. Fantastic and beautiful illustrations along with accurate terminology make it entertaining for younger kids to learn about them and provides a decent read for older kids.

Content: The book explains what a Pterosaur is and various types found all over the world. It describes various physical features of them as a whole and then of individual species. It also stresses that what scientists know is based upon evidence and tested theories, not assumptions.

Organization: It begins with explaining what a Pterosaur is, when they lived, and then describes the different species based on location, physical features and diet.

Illustrations: By Laurie Caple. Mixed Media. The full page illustrations show beautifully what they Pterosaurs may have looked like with color and also shows very well the huge array of differences between them.

The Prairie Builders: Reconstructing America's Lost Grasslands

By: Sneed B. Collard III

Genre: Informational Nonfiction

Age Range: 3rd - 6th grade: It is organized to read as a story but the length and wording suggests it to be for fluent or independent readers.

Content: In this book Pauline Drobney and her team attempt to reconstruct North America's tall grasslands in Iowa. The book starts off with an explanation of a tall grassland and the dangers. It moves to introduce Pauline and her plan. It goes onto describe a few plants and animals living on the prairies. Next, the book follows Diane Debinski who is on a mission to save the Regal Fritillary butterflies and help them return back to Iowa's prairies. At the end of the book, there is a list of more books and websites on prairies, also a glossary of all the terms in the book and an index.

Organization: Starting with Pauline and her team beginning to reconstruct the prairie, moving to Diane bring back the Regal and finishing with the Prairie Learning Center.

Illustrations: Photography by Sneed B. Collard III. Photos of Pauline and Diane, the various plants and animals, and the steps everyone took to make it all possible.

Shadows of the Night: The Hidden World of the Little Brown Bat

By: Barbara Bash

Genre: Informational Nonfiction

Age Range: 1st-6th; The text is easy to read but the sentences are more for fluent readers and there is little repetition. It can be used as an excellent story time book as it is organized to read like a story.

Content: This short book is about the Little Brown Bat living in North America. It provides information on feeding, breeding, and living. At the back of the book it has pictures and descriptions of other bats around the world. As a whole the book spas positively of bats and how they should be respected.

Organization: The book itself is organized starting with the bat migrating to breed, baby bats growing and learning to survive, and then hibernating in winter.

Illustrations: Mixed Media, accurate and full page drawings/paintings of bats.