Nim and the War Effort (Sunburst Book)
Nim's story takes place in China town, San Fransisco, 1943, during a competitive paper drive for the war effort. I really love how she stands up to the bully! Tender and humourus.
 | author: Milly Lee rating:  asin: 0374455066 binding: Paperback list price: $6.95 USD amazon price: $6.95 USD |
"Details place the affecting story in a real, not idealized, America." --Kirkus Reviews
"It’s the last day of the newspaper drive and Nim, a Chinese-American girl in San Francisco during World War II, is determined to win. Her nearest rival has cheated. Undaunted, she leaves Chinatown and walks up Nob Hill after school, determined to find more scrap newspaper. Nim’s sweet seriousness and ingenuity are captured in the text and in the luminous, grave illustrations." --The New York Times Book Review
"Based on the author’s childhood memories, Nim’s story celebrates the patriotism of Asian family members in embracing their new home and country and their efforts to maintain their cultural traditions. A fine addition." -- School Library Journal
Summer of the Monkeys
This book is an absolute gem! We all loved this book as a family. Set in the late 1800s, Jay Berry is a 14 year old boy who has an amazing adventure trying to capture 29 monkeys that have escaped (from a circus trian) and are living in a wild part of his family's 60 acre farm. It is hillarious, it made us cry, it was a little scary at times. At one point I thought it was to scary to read to our girls (then ages 9 and 6) because when Jay Berry is catching a couple monkeys, the rest of them jump on him and bite him and his dog all over. However, they are not seriously hurt, Jay Berry simply lays in bed for 3 days and he's better. Also, know that Jay Berry's goal is to get a pony and gun, it was simply part of the lifestyle of a boy living back then. Overall, this is a fabulous read and I'm sure we'll return to this book over and over again throughout the years.
 | author: Wilson Rawls rating:  asin: 0440415802 binding: Paperback list price: $6.99 USD amazon price: $6.99 USD |
The last thing a fourteen-year-old boy expects to find along an old Ozark river bottom is a tree full of monkeys. Jay Berry Lee's grandpa had an explanation, of course--as he did for most things. The monkeys had escaped from a traveling circus, and there was a handsome reward in store for anyone who could catch them. Grandpa said there wasn't any animal that couldn't be caught somehow, and Jay Berry started out believing him . . .
But by the end of the "summer of the monkeys," Jay Berry Lee had learned a lot more than he ever bargained for--and not just about monkeys. He learned about faith, and wishes coming true, and knowing what it is you really want. He even learned a little about growing up . . .
This novel, set in rural Oklahoma around the turn of the century, is a heart-warming family story--full of rich detail and delightful characters--about a time and place when miracles were really the simplest of things...
The Five-Dog Night
 | author: Eileen Christelow rating:  asin: 0395928621 binding: Paperback list price: $6.95 USD amazon price: $6.95 USD |
When Old Betty tries to advise Ezra on how to survive the cold winter nights, Ezra rebuffs her concerns because he has his own private source of warmth.
The Wheel on the School
We listened to the audio version of The Wheel on the School (320 pages), a 1955 Newberry Winner that had all of us interested in riding in the car so we could hear it. It was really neat to hear about life in Holland, during a time when the village school had only 6 children, with only one girl - Lina. She surprises the teacher by independently writing a short composition, wondering why storks don't nest in their fishing village of Shora but they nest in all the neighboring villages. This inspires them to figure it out and they are are encouraged to spend their school time to work out the solution. It sounds dry but this is a very exciting book! This is a fantastic book about the power of hope, and the idea that it take a village to raise a child.
 | author: Meindert Dejong rating: asin: 0064400212 binding: Paperback list price: $6.95 USD amazon price: $6.95 USD |
Why do the storks no longer come to the little Dutch fishing village of Shora to nest? It was Lina, one of the six schoolchildren who first asked the question, and she set the others to wondering. And sometimes when you begin to wonder, you begin to make things happen. So the children set out to bring the storks back to Shora. The force of their vision put the whole village to work until at last the dream began to come true. Winner, 1955 Newbery MedalNotable Children's Books of 1940–1970 (ALA)1963 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award
Button Box
Mama worked in a factory sewing by day and sewed custom clothes at night. She saved everything, but particularly fabric scraps and buttons. Her daughter would sit on the floor and dig through the button box and ask to hear stories about buttons. "Well, jerk out my heart and stomp on it! Baby that's the button off your first birthday dress!" This collection of stories are often hilarious, especially at the end where we hear how Mama sang in church....
 | author: Barbara McBride-Smith rating: asin: 0874837626 binding: Audio CD list price: $14.95 USD amazon price: $12.11 USD |
Mama believed the woman who dies with the most fabric scraps wins. She saved scraps from odd sewing job for neighbors. She saved buttons from old winter coats and birthday dresses. Mama had a button from Daddy's first uniform and another from Grandma's cloth coat and every button in the box came with a story. In her trademark Texas twang, award-winning storyteller Barbara McBride-Smith recounts stories from her family that speak to all of us.
The Cat Who Went to Heaven
 | author: Elizabeth Coatsworth rating: asin: 1416949739 binding: Paperback list price: $4.99 USD amazon price: $4.99 USD |
In ancient Japan, a struggling artist is angered when his housekeeper brings home a tiny white cat he can barely afford to feed. But when the village's head priest commissions a painting of the Buddha for a healthy sum, the artist softens toward the animal he believes has brought him luck.
According to legend, the proud and haughty cat was denied the Buddha's blessing for refusing to accept his teachings and pay him homage. So when the artist, moved by compassion for his pet, includes the cat in his painting, the priest rejects the work and decrees that it must be destroyed. It seems the artist's life is ruined as well -- until he is rewarded for his act of love by a Buddhist miracle.
This timeless fable has been a classic since its first publication in 1930, and this beautifully reillustrated edition brings the magic and wonder of the tale to a new generation of readers.
The Gigantic Turnip
 | author: Aleksei Tolstoy asin: 1905236727 binding: Paperback list price: $9.99 USD amazon price: $9.99 USD |
This hilarious retelling of the classic Russian tale about a farmer whose turnip is impossible to pull from the ground uses simple vocabulary and is ideal for reading aloud. Its cumulative theme will soon have young readers gleefully joining in, and Irish artist Niamh Sharkey s wonderfully quirky illustrations will delight and fascinate all ages.
Mr. Putter & Tabby Feed the Fish (Mr. Putter & Tabby)
 | author: Cynthia Rylant asin: 0152163662 binding: Paperback list price: $5.95 USD amazon price: $5.95 USD |
Mr. Putter and his fine yellow cat, Tabby, both getting on in years, love going to the tropical fish store. Mr. Putter owned goldfish as a boy, and Tabby loves watching the fish because it makes "her whiskers tingle and her tail twitch." When the pair decides to bring home three fish one day, neither one of them is aware that, well, how shall we put it delicately... Tabby has a "fish problem." Each evening Tabby wants to go to bed, she needs to go to bed, but she can't drag herself away from the fishbowl.
Mr. Putter & Tabby Paint the Porch (Mr. Putter & Tabby)
 | author: Cynthia Rylant asin: 0152024743 binding: Paperback list price: $5.99 USD amazon price: $5.99 USD |
Mr. Putter wants to paint his porch. He has a bucket of pink paint, a big brush, and some rags. And he has Tabby to keep him company. Everything is perfect, until a squirrel scampers onto the porch and catches Tabby’s eye. . . .
Gooney Bird Is So Absurd
The girls were most excited to hear the book Gooney Bird is So Absurd, the 4th book in the series, published in 2009. We all enjoyed this book, whose theme this time was poems. There is a really sad part where (plot spoiler ahead!) the Room Mother - the teacher's mother - dies. All the kids are so sad when their teacher isn't there that day and they find out why.... but then they create this beautiful group poem and video tape it for her. It brought tears to my eyes, what a great way to honor someone's passing! Laurel said it wasn't as good as the first few books, but I disagree.
 | author: Lois Lowry rating: asin: 0547119674 binding: Hardcover list price: $15.00 USD amazon price: $10.20 USD |
It’s a cold January at the Watertower Elementary School--the perfect weather for Gooney Bird Greene to break out her special brain-warming hat! It's a good thing she has one. Gooney Bird's brain will need to be as warm as possible this month, because Mrs. Pidgeon is teaching her class about poetry. Who knew there could be so many different ways to write a poem? Haikus, couplets, limericks—Mrs. Pidgeon’s students soon find that writing good poetry takes a lot of hard work and creative thinking. Gooney Bird and her classmates are up to the challenge. But just when things are going well, the kids get some terrible news. Gooney Bird will need all the inspiration her brain can muster to organize the most important poem the class has ever written.
