Cocoa Ice
Have you ever wondered how chocolate is made? This picture book goes into detail about how the farmers pick the pods, dry the insides between banana leaves and turn the beans as they dry. One girl lives in Santo Domingo and tells about her life in creating chocolate, and how excited she is when the sailors bring ice to trade for cocoa beans Another girl lives in Maine and shares about her life where her father cuts ice from the river and packs the ice house. It was fascinating to hear about how these everyday things we love used to be made.
 | author: Diana Karter Appelbaum rating:  asin: 0531300404 binding: Hardcover list price: $17.95 USD amazon price: $17.95 |
My Mother Is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World: A Russian Folk Tale
 | author: Becky Reyher Ruth Gannett rating:  asin: 0688512518 binding: Library Binding list price: $16.93 USD amazon price: $16.93 |
Blueberries for Sal
 | author: Robert McCloskey rating: asin: 0670175919 binding: Hardcover list price: $16.99 USD amazon price: $11.55 USD |
Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk go the blueberries into the pail of a little girl named Sal who--try as she might--just can't seem to pick as fast as she eats. Robert McCloskey's classic is a magical tale of the irrepressible curiosity--not to mention appetite--of youth. Sal and her mother set off in search of blueberries for the winter at the same time as a mother bear and her cub. A quiet comedy of errors ensues when the young ones wander off and absentmindedly trail the wrong mothers.
The Gunniwolf
 | author: Wilhelmina Harper rating: asin: 0525467858 binding: Hardcover list price: $15.99 USD amazon price: $10.87 USD |
Wilhelmina Harper's The Gunniwolf is a classic-beloved by readers, storytellers, and teachers. Unavailable for years, it is back with fabulous new illustrations by Barbara Upton, perfect for our time. Its vibrant, rhythmic read-aloud text-sprinkled with dialect-tells the story of Little Girl, who is forbidden to enter the jungle for fear of meeting the Gunniwolf. But when she does, this version's Gunniwolf seems almost playful-if just a little scary. But Little Girl learns her lesson, and a new generation of listeners will be rapt with delight at this "guten sweeten" book.
Going to Town (My First Little House)
 | author: Laura Ingalls Wilder rating:  asin: 0064434524 binding: Paperback list price: $6.99 USD amazon price: $6.99 USD |
Long, long ago, a little girl named Laura Ingalls lived in a little house in the Big Woods of Wisconsin with her Pa, her Ma, her sisters, Mary and Carrie, and their good old bulldog, Jack. One spring day Pa has a wonderful surprise--he is taking the family on a trip into town!
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey with CD: Gift Edition
 | author: Susan Wojciechowski rating: asin: 0763636290 binding: Hardcover list price: $15.99 USD amazon price: $10.87 USD |
The classic Christmas tale in an elegant new vertical trim size, with completely new notes from the author and the illustrator and a CD narrated by James Earl Jones.
Jonathan Toomey is the best woodcarver in the valley, but he is always alone and never smiles. No one knows about the mementos of his lost wife and child that he keeps in an unopened drawer. But one early winter’s day, a widow and her young son approach him with a gentle request that leads to a joyful miracle. The moving, lyrical tale, gloriously illustrated by P.J. Lynch, has been widely hailed as a true Christmas classic.
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...
Roxaboxen
This book sweeps you up in the imagination of children who spend their summer building a town, Roxaboxen, out of rocks and bits of desert glass. This book is truly a favorite of my (then) 7 yo, and has been for years.
 | author: Alice Mclerran rating: asin: 0060526335 binding: Paperback list price: $6.99 USD amazon price: $6.99 USD |
Marian called it Roxaboxen. (She always knew the name of everything.) There across the road, it looked like any rocky hill -- nothing but sand and rocks, some old wooden boxes, cactus and greasewood and thorny ocotillo -- but it was a special place: a sparkling world of jeweled homes, streets edged with the whitest stones, and two ice cream shops.
Betty Doll
 | rating: asin: 014240196X binding: Paperback list price: $6.99 USD amazon price: $6.99 USD |
Young Mary Ellen is heartbroken when her family's farmhouse burns to the ground, taking all five of her dolls with it. So when her mother announces that they are going to make her a new doll, she is overjoyed. But little does she know that Betty Doll will travel with her as her closest confidant through her whole life, watching as first Mary Ellen grows up, then her children, and her grandchildren. Along the way, Betty is privy to family events big and small: a devastating blizzard, tea parties, weddings, floods, illness, births, deaths, and war.
Winter Days in the Big Woods (My First Little House Books)
The beginning of this book is really about fall and harvesting from the garden as well as Pa going hunting, so I am including it in the Fall books. I also really love how the girls help, and know that each day has it's special work: "Wash on Monday, Iron on Tuesday, ... "
 | author: Laura Ingalls Wilder rating: asin: 0064433730 binding: Paperback list price: $6.99 USD amazon price: $6.99 USD |
Laura helps Ma and Pa make the little log cabin snug and cozy for the snowy days ahead. 1994 "Pick of the Lists" (ABA)
