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.
Hokusai: The Man Who Painted a Mountain
Our girls were captivated by this book, especially Ella (then 6) who wanted me to read it again (even though it took 25 minuets to read through just once)!
 | author: Deborah Kogan Ray rating:  asin: 0374332630 binding: Hardcover list price: $18.00 USD amazon price: $13.50 USD |
A tribute to an artist unafraid to break with tradition.
In her own glowing paintings and lucid text, Deborah Kogan Ray tells the fascinating life story of the Japanese artist Hokusai (1760-1849). He rose from poverty, taught himself to draw, became the promising pupil of a great master, and then defied tradition to become one of the most important and influential artists in the world.
Ray's paintings are rich with period and biographical detail. The endpapers show drawings from Hokusai's sketchbooks. Also included is one of his famous Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.
Seven Brave Women
 | author: Betsy Hearne rating: asin: 0688145027 binding: Hardcover list price: $15.99 USD amazon price: $10.87 USD |
Take a journey through time with seven women who left their indelible imprints on the past. Their history is a story and more. They were farmers and artists and missionaries and storytellers. They fought many battles but never in any wars. They were devout and determined and tireless and beloved. They were brave beyond compare. Betsy Hearne and Bethanne Andersen both make their picture-book debuts in this empowering, beautifully illustrated account of seven unforgettable women.
Mailing May
 | author: Michael O. Tunnell rating:  asin: 0064437248 binding: Paperback list price: $6.99 USD amazon price: $6.99 USD |
Nowadays it's no big deal or a girl to travel seventy-five miles. But when Charlotte May Pierstorff wanted to cross seventy-five miles of Idaho mountains to see her grandma in 1914, it was a very big deal indeed. There was no highway except the railroad, and a train ticket would have cost her parents a full day's pay. Here is the true story of how May got to visit her grandma, thanks to her won spunk, her father's ingenuity, and the U.S. mail. 00-01 CA Young Reader Medal Masterlist and 01 Colorado Children's Book Award (Pic. Bk Cat.)
Cromwell Dixon's Sky Cycle
The first time I read this, I didn't realize it was a true story. It is a fantastic tale of the determination and bravery of one young man. Biographies like these are so inspiring. Interestingly enough, we read this book right about the time of the whole "Balloon Boy" fiasco.
 | author: John Nez rating: asin: 0399250417 binding: Hardcover list price: $16.99 USD amazon price: $13.25 USD |
In the years and decades following the Wright Brothers’ famous first flight, an obsession with aviation gripped the nation. Thousands caught the bug. In an era of innovation and invention, scores of people pursued their own personal dreams of building a flying machine, and many did so right in their own backyards.
Few stories, though, are as remarkable as that of Cromwell Dixon, a fourteen-year-old boy who successfully designed, built and flew what he dubbed his “Sky-Cycle”—literally a flying bicycle, that he could fully steer, and that he flew thousands of feet in the air.
Shipwrecked!: The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy
Yet another book from our recomended history reading that we all enjoyed hearing as a family was Shipwrecked! The True Adventures of a Japenese Boy. Laurel was particularily taken up with this book about a poor fishing boy who is shipwrecked and rescued, but can not return to Japan because the country does not allow anyone to leave and come back. Ella (then 6) didn't like this book after she found out about what it means to live and work on a whaling boat.
 | author: Rhoda Blumberg rating: asin: 068817485X binding: Paperback list price: $8.99 USD amazon price: $8.99 USD |
Any person who leaves
the country to go to another
and later returns
will be put to death.
This was the law in Japan in the early 1800s. When fourteen-year-old Manjiro, working on a fishing boat to help support his family, was shipwrecked three hundred miles away from his homeland, he was heartbroken to think that he would never again be able to go home. So when an American whaling boat rescued him, Manjiro decided to do what no other Japanese person had ever done: He went to America, where he received an education and took part in events that eventually made him a hero in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Dinosaurs Of Waterhouse Hawkins
Another gem of a book that I read several times to our girls in one week was The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley with drawings by Brian Selznick (many of which are based on the original sketches of Mr. Hawkins).This was a fascinating biogrpahy of the man who combined art and science to form the shapes of the dinosaurs with clay, brick and metal. His life-size dinosaurs are still at Crystal Palace in England, and they are not far off from how the creatures really looked. This is an inspiring story of dedicated man: an artist, scientist and teacher. At the end of the book is a more detailed biography in smaller print that I read aloud to our girl's great interest.
 | author: Barbara Kerley rating: asin: 0439114950 binding: Paperback list price: $8.99 USD amazon price: $8.99 USD |
With impeccable attention to detail, Barbara Kerley unearths a story of consuming passion, triumph, loss, and courage--and ultimately, of an extraordinary legacy that lives on today. Caldecott Medalist Brian Selznick celebrates this complex and fascinating individual through luminous, soul-stirring paintings that form a visual masterpiece.
Elizabeth I, Red Rose of the House of Tudor
This book swept us up into a fascination with these times - 1544 - when Elizabeth was just 11. It is eye opening just how princesses really live, with bugs, poison, and so on. There were a few paragraphs I edited out as I read aloud, about how Elizabeth visited the place where her mother died and pressed the guard for details, such as if her eyes rolled around in her head when it was cut off. Overall it was a fantastic book that made history come alive, and we plan to read more of the Royal Diaries that are age appropriate.
 | author: Kathryn Lasky rating: asin: B001I8SUK0 binding: Hardcover |
Lives of the Presidents: Fame, Shame (and What the Neighbors Thought)
These biographies are fascinating, sharing the Presidents favorite meals, quirks and pastimes without going into the political side too much. There is no mention of if they are Republican or Democrat, and barely mentions any wars that happen during each presidency. We read sections of the book and enjoyed so much we bought the audio book, which we have listened to many times - especially around the 2008 election.
 | author: Kathleen Krull rating: asin: 015200808X binding: Hardcover list price: $20.00 USD amazon price: $13.60 USD |
Every U.S. president is the focus of public scrutiny, but how well do we know these men? What kind of fathers do presidents make? Husbands? Neighbors? Other books focus on the historical achievements of those who have occupied our country's highest office; Lives of the Presidents looks instead at their bad habits, silly nicknames, and strange pets. Every president--from George Washington to Bill Clinton--is included, with an emphasis on those who have had the greatest impact on history. Discover their high points, low points, and the times in between. In this stunning addition to their acclaimed series, Kathleen Krull and Kathryn Hewitt take us beyond politics and photo opportunities, revealing the entertaining, complex, and very real lives of the presidents.
Who Was Albert Einstein?
 | author: Jess Brallier rating: asin: 0448424967 binding: Paperback list price: $4.99 USD amazon price: $3.83 USD |
Everyone has heard of Albert Einstein-but what exactly did he do? How much do kids really know about Albert Einstein besides the funny hair and genius label? For instance, do they know that he was expelled from school as a kid? Finally, here's the story of Albert Einstein's life, told in a fun, engaging way that clearly explores the world he lived in and changed.
