A Splash of Red: The life and Art of Horace Pippin

Horace Pippin was a talented artist from the time he was a child. Being shot in the shoulder in World War II injured his painting hand; he could not use it like he could before the war. He taught himself to paint all over again by using his good hand to steady the injured one. He went onto become a celebrated painter. The illustrations are exquisite in this book. A must read.

To Purchase this book on Amazon, click here: A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin (Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children (Awards))

Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Krull

Wilma’s story of triumph is unmatched. Wilma was a 4 pound baby who contracted polio as a child. It crippled her leg, rendering it almost useless. She overcame polio, poverty, and went on to be the first person in her family to go to college, on an athletic scholarship for track and field. She went on be an Olympic gold medalist. Read this story to your children, it is incredible.

To Purchase this book on Amazon click here: Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman

 

The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton by Don Tate

Don Tate wrote and illustrated this beautiful, powerful book. My class of Kindergarteners loved this book, and I loved reading it. George Moses Horton was a slave who taught himself to read and starting writing poems in his head while he worked. Through a twist of fate he had to bring fruits and vegetables to the campus of a University and sell them. He was teased, so he distracted them by reciting poetry, soon people began to pay him for his poems. His story is sad, and truly remarkable, with an incredible ending. This book is honest about the horrors of slavery without being scary for young children.  The poetry infused in the story is lovely.

To Purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton

Fly High! The Story of Bessie Coleman by Louise Borden and Mary Kay Kroeger

Bessie Coleman was the first black woman to earn a pilot’s license. She had to go to France to learn to fly; no one would teach her in the US. She is a woman to be admired for her courage and tenacity.  She passed away in a plane crash; the book explains her death at the end. Preview it and decide if your children are ready for it. I loved how this book told her entire life, not just a light overview.

To Purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Fly High!: The Story of Bessie Coleman

Emmanuel’s Dream by Laurie Ann Thompson 

This book is incredible. A young boy is born in Ghana with one working leg. His mother teaches him to be self sufficient and loves hope into his very soul. He helps provide for his poor family, but he has one huge dream, to bike all the way around Ghana. He writes to the US and they give him a bike. He rides 400 miles in 10 days, completing his dream. It is such a powerful story.

To Purchase this book on  Amazon, click here: Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah

 

Seeds of Change by Jen Cullerton Johnson

Seeds of Change tells the story of Wangari Maathai, the first African American woman and environmentalist to win a Nobel Peace Prize. She was so brave and stood up for her homeland. I have a deep admiration for her accomplishments. It is a powerful example of fighting for good and making a difference.

 

To Purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Seeds of Change: Wangari’s Gift to the World

This book if for anyone who has ever been their own worst enemy, or held themselves back when others are ready to let them fly. Dumplin’ captures small town Texas with perfection. The book’s heroin, Willowdean loves Dolly Parton, her best friend Ellen, and her wonderful Aunt Lucy.  Willowdean is a self-proclaimed fat girl.  Sometimes she handles it with confidence; sometimes she lets it put an enormous roadblock in her teenage life.  When Ellen gets serious with her boyfriend and boys notice Willowdean for the first time, things begin to change.  Ellen and Willowdean both sign up for the town’s beauty pageant and things come undone.  Julie Murphy captures the joy and tumult of high school friendships with pitch perfect dialogue and plotting.  I felt like I was back at my high school job, earning my freedom by working night shifts for gas money.  I appreciated this book because it raised emotions and questions we all have about ourselves:  Am I worthy as I am? Can our friendship change and still stay the same?  Am I brave enough to let myself be loved? Willowdean has to face her fear of letting someone love her, when she is struggling to love herself. Appreciable YA, thank you Julie Murphy for writing about body image and writing it well.

To Purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Dumplin’

 

Introducing important, inspiring, and difficult historcal events to children can be done with beautifully written picture books. These five books take events from a variety of eras. They are useful for introducing an inspiring person or an important event in history. Read them to your own children, or use them to begin a discussion in a classroom.

Ruth and The Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey 

Independent reading level: 3rd Grade  Appropriate for: 1st-5th Grades

Ruth and her family are traveling from Chicago to Alabama to visit her family. Jim Crow laws were still in effect, and her family faces prejudice as they travel through the south. They use the Green Book, a resource with listings of restaurants and hotels that welcomed black people. The Green Book was a real resource many people used, it is a piece of history I was unaware of before I read this book. A perfect way to talk about injustice, standing up for what is right, and teaching about the sad history segregation.

To purchase on Amazon, click here:  Ruth and the Green Book

Balloons Over Broadway:  The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade by Melissa Sweet

Independent reading level: 5th Grade  Appropriate for: Preschool to 5th Grades

Melissa Sweet is the most wonderful illustrator. Her books are filled with fun, bright, happy illustrations. She won two awards for her writing and illustrating of this book. It tells the story of the puppeteer that created the window displays and the balloons in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. A happy piece of history, great to talk about physics, perservering, and the history of traditions. I love this book.

To Purchase on Amazon, click here: Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade (Bank Street College of Education Flora Stieglitz Straus Award (Awards))

The Camping Trip That Changed America by Barb Rosenstock 

Independent Reading Level: 4th Grade Appropriate for: Kindergarten to 5th Grades

John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt took a camping trip together after Mr.Roosevelt lost his wife and mother. John Muir wanted to preserve the Redwood Forest and great pieces of wilderness he loved, but he had no power to stop development. Theodore Roosevelt camped with John Muir and they cooked up the idea of the National Parks. They saved amazing land formations for future generations to enjoy. An inspiring story written with engaging light hearted text. I would use it as an introduction to a geography lesson on the US national parks, or during a unit on Presidents of the United States.

To Purchase from Amazon, click here: The Camping Trip that Changed America

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Maker’s Strike of 1909 by Michelle Market 

Independent Reading Level: 5th Grade  Appropriate for: 1st-5th Grade 

This is the story of a girl fighting for rights for garment workers in 1909. I would use this book as a discussion starter on immigration, and many issues still facing our country today. It introduces children to Ellis Island and life of early immigrants in the United States. Reading gives a child the ability to emphathize and gain compassion for others. This book is a great place to start.

To Purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909

Stone Angel by Jane Yolen 

Independent Reading Level: 4th Grade  Appropriate for 2nd-5th Grade 

Jane Yolen is one of the best story tellers in children’s fiction. Her newest book is about a family fleeing the Nazi invasion of Paris. Sadly, the family’s journey reminded me so much of the Syrian refugees we have watched flee their country. This is told in way that is truthful, but not frightening for young children.  A wonderful way to introduce the holocaust and spark conversation about refugees today.

To Purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Stone Angel

 

 

 

I got the privilege to hear Rainbow Rowell speak and meet her for a very brief moment, and she was fully awe inspiring.  Just as she writes the most real, relatable characters, she is witty, unassuming, and so relatable.  It was motivating to hear of her bumpy road to success.  She wrote her first two books while she was working full time as a newspaper reporter, at her local Starbucks. Eleanor and Park did poorly in London on its initial release, it finally became a best seller here in the states released as a YA novel, marketed as ‘funny sad.’

She faced setbacks, but wrote with faith in herself, and I am so thankful she did. Rainbow Rowell writes about women who are flawed, fat, insecure, and most of all loved. Truly loved for who they are without transforming, getting skinny first, or finding their best self, because they are already worthy of love. This nugget of truth runs through all her books: you are worthy of love as you are.  This is the reason I devour them; this is the reason they resonate with so many readers. Rainbow herself was real; I am inspired by her discipline and her faith to write in an Omaha coffee shop without knowing if anyone would ever read her books or care. I am thankful for every character she has written, because they have helped me feel less alone, and reminded me we are all worthy of love just as we are, today.

Here is a picture of a star-struck me, with the fantastic Rainbow Rowell.

Here is my review of Carry On. Read it. Read it now. Forget your laundry, ignore TV. Read it.

Carry On is the continuation of the fan fiction characters from Fan Girl. Set at Watford, the school of Magic. Penelope, Agatha, Baz, and the chosen one, Simon Snow are students at Watford, a school for young magicians. Rainbow writes her signature sharp, fresh dialogue and builds a fantasy world you long to escape into. Baz and Simon are sworn enemies, and roommates. Agatha is Simon’s love and destiny, and Penelope is Simon’s faithful best friend. When evil and mysterious accidents begin at Watford, Penelope and Simon seek answers. They delve into a world more complicated and twisted than they could have ever imagined. I was not sure I was ready for to read a fantasy novel from Rainbow Rowell, it turns out I wasn’t ready for it to end.

To Purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Carry On

Harry Potter was read by as many adults as children. The simple reason of the appeal is the escape from reality to a world infused with magic. As a reader I love to be transported into a world where animals can talk, love transcends real life, and dreams of the sleeping hours meld into the waking hours. Here are three books which infuse reality with magic, and do it well. They are all worlds you can get lost in, well written, and deeply inventive.

Hugo and Rose by Bridget Foley

Rose has had the same dream since she was 7 years old; the same dream about the same boy, in the same magical land. Fast forward to marriage, children, and exhaustion, and you have Rose longing for sleep, to visit the escape of her dreams. Rose visits Hugo in her dreams, they battle giant spiders and try to get to the domed city far away each night, they never succeed, but the journey is the joy. They happily grow up together each night. During the day Rose is stressed, over tired, raising two young boys and nursing a new baby girl. Her husband is a doctor, working for their future and sacrificing their now in the name of ‘when I am done with residency… when we have a larger income… and all the other goals that justify a life of insanity in the moment. So Rose floats through her days, longing for sleep at night. She functions this way until on fateful rainy day her reality and dream worlds collide. I liked this book because it has just the right amount of tension and suspense. The dream worlds captured your imagination and it was completely unlike anything I have read lately. A well done journey from the magical to the real and back, this book stayed with me for a very long time.

To Purchase this book on Amazon, click here:

Hugo & Rose: A Novel

Etta, Otto, Russell and James by Emma Hooper

When Etta decides to walk across Canada to see the ocean with her own eyes, her husband Otto is left to care for himself, no small feat for a man married decades. Etta leaves him the worn recipe cards with instructions on how to cook his favorite meals, and literally walks out of his life. Otto struggles through coaxing cinnamon rolls to rise, and is left bereft without his wife. Their neighbor Russell, a lifetime companion of Etta’s, retains his usual daily practice of waiting for deer pass by their farms.  Both men long for their beloved Etta to return and find themselves at a loss of how to deal with the longing and emptiness she has left in their lives. Meanwhile, Etta has become somewhat of a media sensation as small towns begin to notice a peculiar white haired woman walking from town to town. She makes friends with a wolf, James, who follows her as a companion and protector. This book is half magical realism.  The other half weaves stories of the characters, their loves, pains, and longings. I loved this book because there were so many layers; it was odd, unpredictable, yet charming. It will tug at your heart. If you like the norm, this is not for you, if you revel in the quaint, different, and quietly wonderful, you will love this read.

To Order this book on Amazon, click here:

Etta and Otto and Russell and James: A Novel

The Night Circus by Gregg Mortenson

Black and white tents appear in fields; they pop up at dusk and wait for night to fall. Revelers come to see tents of contortionists, wander through worlds made of ice, or float through clouds. When the sun rises the spell is broken, and the countdown to nightfall begins again. The Night Circus is beautiful, the world is so richly created you are transported to life in Europe, traveling and living in the black and white of the Circus.

However, there are two players in the background, Celia and Marco, great illusionists. Celia and Marco are matched in childhood, to compete in the game of illusions. The rule is the competitor’s identity must remain a secret. Celia and Marco are drawn to each other with an unescapable magnitude of force. The love story is the sweetest part of this vivid tale. In a world where any illusion can be created, making a forest of love poems is possible. The worlds are so rich in unbelievable detail. The magic feels palpable and close enough to touch. I was enraptured with this created world; you will fall in unrepairable love with this world and its odd characters.

To Order this book on Amazon, click here:

The Night Circus