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Call It Courage

Call it Courage - Children's book

Published: 1967 Theme: Overcoming Fear Best for: 8 and older "Mafatu lay there under his lean-to, relaxed in every nerve. He had fire, food, shelter. He had faced Moana, the Sea God...There was a new-found confidence in his heart. He had found a new belief in himself." This tale is told as if on one long breath, an exhalation that ends in exultation. There is not a moment where you can rest until the tale is told, which of course, is what makes a great tale, and a great children's book.

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An Elephant in the Garden

An Elephant in the Garden- Children's Book

Published: 2011 Theme: The Madness of War, and Survival Best for: over 11 "If they hate us, Karly, it is because we have also bombed their cities. What we are seeing now is a world gone mad, children, a world full of brutes, all intent on killing one another. And we should not forget that we are all responsible for making it happen." This children's book is an utterly fascinating and unique piece of historical fiction. In essence, this is a story of WWII from the point of view of a family of German refugees...

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Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary Queen of Scots Children's Book

Published: 2002 Theme: History Best for: girls 9 and older "There was a soft chorus of ayes, and the three other Marys dropped to their knees and vowed as well to follow me through tumult and repose and never to marry until I have so done. Did any person have a luckier charm than these four steadfast friends?" This is one of many in a series called The Royal Diaries. What an absolutely fabulous way to learn history. Reading a diary is always fun, and even more so when it chronicles history...

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Moon Over Manifest

Published: 2010 Theme: Community, Honoring the Past Best for: 11 and older "Death is like an explosion," Miss Sadie said, her accent thick, like the humid air that hovered heavy around me. "It makes people take notice of things they might have overlooked." This is a serious historical fiction children's book, covering some pretty intense topics, all set in 1936 and earlier. From bootlegging to the Ku Klux clan, from immigrants to war casualties, this book is no light reading.

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The Whipping Boy

Children's Book- The Whipping Boy

Published: 1986 Theme: The Grass is always greener... Best for: 5th or 6th grade "What was he looking for, a prince in fine velvets and a crown cocked on his head? Was it clothes that made a prince, Jemmy wondered, just as rags made a street boy?" What a great children's book this is! I first heard of it last year when the fifth grade class in my Waldorf Charter school was reading it. A superb example of writing with humor, and capturing an era of the past...

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The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

Children's book Charlotte Doyle

Published: 1990 Theme: Breaking Conventions Best for: ages 12 and up "What could I do? All my life I had been trained to obey, educated to accept. I could hardly change in a moment. 'Please lead me,' I mumbled, as near to fainting as one could be without actually succumbing." What an unusual children's book. I admit I was riveted, despite the amount of drama and violent scenes. There was something so compelling about the way it was written, as a first person journal of a 13-year-old...

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Dragonwings

Dragonwings Children's Book

Published 1975 Theme: Chinese Immigrant experience Best for: 12 and over "All of a sudden I saw that if life seems awfully petty most of the time, every now and then there is something noble and beautiful and almost pure that lifts us suddenly out of the pettiness and lets us share in it a little." This beautifully written and sensitive book covers the experience of the Chinese immigrants in the 1900s in San Francisco.

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Dream-of-Jade: The Emperor’s Cat

Dream of Jade Children's Book

Published: 2005 Theme: Wisdom and Foolishness Best for: 5 and older Five Stars "In the forbidden City of the Celestial Emperor Kwan-Yu lived a white cat with such beautiful green eyes that she was called Dream-of-Jade." Lloyd Alexander, perhaps best known for his fantasy children's books for older readers, has completely captured the genre of classical Chinese folk tales in an impeccable style...

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Door in the Wall

Children's Book - Door in the Wall

Published: 1950 Theme: Overcoming Handicaps Best for: 5th grade and up, classroom/home school "...he would learn all the ways of knighthood. He would learn how to be of service to his liege lord, how to be courteous and gentle, and at the same time, strong of heart." This Newberry Medal winner is a well-crafted historical fiction children's book set in medieval England, complete with knights, plagues, and cloistered monks...

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The Librarian Who Measured the Earth

Children's Book - Librarian

Published: 1994 Theme: Mathematics Best for: ages 9 and up A historically accurate illustrated children's book about Eratosthenes, a Greek librarian, and mathematician at heart, who figures out how to measure the earth using only a shadow, and some geometry...