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Co-facilitators select one picture book and one novel from each of the following themes:
Being American: Picture Books
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La Mariposa
by Francisco Jimenez, illustrated by Simon Silva. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
(Reading level: Ages 4-8, 40 pages)
Starting first grade without speaking or understanding English, Francisco faces long days of confusion and misunderstandings. But slowly, change begins. |
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The Lotus Seed
by Sherry Garland, illustrated by Tatsuro Kiuchi. NY: Voyager Books, 1997.
(Reading level: Ages 4-8, 32 pages)
The child narrator tells the story of her
grandmother’s journey from Vietnam to the U.S.
with a keepsake lotus seed, which becomes a living
artifact of the family’s heritage and traditions. |
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Watch the Stars Come Out
by Riki Levinson, illustrated by Diane Goode. NY: Puffin, 1995.
(Reading level: Ages 4-8, 32 pages)
This spare, beautifully illustrated book tells the
story of two immigrant children’s boat journey
alone from the Old World to the new world of Hester
Street. |
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Being American: Novels
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Dave at Night
by Gail Carson Levine. NY: HarperTrophy, 2001.
(Reading level: Ages 9-12, 288 pages)
Dave, an immigrant orphan, escapes the strict rules
and bullying of his orphanage to explore the streets
of Harlem, discovering music and the new world of the
Harlem Renaissance. |
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Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse. NY: Puffin, 1992.
(Reading level: Ages 9-12,148 pages)
Told in the form of "letters" written by
Rifka, a refugee from Russian pogroms in the early
1900’s, this lively story chronicles the
difficulties may immigrants faced in their journey to
America. |
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In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao-Lord. NY: HarperTrophy, 1986.
(Reading level: Ages 9-12, 176 pages)
Ten-year-old Shirley, an immigrant from China, learns about American life, friendship, and the great game of baseball. |
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Courage: Picture Books
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Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Bryan Collier. NY: Jump At The Sun/Hyperion, 2001.
(Reading level: Ages 4-8, 40 pages)
A powerful biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This book uses King's own words to tell his story, highlighted by powerful collages and dramatic illustrations by Collier. |
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The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Cole, illustrated by George Ford. NY: Scholastic, 2004.
(Reading level: Ages 4-8, 32 pages)
The true story of first-grader Ruby, the first black child to integrate her school, who lives through hatred, danger and loneliness with the support of her teacher and her family. |
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Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig. NY: Aladdin, 1987.
(Reading level: Ages 4-8, 32 pages)
When Sylvester finds a magic pebble that can make
wishes come true, he is frightened into making a wish
that brings disastrous results.
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Courage: Novels
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The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo. Somerville, MA: Candlewick, 2002.
(Reading level: Ages 9-12, 128 pages)
The tiger of the title sparks mysterious changes in the life of a boy, overwhelmed by the death of his mother. |
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Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. NY: Aladdin, 2000.
(Reading level: Ages 9-12, 144 pages)
When Marty Preston finds an abused pup in the nearby hills, he also finds that he has to face complex ethical issues. |
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Skellig by David Almond. NY: Dell Yearling, 2000.
(Reading level: Ages 9-12, 192 pages)
Almond tells the powerful, urgent, dreamlike story of
Michael, a normal kid coping with a new
neighborhood and a seriously ill baby sister, and his
involvement with Skellig, a mysterious being in his
garage, as well as Mina, the girl next door. |
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Freedom: Picture Books
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The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble. NY: Aladdin, 1993.
(Reading level: Ages 4-8, 32 pages)
This is the tale of a Native American girl who tends her tribe's horses, and grows to love them so much that she eventually joins them. |
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The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. NY: Grosset & Dunlap, 2004.
(Reading level: Ages 4-8, 32 pages)
In this classic cautionary tale, Peter—told not to go into Farmer McGregor’s garden—soon finds himself in distress. |
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Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold. NY: Dragonfly Books, 1996.
(Reading level: Ages 4-8, 32 pages)
Picnicking on the roof of her family's Harlem
apartment building, Cassie sees herself flying over the lights
of New York City, especially the diamond-like lights
of the George Washington Bridge. Ringgold’s
rich story quilt becomes the text of the book. |
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Freedom: Novels
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Ben and Me by Robert Lawson. Boston: Little Brown, 1988.
(Reading level: Ages 9-12, 114 pages)
A warm and humorous story of the life of the elder Ben Franklin, from the perspective of a mouse who knows him well. |
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The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. NY: HarperCollins, 2005.
(Reading level: Ages 7-9, 256 pages)
Four children step through a wardrobe into the kingdom of Narnia, a land under the power of an evil witch. Each goes on to engage in battles of magic and of self-knowledge. |
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The Friendship by Mildred Taylor. NY: Puffin, 1998.
(Reading level: Ages 9-12, 56 pages)
The interaction between an elderly black man and
a white store owner in the Depression-era South,
witnessed by children from the Logan family, reveals
the irony of friendship in a setting of racism,
peer pressure, and the struggle for individual rights. |
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