The Liberty Trail Book List

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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STATE

BOOK TITLE

AUTHOR

GRADE LEVEL
Maine Year on Monhegan Island Julia Dean 2-4
  Fire in the Wind Betty Levin 3 +
Vermont Nearer Nature Jim Arnosky 4-6
  Llama in the Family Johanna Hurwitz 2-4
New York Farmer Boy Laura Ingalls Wilder 3-7
  Home Run Robert Burleigh K-5
Pennsylvania Story of William Penn Aliki 3-6
  Battle of Gettysburg Neil Johnson 5 +
Washington, DC Story of the White House Kate Waters K-3
  Kids Guide to D.C. R. Brown 1 +
West Virginia Shiloh Season Phyllis Naylor 3-7
  Ghosts Don't Get Goosebumps Elvira Woodruff 4-6
Ohio Out of the Storm Patricia Willis 5-7
  Aurora Means Dawn Scott Sanders K-5
Michigan The Trees of the Dancing Goats Patricia Polacco K-5
  Bats, Bugs, and Biodiversity Susan E. Goodman 3-7
Wisconsin Little House in Brookfield Maria Wilkes 3-7
  Going to Town Lara Ingalls Wilder PS-3
Illinois The Great Fire Jim Murphy 4-6
  The Spy Who Came North From the Pole Mary Monsell 1-4
Missouri Little House on Rocky Ridge Roger MacBride 3-7
  Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain 4-6
Oklahoma An Indian Winter Russell Freedman 5 up
  Out of the Dust Karen Hesse 3-6
Texas Bigger Patricia Calvert 4-6
  Bimmi Finds a Cat Elisabeth Stewart 1-5
New Mexico Chili Fever - A Celebration of Peppers Elizabeth King 2-6
  And Now Miguel Joseph Krumgold 5 up
Arizona Max and Me and the Wild West Gery Greer & Bob Ruddick 3-6
  Grand Canyon Wendell Minor K-2
California Striking it Rich Stephen Krensky 1-4
  Bandit's Moon Sid Fleischman 3 up
Investigate the Books Online

To learn specific information about each book on The Liberty Trail Reading List,  you can click on the title of interest.

Liberty Trail Book Package 

The Liberty Trail Book Package consist of 32 books.  The entire set is available to purchase for $465.  See our order form for ordering information.

  • Connects students to an additional Social Studies aspect of the Reading Program

  • Offers students a variety of reading capability levels

  • Trade (hard) Cover binding provides durable books for classroom use and is available for 95% of the books in the book package.

  • You can select individual titles of interest in quantities of five or more. 
  • See our order form for ordering information.

 

Individual Titles

A Year on Monhegan Island - Written by: Julia Dean ° Harper Collins Publishers ° 1995 ° 48 pages  ° 6 x 8½   ° Grades: 2-4 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-395-66476-4 °  $14.95

Monhegan Island, which appears on the map as a tiny dot due east of Maine, is a place of beauty and diversity.  Julia Dean chronicles one year in the life of the island and its residents, creating a portrait of a way of life that has almost vanished.  In the winter, the seventy-five year-round inhabitants are largely isolated.  Their lives require self-reliance and cooperation.  Only recently have the residents had telephones and electricity in their homes; the island's few children attend a one-room school-house.  Winter is a time of solitude, tranquility, and sometimes loneliness, but life is enriched by close community ties and by the celebration of annual traditions, including the setting of lobster traps.  Summer brings six hundred  additional people to the island.  Restaurants and stores open, and the island's hiking trails are full of people.  Monhegan becomes a different place.

Julia Dean shows us the yearly cycle of life on Monhegan Island as only the islanders have been able to see it--and she reveals the rewards and hardships of maintaining an unusual way of life.

Fire in the Wind - Written by: Betty Levin ° Greenwillow ° 1995 ° 138 ° pages °  6½ x 9½   ° Grades: 3 up ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-688-14299-0  ° $15.00

Life isn't fair.  Meg knows this from watching other kids tease Orin, her "backward" cousin.  Every time she sticks up for him or for her little brother and gets into a fight over one or the other of them, all the grown-ups tell her to mind her own business.  But when a wildfire threatens Meg's home, everything changes.  In a moment of extreme peril, Meg witnesses a baffling and horrifying scene she can neither dismiss nor forget.  Afterward she realizes that to protect Orin she must keep secret what she has seen.   Now, when she longs to be able to mind her own business, she is bound to him as never before.  Fire in the Wind is Orin's story as well as Meg's.  It is about recklessness and responsibility and about different ways of facing danger and loss.  It is about unlikely triumphs, great and small.

Nearer Nature - Written by: Jim Arnosky ° Lothrop, Lee and Shepard ° 1996 ° 160 pages  ° 8½ x 10½  ° Grades: 5-6 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-688-12213-2  ° $18.00

"I have always chosen to live inside scenery rather than look at it," says Jim Arnosky.  It is this inside view that has made him one of the most popular nature writers for young people.  In Nearer Nature, he shares his reflections and observations over the course of one winter and spring spent tracking wildlife and tending his Vermont farm.  From birthing lambs to reading the life-and -death struggle of fox and vole printed in the snow to watching a hummingbird sleep, the changing seasons at Ramtails Farm offer new, once-in-a lifetime adventures.

A Llama in the Family - Written by: Johanna Hurwitz ° Morrow ° 1994 ° 98 pages  °  6 x 8½  ° Grades 2-4 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-688-13388-6  °  $15.00

"There may be a big surprise when you get home from school," Adam's mother tells him.  Adam's sure he's going to get a longed-for mountain bike to ride the hills near his Vermont home.  But the surprise he gets has hooves, not handlebars.   Enter Ethan Allen, star of Adam's mother's new llama-trekking business!

Adam soon finds that behind his quiet exterior, Ethan Allen has a personality all his own.  Whether he's stealing the show at Adam's school or inviting himself inside the house, there's always mischief afoot.  When Ethan Allen and Adam's little sister disappear at the same time, even the police are in on the chase.  But Adam is able to outwit everyone to help bring the runaways home, and soon-after, he decides to make a swap that will double the llama trouble...

Fans of Johanna Hurwitz's Class Clown and Ali Baba Bernstein books will love this newest humorous action-filled story.

Farmer Boy - Written by: Laura Ingalls Wilder: Illustrated by: Garth Williams ° HarperCollins Publishers ° 1981 ° (first published in 1933) ° 372 pages  ° 6 x 8½  °  Grades: 4-6 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-06-026425-X  ° $15.95; Canada $23.50

While Laura Ingalls grows up on the western prairie, a boy named Almanzo Wilder is living on a farm in New York State.  Here Almanzo and his brother and sisters help with the summer planting and fall harvest.  In winter there is  wood to be chopped and great slabs of ice to be cut from the river and stored.  Time for fun comes when the jolly tin peddler visits, or best of all, when the country fair comes to town.  This is Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved story of how her husband Almanzo grew up as a farmer boy far from the little house where Laura lived.  The nine Little House books have been cherished by generations of readers as both a unique glimpse into America's frontier past and a heartwarming, unforgettable story.

 
 

Home Run - Written by: Robert Burleigh; Illustrated by: Mike Wimmer ° Harcourt Brace & Company ° 1998 ° 32 pages  ° 6 x 8½   ° Grades: K-5 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-06-026425-X  ° $16.00; Canada $22.00

Babe, The Legend.  The man who made the game of baseball.  George Herman Ruth.  But he wasn't always the Babe. One day, long ago, he was a boy playing baseball on a dirt lot.  He hit the ball deep and far with his quick strong swing.   But he did not know that his swing would change the game of baseball.  Forever.  Told from the moment of one-at-bat and supplemented with vintage-style baseball cards detailing career highlights, this is the story of George Herman Ruth Jr.--a story of heroism, talent, and the will to be the best.

The Story of William Penn  - Written and Illustrated by: Aliki Brandenberg ° Simon & Schuster ° 1994/1964 °32 pages  ° 7½ x 9½  ° Grades: 3-6 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-671-88558-8  ° $14.00

William Penn came from England to America in 1682.  His dream was to found a colony where all people might speak freely and live in peace.  He called his new home Pennsylvania--the woods of Penn; and he named its city Philadelphia--the city of brotherly love.  In the New World, William made friends with the Native Americans.  He wrote a Peace Treaty that said:  In this land our two peoples will live together in respect and freedom.  William proved to all the world that men can live as brothers, if they choose.  With delicately illustrated period pictures in colonial colors, Aliki has captured the warmth and gentleness of the Quaker settlers who founded the state of Pennsylvania.  First publish in 1964, The Story of William Penn is now reissued just in time for the 350th anniversary of William Penn's birthday in 1994.

The Battle of Gettysburg - Written by: Neil Johnson ° Simon & Schuster ° 1989 ° 56 pages  ° 10½ x 8¼  ° Grades: 5 up ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-02-747831-9  °  $16.00 Canada $22.50

In July of 1863, the two great armies of the Union and the Confederacy met on the fields outside Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in a battle that would turn the tide of the Civil War.  In July of 1988, 14,000 people from all walks of life gathered near these same fields on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the battle.  They came to reenact the famous confrontation--to live history.  Their goal was not to glorify the battle, but to learn from it.  In The Battle of Gettysburg, talented photojournalist Neil Johnson, illustrates the dramatic story of the conflict with black-and-white photographs from the reenactment.  His Author's Note gives details of the reenactment, itself a fascinating story.  The text is a stirring account of the actual battle, beginning with the events that led up to the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania.  The Battle of Gettysburg was fought over three long days, from the bloody confrontation on McPherson's Ridge and the fall of the town on the first day, to the hand-to-hand combat in the rocky "Devil's Den" on the second day, to Pickett's brave but ill-fated charge on the last day.  In words and pictures, Neil Johnson brings to life these events and the men who orchestrated them:  commanding generals Robert E. Lee and George Meade, and the courageous officers on whom they relied.  Together, the photographs and text create a moving portrait of a battle that changed American history.

The Story of the White House - Written by: Kate Waters ° Scholastic ° 1991 ° 40 pages  ° 11¼ x 8½   °  Grades K-3 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-590--43335-0  ° $12.95

Over one million sightseers stream through the White House each year.  Forty famous families have lived there.  And like most big old houses, people tell stories about the special things that happened there, and about the people who lived and worked there.  Readers are invited to take an intriguing visit to the past - to Washington, D.C., as it was over two hundred years ago - to witness how the White House began.  They will follow the story through time, ending with a modern-day tour of the White House, portraits of presidents and first ladies, and a patchwork of fun facts.  With straightforward text and an engaging mix of new and archival photos, Kate Waters illuminates the ever-changing character of our country's house.

A Kid's Guide to Washington, D.C. - Written by: Diane C. Clark; Illustrations and Maps by: Richard E. Brown ° Gulliver Books/Harcourt Brace ° 1989 ° 153 pages  ° 9 x 9½   ° 1 up Soft Cover ° ISBN 0-15-200459-9 °  $11.00  Canada $15.00

Pack your bags for and exciting trip with Gulliver Travels--the travel guide written especially for kids!  Overflowing with facts about where to go, how to go, and what to do there, these guides contain everything a traveling kid needs for the perfect vacation. 

Shiloh Season - Written by: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor ° Atheneum ° 1996 ° 120 pages  ° 6 x 8½   ° Grades: 3-7 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-689-80647-7  ° $15.00 Canada $20.00

After Marty Preston worked so hard to earn the dog Shiloh, he had hoped that his troubles with Judd Travers were over.  He could not rescue all the dogs that Judd mistreated, but since Shiloh was the one who ran away and came to him, Shiloh was the one he loved.  Judd, however, has other problems.  Anyone who cheats and swears and lies and kicks his dogs has troubles inside himself, and when the man starts drinking, Marty realizes that Shiloh is in danger once again.  As hunting season approaches  and Judd begins hunting on their land, the Prestons know that something is bound to happen.  They're right.  Marty does the only thing he can think of to do and discovers just how deep a hurt can go and how long it takes to heal.

Ghosts Don't Get Goosebumps - Written by: Elvira Woodruff; Illustrated by: Joel Iskowitz ° Holiday House ° 1993 ° 176 pages  °  Grades: 4-6 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-8234-1035-8  $15.95

Jenna uses a haunted glass factory to shock her mute brother into talking.

 
 

Out of the Storm - Written by: Debra Frasier  ° Clarion Books ° 1995 ° 188 pages  ° 6 x 8½   ° Grade: 5-7  ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-395-68708-x  $15.00

The spring of 1946 is difficult for Mandy's family.  Her father was killed in action in Europe--a fact Mandy can't accept--and her mother has lost her job to a returning war veteran.  So Mandy, her mother, and her younger brother Ira move in with stern Aunt Bess on her northern Ohio sheep farm, while Mandy's mother fills in as manager of a general store.  Parrish Grove is just forty miles from their former home in Garnet Creek, but to Mandy the distance seems infinite.  Trying desperately to hold on to her father's memory, she dreams of returning to the house he planned to purchase after the war.  But she finds herself getting involved in school activities and helping tend the sheep--making friends  more quickly than she'd thought possible, and beginning to understand and appreciate the animals' gentle trust.  When the spring floods come, Mandy is faced with a serious choice.  If she saves the sheep, trapped on an island, her mother will be able to buy the store and Mandy may be stuck in Parrish Grove forever.  But how can she let the ewes and their newborn lambs drown?  A Strong likable heroine and vivid descriptions of the Ohio countryside richly embellish this story of Mandy's poignant grief, the severe tests of her courage and her conscience, and a family's regeneration.

Aurora Means Dawn - Written by: Scott Russell Sanders; Illustrated by: Jill Kastner ° Atheneum ° 1989 ° 32 pages  ° 10 x 8  ° Grades 1-5 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-02-778270-0  ° $15.00 Canada $20.00

"A vignette of a pioneer family arriving in 1800 Ohio in the midst of a 'bone-rattling thunderstorm.  The 'village' of Aurora, where they have bought land, proves to be a wilderness...but, fortunately, people from the next real village are willing to assist...Sanders' spare, witty  prose makes for fine storytelling...Excellent beginning historical fiction."--Pointer, Kirkus Reviews

Trees of the Dancing Goats - Written by: Patricia Polacco ° Simon & Schuster ° 1996 ° 32 pages  ° 9 x 11¼   ° Grades: K-5 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-689-80862-3  ° $16.00 Canada $21.50

Trisha loves the eight days of Hanukkah, when her mother stays home from work, her Babushka makes delicious potato latkes, and her Grampa carves wonderful animals out of wood as gifts for Trisha and her brother.  In the middle of her family's preparation for the festival of lights, Trisha visits her closest neighbors, expecting to find them decorating  their house for Christmas.  Instead, they are all bedridden with scarlet fever.  Trisha's family is one of the few who has been spared from the epidemic.  It is  difficult  for them to enjoy their Hanukkah feast when they know that their neighbors won't be able to celebrate their holiday.  Then Grampa has an inspiration: they will cut down trees, decorate them, and secretly deliver them to the neighbors.  "But  what can we decorate them with?"  Babushka asks.  Although it is a sacrifice, Trisha realizes that Grampa's carved animals are the perfect answer.  Soon her living room is filled with trees--but that is only the first miracle of the many during an incredible holiday season.  Based on a long cherished childhood memory, this story celebrates the miracle of true friendship.

Bats, Bugs, and Biodiversity - Written by: Susan E. Goodman ° Atheneum ° 1995 ° 48 pages  ° 10 x 8  ° Grades 3-7 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-689-319943-6  °  $16.00 Canada $21.50

Follow the adventures of a group of seventh and eight graders from Michigan as they travel down the Amazon to a camp in the rain forests of Peru.  During their two-week odyssey, captured in this stunning photo-essay, the students learned to live in the wilderness, met local school children and Amazonian Indian groups, and discovered that there are no easy answers to the problems of the rain forest.

"Wonderful... A real plus to any collection."  Starred, School Library Journal

Little House in Brookfield - Written by: Maria D. Wilkes ° HarperCollins ° 1993 ° 298 pages  °  6 x 8½  ° Grades: 3-7 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-06-026459-4  ° $14.95 Canada $19.95

It's 1945 in the bustling frontier town of Brookfield, Wisconsin.  Five-year-old Caroline lives in a frame house at the edge of town with her mother, her grandmother, and her five brothers and sisters.  Caroline's father was lost at sea the year before, and the close-knit family is struggling to cope without him.  Each day brings Caroline new responsibilities and adventures as she strives to help Mother all she can.   And though this first year on their own also brings Caroline and her family great hardship, they survive with courage and love.  The Little House books have captivated  millions of readers with their story of Laura Ingalls, a little pioneer girl growing up on the American frontier,  Now travel back to the generation before Laura's and read the story of Caroline Quiner, the little girl who would grow up to be Ma Ingalls in the beloved Little House books.  Little House in Brookfield is the first in an ongoing series about the adventures of another girl from America's favorite pioneer family.

Going to Town - Adapted for the Little House books by: Laura Ingalls Wilder; Pictures by: Renee Graef ° HarperCollins ° 1995 ° 40 pages  ° 9 x 9  ° Grades: PS - 3 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-06-023012-6  ° $11.95 Canada $15.95

My First Little House Books:

Laura and Mary get ready for their very first trip from the little house in the Big Woods into town, where a visit to the general store and a picnic by the lake await.

The Great Fire - Written by: Jim Murphy ° Scholastic ° 1995 ° 144 pages  ° 8¼ x10¼  °  Grades 4-6 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-590-47267-4  ° $16.95

The Great Fire of 1871 was one of the most colossal disasters in American history.   Overnight, the flourishing city of Chicago was transformed into a smoldering wasteland.  The damage was so profound that few people believed the city could ever rise again.  It all began one Sunday evening when a small fire broke out inside the O'Leary's barn.   The panic was slow to build at first.  People ignored the danger signals, and even the fire department was unable to locate the fire.  This city, built of wood was connected by hundreds of miles of wooden sidewalks and roads.  In time, wild flames, fueled by a steady wind, engulfed everything in their path.  As people took to the crowded streets, hours of mounting chaos, fear, and panic followed before the relentless flames were halted.  When at last they were, a new kind of drama was only just beginning.  Nearly 100,000 people were homeless and searching through the burnt rubble for their families.  By weaving personal accounts of actual survivors together with the carefully researched history of Chicago and the disaster, Jim Murphy constructs a riveting narrative that recreates the event with drama  and immediacy.  And finally, he reveals how, even in a time of deepest despair, the human spirit triumphed, as the people of Chicago found the courage and strength to build their city once again.

The Spy Who Came North From The Pole - Written by: Mary Elise Monsell; Illustrated by: Eileen Christlow °Simon & Schuster ° pages  ° Grades 1-4 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-689-31754-9  ° $15.00

Detective Pin, the famous chocolate-loving penguin from The North Pole, is in Chicago and up to his flippers in crime.  In the first case, someone is smashing historic gargoyles and th police suspect Pin himself.  In the second case Mr. Pin is off to Wrigley Field  to help the Cubs' manager get to the bottom of his star pitcher's mysterious slump.

Little House on Rocky Ridge - Written by: Roger Lea MacBride; Illustrated by: David  Gilleece ° HarperCollins ° 1993 ° 353 pages  ° 6 x 8½  ° All ages ° Trade Cloth ISBN 0-06-024245-0  $15.95

The journey continues... Once a long time ago a little girl named Laura Ingalls lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little house made of logs.  She grew up and wrote nine books about her childhood--the famous Little House stories.  Laura had a daughter of her own named Rose, who grew up in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, also in a little house made of logs.  Little House on Rocky Ridge is the beginning of Rose's story, which starts where the book THE FIRST FOUR YEARS end.  Laura, Almanzo, and Rose say good-bye to Ma and Pa Ingalls and Laura's sisters.   In a covered wagon containing all their possessions, they make their way across the drought-stricken Midwest to the lush green valleys of southern Missouri.  The journey is long and not always easy.  But there is so much to do and see as the landscape changes along the way.  The end of this journey marks a new beginning for the Wilder family; a new home and the promise of hard work, but also of wondrous discoveries and adventures to fill a childhood.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Written by: Mark Twain; Illustrations by: Claude Lapointe °  284 pages ° 7 x 9½  ° Grades: 4-6 ° Soft Cover ° ISBN 0-670-86985-6 °  $17.99

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is one of the world's favorite books.  It is the rollicking tale of a boy, a river, and adventures both hilarious and suspenseful.   Tom Sawyer is filled with unforgettable scenes and characters: Tom slyly persuading his friends that whitewashing a fence is the best of all possible fun; stalwart Joe Harper and free-spirited Huck Finn; Tom's soulful courtship of Becky Thatcher; the nefarious Injun Joe; and, of course, the discovery of a fabulous secret treasure.

Tom Sawyer is more than great storytelling.  With its depiction of life in the South before the Civil War and its colorful portrait of a small-town boy, it is also a remarkable snapshot of its time.  This edition of the enduringly popular tale, with its striking illustrations and extended captions unique to The Whole Story series, provides the background information modern readers could otherwise access only through a broad range of supplemental research.  This distinctive approach places Tom Sawyer -first published in 1876-within the context of its era, bringing it vividly to life.  A rich new reading experience is the result: readers can enjoy and understand the story in a way as close as possible to that of audiences when Mark Twain wrote it.

An Indian Winter - Written by:Russell Freedman: Paintings and Drawings by: Karl Bodmer 

° Holiday Houses ° 1992 ° 96 pages  ° Grades: 4-6 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-8234-0930-9  ° $21..95

The flourishing culture of the Mandan Indians and their neighbors, the Hidatsas.

Awards Include:

  • Notable Book and Best Book for Young Adults - ALA

Out of the Dust - Written by: Karen Hesse ° Scholastic ° 1998 ° 240 pages ° 5¼ x 7½  ° Grades: 4-7 °  Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-590-36080-9  °  $15.95; Canada $19.99

A poem cycle that reads as a novel, Out of the Dust tells the story of Billie Jo, a girl who struggles to help her family survive the dustbowl years of the Depression.   Fighting against the elements on her Oklahoma farm, Billie Jo takes on even more responsibilities when her mother dies in a tragic accident.  A testament to the American spirit, this novel is an instant classic.

Awards Include:

  • Newbery Medal

  • Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

  • Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year

  • Booklinks Best Book of the Year

  • 1998 ALA Notable Children's Book

  • 1998 ALA Best Book for Young Adults

Bigger Written by: Patricia Calvert ° Atheneum ° 1994 ° 144 pages  ° 5½ x 8¼  °  Grades: 4-6 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-684-19685-9  ° $15.00; Canada $19.50

"The Civil War is over and Tyler Bohannon, 12, begins a trek that will take him from his secure home in Sweet Creek, Missouri, to Eagle Pass, Texas.  His goal is to find and bring back his father, who joined General Jo Shelby and the Confederates four years earlier...Bigger, a fierce, apparently abused dog, becomes Tyler's companion.   Their odyssey is one of body, mind. and spirit...Through strong characters, flowing narrative, geographic description, and historical detail, Calvert draws readers into her hero's life and times." -School Library Journal

Bimmi Finds a Cat - Written by: Elisabeth J. Stewart; Illustrated by: James E, Ransome ° Clarion ° 1994 ° 34 pages  ° 8½ x 9½  ° Grades: 1-5 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-395-64652-9  ° $14.95

It's a perfect day for fishing, but Bimmi can't enjoy it.  He misses his cat, Crabmeat.  So when a friendly cat comes up to Bimmi, it seems as though she's meant to be his.  "You come with me, kitty, I feed you, me,"  he tells her.   "I call you Kitty-Louise."  In the village where Bimmi lives, whoever finds salvage--anything washed up by the sea--can keep it.  Bimmi wants more than anything to keep Kitty-Louise, but he knows that a well-fed cat isn't salvage.  She probably has a home, and an owner who misses her.  After losing Crabmeat, Bimmi can't bear the idea of losing this new cat, too.   How can he give her up?  Galveston Island is the setting for the touching, satisfying story of a boy, a cat, and a problem happily solved.

Chile Fever - A Celebration of Peppers - Story and Photographs by: Elizabeth King ° Dutton ° 1995 ° 32 pages  ° 116 x 9  ° 2-6 °Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-525-45255-9 ° $14.99

HOT! HOT! HOT!  Foods that make your tongue burn usually have a special ingredient--the chile pepper.   Peppers come in many different colors,shapes, and sizes.  And they have become popular in America through their use in such well-loved dishes as chili con carne, salsa, and nachos.  In this book, Elizabeth King explains the growth cycle of peppers, the history of their cultivation, and their importance to cultures worldwide.  She takes readers to a festival devoted to chiles in Hatch, New Mexico, where thousands of people arrive for the parades, music, food, and contests, all honoring the chile pepper--a favorite crop of the Southwest.  Lively prose spiced with chile anecdotes and pictures bursting with the brilliant colors of ripe pods make this photo-essay a lavish celebration of the pepper.

...and now Miguel - Written by: Joseph Krumgold by: Illustrated by: Jean Charlot ° HarperCollins Publishers ° 1953 ° 372 pages 6 x 8½  °  Grades: 5 up ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-690-09118-4 °  $16.00

This is Miguel--Miguel Chavez who held in his heart a secret wish and yearned to go with the men of his family to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  He lives near Taos, New Mexico, where the members of the Chavez family have lived on a sheep-raising farm for many generations.  They have guarded their sheep from the weather, sickness, and wild animals.  Each week presents a new kind of danger to the flock, and it is the job of the men of the family to protect it.  The Chavez who tells this story is not the oldest member of the family, nor the youngest, either.  Miguel is right in the middle--too young to get everything he wants, like his older brother Gabriel; too old to be happy with everything he has, like little Pedro.  And that is Miguel's problem and why he tells his story.  This last great adventure of a boy and his first great adventure as a man has its own peculiar mystery, its own special enchantment, because it takes place away out there between the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the gorge of the Rio Grande.  Mr. Krumgold grew close to Miguel and his family when he visited them.  He celebrated saint's day there with barbecues and dancing and fiddle playing.  And now he tell the story of Miguel with such perception and understanding, with such power and beauty, that one feels that Miguel's own special San Ysidro must have wanted the story told.

Awards Include:

In 1954  Joseph Krumgold was awarded the Newbery Medal for ...And Now Miguel.   This medal is awarded annually for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

Max and Me and the Wild West - Written by: Gery Greer and Bob Ruddick ° Harcourt Brace ° 1988 ° 138 pages  ° 6 x 8½ ° Grades: 3-6 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-15-253136-x  ° $12.95

For Steve Brandon and Max Zilinski, there's more to reliving the thrill and excitement of the Wild West than watching Gunsmoke reruns. Why watch when you could be there?  With Professors Flybender's Fully Guaranteed One-Of-A-Kind Time Machine, Steve and Max can go from boredom to adventure simply by adjusting a few dials, setting the date control, selecting a point on the map, and--whoa, partner, here they come!  They arrive in Silver Gulch, "the richest, roughest boom town in the West."   Steve lands in the body of Desmond Langsfield, famous traveling actor, and Max arrives as journalist Ed Huff.  They don't have much time to get their bearings--Desmond Langsfield is scheduled for a one-man performance that night, and Steve had better do some quick rehearsing.  One slip in front of this crowd, and he might be strung up from the chandelier.  In a secret meeting with the sheriff, however, Steve finds he's involved in a plot to capture a pair of famous outlaws- Gentleman John Hooten, the Rhyming Robber of the Rockies and his mysterious hooded partner.  Apparently Desmond Langsfield is no ordinary actor...Steve and Max are about to get a taste of the Wild West at its wildest in a heroic roundup of the town's worst outlaws.  That is, if they don't get shot first... Young readers will enjoy this hilarious sequel to Max and Me and the Time Machine.   It's the best of all possible fantasies--and with Steve and Max and the Time Machine, anything's possible.

Grand Canyon - Written and Illustrated by: Wendell Minor ° Scholastic ° 1998 ° 40 pages ° 12' x 10"  ° Grades: K-2 ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-590-47968-7  ° $16.95; Canada $22.99

Award winning painter Wendell Minor invites readers to accompany him as he explores the Grand Canyon--with journal and paintbox in hand.

The Grand Canyon is one of the most beautiful places on Earth.  Each year more than 5 million people from more than 120 countries come to experience the canyon's dramatic vistas and phenomenal majesty.

Now nationally acclaimed illustrator Wendell Minor takes readers with him as he explores and sketches the famous South Rim.  Minor records his daily impressions, inspirer by the work of early American artist-explorers whose sketches and paintings of the West influenced the American government to establish national parks such as this one.

Striking it Rich - The Story of the California Gold Rush - Written by: Stephen Krensky: Illustrated by: Anna DiVito ° Simon & Schuster ° 1996 ° 64 pages  ° 6 x 9 ° Grades: 1-4 ° Trade Cloth °  ISBN 0-689-80804-6  ° $15.00; Canada $19.00

"The story of the gold rush is told with verse, excitement and wry wit... Krensky gets across the rush and mess, the hopes and bumbling failures."  --Booklist   "History in highly congenial style--wit sizzles in both text and illustrations--marks this entry in the Ready-to-Read series a winner... Beginning readers will cherish this brand of history."--Pointer, Kirkus Reviews

 

Bandit's Moon - Written by: Sid Fleischman; Illustrations by: Jos. A. Smith ° Greenwillow ° 1998 ° 136 pages  ° 6¼ x 9¼  ° Grades: 3 up ° Trade Cloth ° ISBN 0-688-15830-7  ° $15.00 Canada $21.00

Newly orphaned, young Annyrose escapes from the villainour O.O. Mary and falls under the protection of a proud and fearless Mexican bandit, regarded as the Robin Hood of the California Gold Rush.  Annyrose wants only to search for her older brother who had run off to the gold diggings, but she finds herself galloping beside the celebrated outlaw in his own quest.   He is hunting down the last band of "Yankee" riffraff who wronged him, an event that turned the innocent young Mexican into an avenging terror of the roads.  With his characteristic story twists and turns and surprises, Newbery Award winner Sid Fleischman lights up a dark corner in this Gold Rush drama set against a firestorm of bigotry ignited by the lust for riches.  As for the legendary bandit, dashing about on his silken black horse and breathing fire, he actually lived.

 

 

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Last modified: 06/29/05