Beautiful Blackbird

Author	Yuyi Morales
ISBN	0823440559

Yuyi Morales tells her own immigration story in this picture-book tribute to the transformative power of hope . . . and reading.

In 1994, Yuyi Morales left her home in Xalapa, Mexico and came to the US with her infant son. She left behind nearly everything she owned, but she didn't come empty-handed.

She...

Author	Verna Aardema
ISBN	0140549056

"In this Caldecott Medal winner, Mosquito tells a story that causes a jungle disaster. "Elegance has become the Dillons' hallmark. . . . Matching the art is Aardema's uniquely onomatopoeic text . . . An impressive showpiece."
-Booklist, starred review.

Winner of Caldecott Medal in...

Author	Sarah Stewart
ISBN	0374325170

By the author-and-illustrator team of the bestselling The Library

Lydia Grace Finch brings a suitcase full of seeds to the big gray city, where she goes to stay with her Uncle Jim, a cantankerous baker. There she initiates a gradual transformation, bit by bit brightening the shop and bringing...

Author	Junot Díaz
ISBN	0735229864

Every kid in Lola's school was from somewhere else. Hers was a school of faraway places.

So when Lola's teacher asks the students to draw a picture of where their families immigrated from, all the kids are excited. Except Lola. She can't remember The Island—she left when she was just a baby....

Author	Troy Andrews
ISBN	1419714651

Hailing from the Tremé neighborhood in New Orleans, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews got his nickname by wielding a trombone twice as long as he was high. A prodigy, he was leading his own band by age six, and today this Grammy-nominated artist headlines the legendary New Orleans Jazz Fest.
...

Author	Brian Floca
ISBN	1416994157

I see why people love Floca's book. The illustrations of the trains are terrific. As far as train-technology goes, it is way-cool. However, in 2013, couldn't it have been made more inclusive?

The Chinese laborers, for example, are shown in illustrations twice, but never mentioned in the part...

Author	Matt de la Pena
ISBN	0399257748

Winner of the 2016 Newbery Medal
A 2016 Caldecott Honor Book
A 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book
A New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of 2015
A Wall Street Journal Best Children's Book of 2015

Every Sunday after church, CJ and his grandma ride the...

Author	Langston Hughes
ISBN	1416935401

Langston Hughes' powerful and simple poem is brilliantly accompanied by Charles R. Smith's transcendent photographs. Each photograph illustrates the beauty, depth and soul of being an African-American today. From close ups of lined hands to the joy of a baby's giggle, the photographs span ages....

Author	Sophie Blackall
ISBN	0316362387

On the highest rock of a tiny island
at the edge of the world stands a lighthouse.
It is built to last forever. Sending its light out to sea.
The fog rolls in, and the fog rolls out.
The waves rise and crash. The wind blows and blows...
This beautiful picture book caught my eye on the Goodreads...

Author	Brian Lies
ISBN	0062671278

Evan and his dog do everything together, from eating ice cream to caring for their award-winning garden, which grows big and beautiful. One day the unthinkable happens: Evan’s dog dies. Heartbroken, Evan destroys the garden and everything in it. The ground becomes overgrown with prickles and thorns,...

Author	Matthew Cordell
ISBN	1250076366

To see this week's Wordless Picture Books, please visit www.readrantrockandroll.com by clicking HERE

A little girl is leaving school for the day and has to endure a really bad snowstorm on the way home. As she begins her journey, she stumbles upon a wolf pack and a little wolf cub that appears...

Author	Javaka Steptoe
ISBN	0316213888

Winner of the Randolph Caldecott Medal and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award

Jean-Michel Basquiat and his unique, collage-style paintings rocketed to fame in the 1980s as a cultural phenomenon unlike anything the art world had ever seen. But before that, he was a little boy who saw...

Author	Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen
ISBN	1584300817

Upon the arrival of her new baby brother, Elizabeti decides she needs a doll she can care for the way her mother cares for the new baby. After looking around her village, Elizabeti finds the perfect doll to love, and names her Eva.

When Mama changes the new baby's diaper, Elizabeti changes Eva....

Author	Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
ISBN	0822567644

Sitting tall in the saddle, with a wide-brimmed black hat and twin Colt pistols on his belt, Bass Reeves seemed bigger than life. Outlaws feared him.

As a deputy U.S. Marshal and former slave who escaped to freedom in the Indian Territories, Bass was cunning and fearless. When a lawbreaker heard...

Author	Paul Meisel
ISBN	0823436802

A dog barks at everything he loves--a cat, a squirrel, and his favorite boy! This Level A book is perfect for new readers.


I see a cat. I see a bird. I see a fly.

Easy-to-read text and fun pictures follow a dog through his happy day. Sitting inside his house, the dog watches other animals...

Author	Tololwa M. Mollel
ISBN	0395751861

"I emptied my secret money box, arranged the coins in piles and the piles in rows . . ." The market is full of wonderful things, but Saruni is saving his precious coins for a red and blue bicycle. How happy he will be when he can help his mother carry heavy loads to market on his very own bicycle--and how disappointed...