Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Author: Lois Lowry

Genre: Historical Fiction

Awards: Sydney Taylor Book Award (1989), National Jewish Book Award (1990), Newbery Medal (1990), Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award (1992), A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (1990), Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee (1991), 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up (2009), School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, American Booksellers Association Pick of the Lists, ALA Notable Children's Book, Wyoming Indian Paintbrush Nominee (1991), Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee (1991), Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award (1992), Charlotte Award (1992), Shalom Readers Club Book List, AISLE Read-Aloud Books Too Good To Miss (1991), Maine Student Book Award (1991), ISLMA Bluestem Award Nominee (2014), Sunshine State Young Reader's Award Nominee (1991), VDL Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Nominee, CCBC Choices (1989), Wisconsin Golden Archer Award (1998), Sequoyah Book Award Nominee (1992), William Allen White Children's Book Award Nominee (1992), Hawai'i Nēnē Award Nominee (1994), IRA Teachers' Choices Reading List (1993), NCTE Adventuring with Books (1993), School Library Journal Top 100 Children's Novels (2010), School Library Journal Top 100 Children's Novels (2012)

Grade(s): 4th-8th

Summary: Annemarie Johansen was growing up in a time of war. Her best friend, Ellen Rosen was a Jew who was in danger of being caught and killed. During the height of the war, the German soldiers were cracking down and becoming very strict. Fear of being caught, the Rosen family decided they needed to leave the area. To keep Ellen as safe as possible, they left Ellen with the Johansens and Annemarie and Ellen were to pretend they were sisters. Although they were almost caught when German soldiers came to search their home, Annemarie's dad was able to retrieve a picture of the oldest sister, who had been killed in a car accident, to pass off as a photo of Ellen since the two had dark hair. When things became more tense, the Johansen's decided it would be better to stay with Uncle Henrik who lives in a fishing village on the outskirts of town. To keep Ellen and other Jewish refugees safe, Uncle Henrik organizes a fake funeral for his non-existent aunt. German soldiers come to evaluate why there are so many people gathered in one area and find the funeral to be acceptable. Later, Uncle Henrik and Mrs. Johansen begin to bring Jews to boats to sail them to Sweden, where they would remain safe. Ellen's family turns up at Uncle Henrik's house and they all decide to leave for Sweden until the war ended. Annemarie and Ellen hated that they would be separated, but they knew it was for the best. When the war finally ended, the Johansen's returned home and joined in a tearful celebration with their community. Annemarie retrieved her best friend's necklace and vowed to keep it with her and safe until Ellen was able to return home. The book's last quote is "'Until then,' Annemarie told him, 'I will wear it myself.'"

My Thoughts: I feel that this book is an excellent book for 4th to 8th graders. I feel that the story is rich and really portrays the lives of those living during World War II. Although this is a fictional book, I feel that Lois Lowry really makes the characters and story come to life with real scenarios and situations. I would not read this to my younger students as I feel it is a bit too advanced for them, but if I ever find myself teaching older elementary grades, I will definitely use this book to teach them of the World War II lifestyle. I loved reading this book and I will definitely keep it on my bookshelf for many years!!

Ada's Violin by Susan Hood

Author: Susan Hood

Illustrator: Sally Wern Comport

Genre: Multicultural, Nonfiction

Awards: Bank Street CBC Best Children's Book of the Year (2017), Bank Street CBC Best Children's Book of the Year, Outstanding Merit (2017), IRA Notable Book for a Global Society (2017), CSMCL Best Multicultural Book (2016), Connecticut Book Award Finalist (2017)

Grade(s): 1st-4th

Summary: This multicultural book shares the true story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay. Ada is a young girl growing up in Cateura, a town made of trash. Although her community was poor, they would make the best of it by looking through the piles of trash dumped there to find things to make a living. Ada, however, became worried about the future of her community as many of the children began to grow up into gangs and getting into fights. Ada's grandmother raised her and her little sister when their parents were away at work and one day, she saw an advertisement for music lessons. Never being able to learn music herself, she wanted her grandchildren, Ada and Noélia, to have this opportunity, so she signed them up. They quickly realized that there were not enough instruments for all of the children who wanted to take lessons. So the instructor, Favio Chávez, gathered several people to help him make instruments for all of the students. They worked together to collect the right trash from the landfill to make all sorts of instruments. Soon, there were plenty of instruments for everyone. They practiced rigorously everyday and soon became well known. Soon, they were asked to fly all over the world to play their instruments. At the end of the book, the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay was asked to open for a famous rock band. Even though they were nervous, they played well and everyone cheered for them more than the rock band!! The last page shows real pictures of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay and of their instruments.

My Thoughts: I thought this book was a wonderful tale of how a community of people made the absolute best out of their living situation. I love how I would be able to use this book to teach my students the value of creativity and innovation. I also love how this book portrays the life of a small community so well through not only its illustrations, but also its story. I will definitely have this book on my bookshelf for years to come!!

Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine

Author: Ellen Levine

Illustrator: Kadir Nelson

Genre: Multicultural, Nonfiction

Awards: Caldecott Honor (2008), South Carolina Picture Book Award Nominee (2008), BCCB Blue Ribbon Book (2007), ALA Notable Children's Book (2008), Wyoming Buckaroo Nominee (2008-2009), NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Boo for Young People (2008), Great Lakes Great Books Award (2009), AISLE Read-Aloud Books Too Good To Miss (2007), Capitol Choices Noteworthy Book for Children's and Teens (2008), ISLMA Bluestem Award Nominee (2011), Vermont Red Clover Award Nominee (2009), CCBC Choices (2008), Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (2010), Comstock Read Aloud Book Award (2007), West Virginia Children's Choice Book Award Nominee (2009), Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Award Nominee (2009), California Young Reader Medal (2012), IRA Teachers' Choices Reading List (2008)

Grade(s): 1st-4th

Summary: Henry's Freedom Box is a book set back in the days of slavery. Henry grew up in the slave world as a slave child, and eventually became a man living in slavery. He gained approval to marry from his master and his wife's and became happily wed. Henry decided to start a family and him and his wife had three children. However, since many of the masters were becoming poor, they had to sell their slaves in order to survive. Sadly, Henry's wife and children were sold and Henry would never be able to see them again. This motivated Henry to want to escape slavery and he came up with a plan. With the help of some of his friends, one being a white man, they devised a plan for Henry to be shipped to America in a large wooden crate. Scared that the plan would fail, but desperate to make it work, Henry found himself turned upside, on his head, on a ship sailing for America. Thankfully, Henry arrived safely in Philadelphia to very welcoming arms. Having never known his birthday, he made March 30, 1849 his birthday, his first day of freedom. Henry also gained a middle name as he would forever be known as Henry "BOX" Brown.

My Thoughts: I absolutely loved this book and would definitely use it in my classroom to teach my students about the slavery era. This is a wonderful multicultural book that teaches about the culture of slavery and African Americans. The illustrations of this book were astounding as Kadir Nelson really has a way of bringing the story to life. Although there were sad moments in this story, it really shows the reality of how many were made to live during this time period. I will definitely have this book in my classroom library for years to come!!

Yoko by Rosemary Wells

Author: Rosemary Wells

Illustrator: Rosemary Wells

Genre: Multicultural, Realistic Fiction

Awards: Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee (2000), Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Award Nominee (2001), The White Ravens (1999), NCTE Kaleidoscope (2001), NCTE Adventuring with Books (2000)

Grade(s): K-2nd

Summary: Yoko is a cat from Japan who loves when her mom prepares her, her favorite bento box of sushi for lunch. When lunchtime at school comes around, Yoko's teacher, Mrs. Jenkins, rings the bell and tells everyone to take out their lunch boxes. When Yoko looks around, she noticed that many of her classmates brought different types of sandwiches and other typical lunchtime food. However, when Yoko opens her lunchbox, her classmates are all disgusted by it and begin to make fun of it saying things like, "Watch out! It's moving!" and "Yuck-o-rama!" This really hurts Yoko's feelings. She doesn't understand why people would make fun of her favorite lunch!! When she goes outside to play, Mrs. Jenkins notices that Yoko isn't playing and that she seems upset. Then Mrs. Jenkins gets the idea of organizing an International Food Day in her class. She send notes to the parents asking them to each bring an unusual dish from many different countries. On International Food Day, Mrs. Jenkins' number one rule is to "try everything!" However, Yoko notices that no one would even touch her deluxe sushi roll. Until one of her classmates, Timothy, was still hungry after everything had already been eaten. So, he decided to try Yoko's sushi roll and he loved it so much, he wanted sushi the next day too!! In the end, Yoko and Timothy became the best of friends and decided to open their own restaurant, sushi included.

My Thoughts: I absolutely loved this book!! It was so cute and really offered an insight into the diversity we have in our schools. I also loved it because I can relate to it in some way. Living in China has really broadened my view on many different types of food. Sushi is my favorite, so I can relate to Yoko when people make fun of her for eating such different things. I think this book will be a wonderful addition to my classroom because I can use it to teach diversity. I can also stem off of this book an International food day of my own. This book will definitely be in my classroom library for years to come!!

Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold

Author: Faith Ringgold
Illustrator: Faith Ringgold
Genre: Multicultural, Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction
Awards: CCBC Choices (1991), New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book (1991), Caldecott Honor (1992), A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (1992), Children's Literature Assembly of the National Council of Teachers of English - Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts (1992), Reading Rainbow Program Selection (1992), Ezra Jack Keats Book Award (1993), Parents' Choice Gold Award, NCTE Adventuring with Books (1993), NCTE Kaleidoscope (1994), NCTE Books That Invite Talk, Wonder, and Play (1996), 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up (2009)
Grade(s): K-6th

Summary: Tar Beach is a story of a girl whose family often goes to the roof of the building they live in to socialize with their neighbors. Cassie Louise Lightfoot is a little girl who loved to visit that rooftop with her family. She loved it so much because she would close her eyes and dream of flying above the city, making everything she flew over her own. Her favorite place to dream of flying over was the George Washington Bridge. She would imagine flying over places that would help her family out of their troubles. As an African American family, they were treated poorly and definitely not paid equally. However, Cassie would escape these setbacks by visiting "tar beach" and dreaming of taking her family's troubles away. She dreamed of flying over a large office building because she knew that if she owned it, her father would be able to work there instead of being turned away due to his color. She also flew over the ice cream factory to ensure her and her little brother would always have ice cream for dinner. At the end of the book, Cassie teaches her little brother to "fly" and the two of them laid and dreamt on Tar Beach for the rest of the night. This book is based off of a real story that the author had written on the border of a quilt describing her own rough childhood. Each page is bordered with a real picture of the author's quilt and the last page depicts the author's entire quilt, including the written story.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed reading this book as I felt that it really showed the way of life for African Americans during an older time. This book is culturally rich and I feel that it would be a great book to use in my classroom to teach about other cultures. I feel that the story really brought to life the way it is to live a poor lifestyle in a city. I loved how the author made me realize that the imagination is a powerful thing and can take you out of any undesirable situation. I also loved the illustrations in this book and the fact that the author shared such a personal story along with a real image of the quilt that inspired this story. I will definitely have this book in my library!!

Show Way by Jacqueline Woods

Author: Jacqueline Woodson

Illustrator: Hudson Talbott

Genre: Multicultural, Historical Fiction, Nonfiction

Awards: Newbery Honor (2006), South Carolina Children's Book Award Nominee (2007-2008), Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee (2008-2009), ALA Notable Children's Book (2006), Reading Rainbow Program Selection (2006), NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People (2006), NCTE/CLA Notable Children's Book in the English Language Arts (2006), AISLE Read-Aloud Books Too Good To Miss (2006), Capitol Choices Noteworthy Book for Children and Teens (2006), CCBC Choices (2006), Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award Nominee (2007), Georgia Children's Book Award Nominee (2008), Utah Beehive Book Award Nominee (2007)

Grade(s): 1st-3rd

Summary: Show Way is a story about a generation growing up during the time of slavery. It starts with a great-grandmother, Big Mama, who had raised many slave children on the land where she worked. Big Mama learned to sew with needles she had taken from the "big house" and thread she had dyed with red berries. Big Mama would sew during the times of rest and would teach her many children to sew "stars and moons and roads." Soon, Big Mama had sewed a quilt that many thought was the map to freedom, the way she sewed it. As generations passed, the quilt got handed down and each child would learn to sew. Many different quilts were made by many different people and any quilt that was sewed like Big Mama's was called a "Show Way." The quilts were given this name because many slaves felt that it showed them the way to freedom by looking at the sewn "stars and moons and roads." As generations had passed, soon the slaves were free, each raising a child and teaching them to sew. Even when slavery had ended, the family of Show Way continued to live on the land they once slaved and continued to make a living off of their cotton fields. The book ends with the author describing to her own child how she has raised her like her ancestors before her and how she is going to teach her to sew a Show Way quilt.

My Thoughts: Like Goin' Someplace Special, I felt that this book is a fantastic multicultural book to have in my classroom. I feel like it captures the slavery time period beautifully by tying in culturally relevant characteristics of a generation of a single family. This book also has repetition which also enriches the author's way of showing culture and tradition. This book is also illustrated beautifully and each page is bordered with famous pictures of the slavery time period. I will definitely have this book in my classroom library for years to come. 

Goin' Someplace Special by Patricia C. McKissack

Author: Patricia C. McKissack
Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney
Genre: Multicultural, Historical Fiction
Awards: NCTE/CLA Notable Children's Book in the English Language Arts (2002), Coretta Scott King Honor (Illustrator, 2002), AISLE Read-Aloud Books Too Good To Miss (2002), ISLMA Monarch Award Nominee (2007), Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee (2004), CCBC Choices (2001), Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award Nominee (2003), Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Award Nominee (2004), Bill Martin Jr. Picture Book Award (2003)
Grade(s): 1st-3rd

Summary: This book is set back in the middle of the Civil Rights movement and is about a girl named Tricia Ann. Tricia Ann wanted so badly to go to her favorite place in the world, but her grandmother was very worried about her going out on her own. During this time, it was very difficult for an African American to go about their daily activities without being ridiculed or humiliated. However, Tricia's grandmother did not want to stop her from being independent. So, she set her off with a few words of advice: "And no matter what, hold yo' head up and act like you b'long to somebody." Tricia Ann was very excited for this opportunity, but had no idea what kind of indignities lie ahead of her. First, she was forced to the back of a bus by a sign reading "colored section" and began to wonder why things were the way they were. Not letting that bring her down, she began telling people from her community that she was "goin' someplace special." Next, she was flabbergasted by not being able to sit on a bench reading "FOR WHITES ONLY" when she went to look at Peach Fountain. Later, when she was trying to get to her "someplace special," she was forced into a fancy hotel by a crowd of people who were trying to meet someone famous. When the people of the hotel began to notice that she was inside, she was shooed away as if she were a pest. Tricia Ann began to feel defeated and extremely let down that her culture and race was so ridiculed and that made her not even want to visit her "someplace special." However, she ran into a sweet lady named Blooming Mary, who happened to be white. Blooming Mary lifted Tricia Ann's spirits and made her believe that she could carry on. Eventually, Tricia Ann made it to her "someplace special" with a full heart and wonder. Her favorite place ended up being the library and she loved it because there was no segregation there and she felt like she was free. She enjoyed reading and picking out books and she was so happy to have reached her "someplace special."

My Thoughts: This book is an astounding way to teach children the way segregation was during the Civil Rights movement. It beautifully captures a young child's way of living and her love for the world despite their hatred toward her. I absolutely loved reading this book, and although it was a rather short picture book, it was definitely a page turner. Tricia Ann's character is captivating and the illustrations in this book really bring the story to life. I will definitely have this book in my classroom library to show my students the importance of unity and equality.