Staff Picks for Children

It's the 1950's and Ruth's Daddy just bought a 1952 Buick!  Ruth, her Mama and Daddy will be driving it from their home in Chicago to her Grandma's house in Alabama!  The trip starts out pleasant, but as they continue their drive the family encounters white only restrooms and hotels. It's hard for Ruth's family to find places to rest and eat. Ruth feels homesick but a friend they meet along the way tells them to watch out for Esso service stations.  When Daddy later stops at an Esso service station, he buys a copy of The Negro Motorist Green Book. "It lists places in lots of states where we would be welcome to sleep, eat, shop, get a haircut - and all kinds of information besides."  The story ends on a high note and includes a full page history of The Negro Motorist Green Book.

This book would make a great educational read aloud at anytime, but especially during African American History Month. Both children and adults will likely learn some facts about the Jim Crow era. Highly recommended for grades 3-6.

Newbery award winner Avi (2003 for Crispin: The Cross of Lead) creates a captivating adventure set in his hometown of New York City in 1893. Life is a hardscrabble existence for Maks and his immigrant family: poverty, illness, threats of gangs, shortage of food, filthy living conditions, and dependence on an unfamiliar society. Thirteen-year-old Maks sells newspapers to earn a few pennies a day which sets him up as a target of the Plug Ugly Gang. He meets homeless Willa who saves him from an attack with a big stick she carries. Together they attempt to clear Maks’ sister, Emma, who is in jail in “The Tombs,” accused of stealing in the new luxury Waldorf Hotel. Terminally ill Lawyer Donck reluctantly agrees to help them. This fast-paced, thrilling detective story that peaks in a shoot-out in the Waldorf, is told in simple “tough guy” language. Readers will empathize with Maks and Willa and admire their strong-willed, resourceful spirits.

This picture book surely lives up to its name. Not only is its story about a square, it is square! The book's shape is just one of many creative details that make this book so delightful. And it is just about perfect, too, with a clever but simple story, a good message, and colorful, playful, beautiful illustrations by artist and author Michael Hall. A perfect square is happy being just that, square and perfect. But when it is suddenly cut, torn, and otherwise changed, the square finds new happiness in adapting to each of the changes and transforming into other beautiful, more complex shapes.

Its gentle adventure would make it good for reading to preschoolers and up; its imaginative illustrations, and message of adaptation to change, would make it ideal for use in an art class, book discussion, or for inspirational reading for all ages. While an original work, it is in the same spirit as the works of Eric Carle, Leo Lionni and Lois Ehlert. Another wonderful, visually stunning book by Michael Hall is My Heart is Like a Zoo.

A clever fairy tale told in rhyme about a very short king who boasts constantly and forces his subjects to bow down to him. He meets his match in a common girl who turns out to be a sorceress. She casts a spell on him so that his head expands every time he proclaims his grandness. Young children will love to listen to this funny tale and to experience the bright colorful illustrations.