When a young girl moves from the country to a small town, she feels lonely and out of place. But soon she meets an elderly woman next door, who shares her love of nature and art.
Jake’s puppy is growing quickly, but as Jake soon realizes, he isn’t becoming any easier to handle. All Jake wants is to raise his puppy to be a strong, fast sled dog, but Kamik is far from ready to pull a sled with a dog team.
Rabbit’s snow dance : a traditional Iroquois story as told by James and Joseph Bruchac. Request this title.
Rabbit loves the winter. He knows a dance, using an Iroquois drum and song, to make it snow–even in summertime When rabbit decides that it should snow early, he starts his dance and the snow begins to fall.
Bowwow powwow : bagosenjige-niimi’idim by Brenda J. Child. Request this title.
The best days of summer end at the powwow, but Windy Girl takes the revelry of the gathering one step farther, into a dreamworld where the dancers and singers are dogs.
Water is the first medicine. It affects and connects us all… When a black snake threatens to destroy the Earth and poison her people’s water, one young water protector takes a stand to defend Earth’s most sacred resource.
Otsaliheliga is a Cherokee word that is used to express gratitude. Journey through the year with a Cherokee family and their tribal nation as they express thanks for celebrations big and small. A look at modern Native American life as told by a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.
Mary and the Trail of Tears : a Cherokee removal survival story by Andrea L. Rogers. Request this title.
Twelve-year-old Mary and her Cherokee family are forced out of their home in Georgia by U.S. soldiers in May 1838. From the beginning of the forced move, Mary and her family are separated from her father.
When twelve-year-old Edie finds letters and photographs in her attic that change everything she thought she knew about her Native American mother’s adoption, she realizes she has a lot to learn about her family’s history and her own identity.
Teased for his fair coloring, eleven-year-old Jimmy McClean travels with his maternal grandfather, Nyles High Eagle, to learn about his Lakota heritage while visiting places significant in the life of Crazy Horse, the nineteenth-century Lakota leader and warrior, in a tale that weaves the past with the present.
When a little girl’s far-away grandmother comes to stay, love and patience transcend language in a tender story written by acclaimed author Meg Medina.
Carlitos lives in a happy home with his mother, his abuela, and Coco the cat. Life in his hometown is cozy as can be, but the call of the capital city pulls Carlitos across the bay in search of his father.
When Daisy Ramona zooms around her neighborhood with her papi on his motorcycle, she sees the people and places she’s always known. She also sees a community that is rapidly changing around her.
This portrait of the influential librarian, author, and puppeteer reminds us of the power of storytelling and the extraordinary woman who opened doors and championed bilingual literature.
From musical prodigy on the streets of Harlem to five-time Grammy Award winner, Tito’s life was full of rhythm. Drums and claves, saxophones and tambourines were all part of the fun.
In 1960s New York, fifth-grader Ruthie, a Cuban-Jewish immigrant, must rely on books, art, her family, and friends in her multicultural neighborhood when an accident puts her in a body cast.
Lupe, Flapjack, Elirio customize their car into a low rider for the Universal Car Competition to win the cash prize that will enable them to buy their own garage.
When his family’s restaurant and Cuban American neighborhood in Miami are threatened by a greedy land developer, thirteen-year-old Arturo, joined by Carmen, a cute poetry enthusiast, fight back.
In order to heal after his mother’s death, thirteen-year-old Sal learns to reach into time and space to retrieve things–and people–from other universes.
Twelve-year-old María Luisa O’Neill-Morales reluctantly moves with her Mexican-American mother to Chicago and starts seventh grade with a bang–violating the dress code with her punk rock aesthetic.
Find even more titles celebrating Hispanic Heritage here.
We all know that this year going back to school is very different from usual. However, we hope the books on this list will inspire students to get excited for school and ready to learn!
Picture Books
B. Bear and Lolly: Off to School by A.A. Livingston
B. Bear realizes the importance of friendship when he and his best friend Lolly attend the first day of school.
Lola Goes to School by Anna McQuinn
Spunky Lola meets new friends and tries many new things on her fun but exhausting first day of school.
Dog Days of School by Kelly DiPucchio
Tired of school, Charlie envies his dog and wishes he could be a dog, too, but when his wish comes true he discovers that his life was not all bad.
School’s First Day of School by Adam Rex
It’s the first day of school at Frederick Douglass Elementary and everyone’s just a little bit nervous, especially the school itself.
Bitsy Bee is very excited about her first day of school, and it proves to be just as much fun as she expected.
Lucky School Bus by Melinda Melton Crow
It is the first day of school, and School Bus is excited. Tractor, Train, and Fire Truck wish him luck on his big day!
Mouse Loves School by Lauren Thompson
Hiding inside a backpack, Mouse spends the day at school, discovering colors, letters, numbers, and his favorite thing–friends.
Pete the Cat: Too Cool for School by James Dean
Pete the Cat can’t decide what outfit he should wear to make him look cool at school. He has so many colorful choices in his closet to choose from, how will he decide on one?
After moving, eight-year-old Mallory struggles with being new at school, especially because her mother is now the music teacher and director of the third grade play.
Bad Kitty: School Daze by Nick Bruel
When Kitty’s owners have finally had enough of her bad behavior, it’s time to ship her off to obedience school.
Pennybrook School is Headed for Disaster by Jennifer Brown
Thomas Fallgrout is a new student at Pennybaker Academy for the Uniquely Gifted where he his blamed for a missing statue so he teams up with his oddball friend Chip Mason to find it.
School Days According to Humphrey by Betty Birney
Humphrey the hamster is puzzled when unfamiliar students fill Mrs. Brisbane’s classroom at summer’s end, but he soon learns that his friends from last year are fine and that the new class needs his special help.
Have a huge collection of unwanted t-shirts that you’re not ready to part with? Check out this upcycle activity that you can do with your t-shirts using only a pair of scissors (and a marker) – 10 easy steps!
Materials Needed:
1 t-shirt
1 pair of scissors (need to be sharp enough to cut through cloth)
1 market (optional)
1 medium/large sized dish or bowl (optional)
TIP – If using a t-shirt with a logo on it, you’ll want it to be towards the middle of the t-shirt.
Directions:
Step 1 – Lay your t-shirt down on the floor or any flat surface.
Step 2 – Take a look at your t-shirt and decide visually where your cut marks will go. If you have a logo, you may need to adjust where you cut.
Sept 3 – Turn your t-shirt inside out and lay it back down on your flat surface. Flatten it out (does not need to be ironed).
Step 4 – Using your scissors, cut off your sleeves (you want to cut just past the the thread marks). It is important that you only cut off the sleeves at this point.
Step 5 – Using your dish, place your dish on top of the neck hole. Move it down so you have a half of a circle on your t-shirt and the other half on your surface. Using your marker, draw the half circle. You can also eyeball this part as well if you’d like.
Step 6 – Measure 3 inches from the bottom of your t-shirt (or half of your hand). Mark with your marker where this is.
Step 7 – Cut out 1.5 to 2 inch strips from the bottom of your t-shirt up to your indicator line. Make sure you cut your end pieces so that the front and back are separated.
Step 8 – Make sure the strips are laying flat (you may need to re-smooth out your t-shirt).
Step 9 See how each strip has a strip underneath it? Tie those together. Do this all the way across and then double knot each one.
Step 10 – Fold your bag inside right – and you’re done!
Contact-Free pick up is here! How it works: Click on “request this item” and place the item on hold with your library card. You will be notified when your item is available for pickup. For Scotch Plains and Fanwood residents only at this time. Questions? Contact us at [email protected]
Sally explains the signs that she and her mother see while walking their dog in a park, such as those that direct them to a trail and show who can use that trail.
With poetic text and gorgeous illustrations, Karas illuminates the Earth and its cycles, making the concepts of rotation and revolution understandable even to the youngest readers
Lilly loves everything about school, especially her teacher, but when he asks her to wait a while before showing her new purse, she does something for which she is very sorry later.
After second-grader Stink gets an unsatisfactory grade in physical education, his parents tell him he must play a sport and so he masters thumb wrestling, as seen on a sports channel.
Nancy is furious when she cannot go to her friend Bree’s butterfly-themed birthday party, but her family’s outing might just be extraordinary enough to make her feel better.
Excitable Junie B. Jones manages to find trouble both before and during a trip to Hawaii and records each incident in a photo journal given to her by her teacher.
After graduating from the superhero academy, Melvin Beederman heads for Los Angeles, where he unexpectedly teams up with Candace Brinkwater, school play actress, to nab the evil McNasty Brothers.
Looking for more M-N Level Readers? Click here to view additional titles (does not work in Firefoxand on certain mobile devices).
Lola Levine is given a non-speaking part after getting stage fright during her class play audition. She saves the play after a couple of obstacles with the help of her grandmother
No pets are allowed in the apartment where Suzannah and her family live, so she volunteers at a local pet shelter and plays with the dogs and cats there–but when a child whose family is moving brings in her pet guinea pig, Jelly Bean, Suzannah promises that she will find him the perfect home.
Eight-year-old EllRay Jakes decides to “borrow” his father’s crystals to impress his classmates, but his plan to return the crystals before his father notices goes awry.
Looking for more Level O-P Readers? Click here to view additional titles (does not work in Firefoxand on certain mobile devices).
Nine-year-old Mya is excited about participating in School Spirit Week, even making a pinky promise with her best friend Naomi to be her partner, but when she accidentally gets paired with the biggest bully in school, Mean Connie.
Eleven-year-old Demon had never met his father, the god Pan, until the day he was whisked away to the stables of Olympus and charged with looking after all of the mythical creatures there.
Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.
In the mid-1970s Sunny Lewin is back, star of her personal show, facing the prospect of Middle School, and dealing with the problems of her somewhat dysfunctional family–in particular her older brother, Dale, who has been sent off to a military academy because of his delinquent behavior.
Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with an young paraplegic.
Looking for more Level Q-R Readers? Click here to view additional titles (does not work in Firefoxand on certain mobile devices).
When Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in a down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby elephant that has been added to the mall, he decides that he must find her a better life.
When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal.
At the end of August 2005, ten-year-old Armani is looking forward to her birthday party in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, where she and her extended family live, but Hurricane Katrina is on the way, bringing destruction and tragedy in its wake.
Minli, an adventurous girl from a poor village, buys a magical goldfish, and then joins a dragon, who cannot fly, on a quest to find the Old Man of the Moon in hopes of bringing life to Fruitless Mountain and freshness to Jade River.
Eight-year-old Steve Satlow is thrilled when Jackie Robinson moves into his Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn in 1948, although many of his neighbors are not, and when Steve actually meets his hero he is even more excited–and worried that a misunderstanding over a Christmas tree could damage his new friendship.
Ravi has just moved to the United States from India and has always been at the top of his class; Joe has lived in the same town his whole life and has learning problems–but when their lives intersect in the first week of fifth grade they are brought together by a common enemy and the need to take control of their lives.
Looking for more Level S-T Readers? Click here to view additional titles (does not work in Firefoxand on certain mobile devices).