Two picture books inspired by real-life community organizations demonstrate the great things we can achieve when we all pitch in.

Based on Jillian Tamaki’s experience of volunteering at a community kitchen in Brooklyn, Our Little Kitchen follows a mother and child who help a group of volunteers prepare and serve a meal for their community.

As the story begins, everyone springs into action to assemble ingredients from a garden as well as the kitchen’s cupboards and refrigerator. The group’s leader heats up day-old bread until it’s “soft and warm, as good as new!” then ponders what to do with canned beans for the third week in a row. Once the cooking starts, the pages burst with onomatopoeias in huge, sprawling letters (“glug glug glug” and “chop chop chop chop chop”). When the leader shouts “FIFTEEN MINUTES!” in a spiky speech bubble that nearly fills the whole page, the energy and urgency is palpable.

Every page sizzles and pops as Tamaki captures the kitchen’s hustle and bustle. Lively, detailed visuals abound, often depicted from unusual perspectives such as extreme close-ups and overhead angles. Even the book’s endpapers feature illustrated recipes. Tamaki’s thoughtful author’s note is the icing on this treat: “We are often told that a single person can change the world. Just think what many of us can accomplish—with our bodies, voices, votes, and hearts—together.” Our Little Kitchen is an inspiring call to action that will warm readers’ hearts and tummies.

Cooking a community dinner can be a haphazard, improvised affair, but stitching a community quilt is a measured and precise endeavor. Such contrasting processes make The All-Together Quilt the perfect counterpoint to Our Little Kitchen.

Lizzy Rockwell has more than 30 books to her name, but The All-Together Quilt is especially personal. Her author’s note describes her involvement with a Connecticut-based quilting group called Peace by Piece. Senior citizens, kids from the neighborhood and adult volunteers like Rockwell meet two afternoons each week at a senior housing facility to stitch. Their quilts hang in public libraries, a community college and a children’s museum.

Zeroing in on small acts of collaboration between kids and adults, Rockwell depicts the group making a quilt from start to finish. Her images are informative as well as narrative and include labeled diagrams of sewing tools and illustrations of classic quilt blocks. There’s even an explanation of the origins of each fabric used, from an African wax print to a Scottish plaid. The strong how-to component may encourage young readers to learn to make their own quilts.

The book’s communal spirit is epitomized in a glorious spread that shows a diverse group of people of all ages gathered around a quilting frame, working together to create something beautiful. “It takes a long time to quilt the quilt,” the text reads. “Everybody lends a hand.” The All-Together Quilt is an exemplary, colorful and moving blend of fact and fiction.

Tips for Teachers is a monthly column in which experienced teacher and children’s librarian Emmie Stuart shares book recommendations and a corresponding teaching guide for fellow elementary school teachers.

The books we read in childhood hold immense power. True, many will be forgotten, but some stay lodged in the heart and forever influence the way we see the world, even as we grow into adulthood. In the words of You’ve Got Mail’s Kathleen Kelly (a character created by the inimitable screenwriters Nora and Delia Ephron), “When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.”

Four childhood books that formed my identity are Emily Arnold McCully’s Mirette on the High Wire, Charlotte Zolotow and James Stevenson’s I Know a Lady, Michael Bedard and Barbara Cooney’s Emily and Cynthia Rylant and Kathryn Brown’s The Old Lady Who Named Things. Each of them extended my understanding of childhood friendship by helping me see that I could be friends with a talented acrobat, the elderly lady next door, a community eccentric or the dog down the street.

Unexpected and unconventional friendships are also at the heart of the three picture books below. Through words and pictures, they tell stories that show children the daily joys and comfortable companionship of serendipitous friendships.

Starcrossed
by Julia Denos

Eridani is a human girl “made of blood and bones.” Her best friend Acamar is “more of a constellation than a boy . . . made of space and stars.” Every evening, the two friends share their longings and questions with each other. Eridani wonders about comets and flying while Acamar wonders about sunsets and sand. Curiosity sparked, they make wishes upon each other and embark on an altogether magical experience. Alight with warmth and wonder, Starcrossed is a story of intergalactic friendship and cosmic wishes. An author’s note in which Julia Denos explains that Acamar is an actual star within the constellation Eridanus is sure to delight students.

• Stories behind the stars

Read the author’s note aloud, then show students photographs of Eridanus and the star Acamar. Explore the scientific story of the stars, then explore the connections between constellations and mythology.

• Night sky art

Denos’s full-bleed watercolor, ink, pencil and digital collage illustrations capture stunning nightscapes that set off luminous constellations that explode with astronomical energy. Give students an opportunity to emulate Denos’s striking night skies with a resistance watercolor exploration. Watercolor sets or liquid watercolors work best for this activity.

Provide students with watercolor paper, white crayons or oil pastels and various star-shaped and round stickers. The inexpensive foil star stickers and punch-hole reinforcements I bought at a local office supply store worked wonderfully.

Using the crayons and stickers, ask students to create constellations or a starry design on the watercolor paper. Then show them how to use a foam brush or thick watercolor paintbrush to paint over their design in shades of blue, green and purple. Incorporate color theory by telling students how to mix colors to create different shades, as well as how to control color intensity by using water.

After the paint is dry and the stickers are peeled off, the constellation designs will pop against the darker watercolor skies.

• World-crossed reflection

Eridani and Acamar dream of a life far different from their own. Ask students to think of a place, anywhere on Earth, that fascinates them. Provide atlases and other books with strong photographs as well as geographical and cultural information, or use Google Earth to show unique places around the world. Once students have decided on their world-crossed location, give them time to research it further.

Next, invite them to create a dialogue that resembles the conversation Eridani and Acamar share. What would they tell a friend about their current home? What do they most want to experience about their world-crossed location?

Neighbors
by Kasya Denisevich

“I know my new address by heart,” explains a little girl who has just moved to a new apartment building in the heart of a big city. Excited about her new room, she reflects, “My ceiling is someone’s floor and my floor is someone’s ceiling.” As she continues to muse about her new surroundings, the black and white illustrations shift to a cutaway view of the apartment building that reveals its tenants engaged in their daily various activities. The little girl’s thoughts head in a philosophical direction, until she finally wonders, “Do they even exist? Or maybe my building is my only neighbor. What if there is nothing at all beyond the walls of my room?” The next morning, another little girl emerges from the apartment next door. As the pair head to school, color floods the black and white illustrations, signaling the hope of new friendship. Many children will see their own thoughts and questions reflected in the little girl’s honest ponderings of the public-private dichotomy that’s part of life in a big city.

• Reminders of home

As soon as the little girl moves into her new apartment, she begins unpacking her special objects. Show students some personal items that make your classroom or house feel like home for you. Give time students time to reflect on some objects or nontangible things (for example, a particular scent, or a type of music) that make a place feel like “home” for them.

Lead a discussion to help students understand that these things can be comforting when they find themselves in a new place. Invite students to bring one of their “home objects” to share with the rest of the class. This reflection exercise will be particularly helpful for children who struggle with homesickness when they are away from home.

• Cutaway comparison

Neighbors includes three double-page cutaway illustrations of the apartment building. Define “cutaway” for students and show them a few cutaways from other books. Lead them in a discussion about the purpose of these type of illustrations, then compare Neighbors’ first two cutaways illustrations. The first shows the apartment building’s residents in their various routines. The second reimagines the neighbors as storybook characters, woodland creatures or fantastical entities. The comparison will delight students. If it’s not possible for the illustrations to be enlarged or shown on a projector, create a small center in the classroom and let students study the illustrations up close.

• Address addresses

The book’s opening lines—"I know my new address by heart: 3 Ponds Lane, Building 2, Apartment 12”—are not as simple as they might initially seem. Last fall, one of our school’s buses broke down at the beginning of its afternoon route. A new bus had to come pick up the students and take them home. A few of us went to go help with the details of the transition. I was shocked to discover that most of the students did not know their home addresses!

On a Monday, announce a class address challenge. Give each student an index card with their name and full address. Provide younger children with multiple opportunities to practice reciting their address throughout the day. Older children can practice writing their address. At the end of the week, celebrate the students who have memorized their address.

Nothing in Common
by Kate Hoefler,
illustrated by Corinna Luyken

Two children live in adjoining apartment buildings, but each assumes they have “nothing in common,” so they never acknowledge each other. However, they both love watching an elderly man play with his dog. When the dog goes missing, the two neighbors are pulled out of their solitude and united in their quest to help find the dog. Finding much more than the dog, the two children discover that they share more than just an apartment view. The search for a beloved pet will resonate with children, as will the warm reminder that reaching out can be hard, but often results in genuine connection.

• New window views

The two children live in different buildings, but when they look out their windows, they share a similar view. Show students a glimpse of what people around the world see when they look out their window by visiting the website Window Swap. It’s a simple platform that lets viewers peek out windows around the world. Each view is a small video with the name of the window’s owner in the top left-hand corner and their location in the top right-hand corner.

• Finding common ground

So often children (and adults) gravitate to children who are most like them. They quickly become friends with those who share the same interests and temperament. Before class, purposefully pair students who are not friends with each other. Give them 10 to 15 minutes to talk to each other, then ask them to write down a list of their similarities. For the next few weeks, let these pairings work together for other classroom activities. Students will discover that working together on a common goal can create a unique bond and an unexpected friendship.

Tips for Teachers is a monthly column in which experienced teacher and children’s librarian Emmie Stuart shares book recommendations and a corresponding teaching guide for fellow elementary school teachers.

I recently found myself feeling uncharacteristically blue. In fact, to borrow the words of my literary heroine, Anne Shirley, “I was in the depths of despair.” My tried-and-true mood lifters had done little to raise my spirits, so I did the unthinkable: I opened the music app on my phone and scrolled down to my playlist of Christmas tunes. As soon as the familiar opening notes of one of my favorite seasonal songs filled my living room, I could feel the burden on my heart lightening as the melody restored my sense of hope.

Music has the power to carry our souls through our darkest times. It can be a companion when we are alone or a motivator to keep going in the face of disappointment and discouragement. In 2020, many students have faced a year of unique disappointments, uncertainty and fear, yet a moment my students and I shared this week reminded me how much joy children can experience through music.

My first graders and I have been working our way through a unit on our home state of Tennessee, and we were wrapping up by learning about eastern Tennessee and one of its patron saints, Dolly Parton. We ended our lesson by reading the picture book adaptation of her song, "Coat of Many Colors," and then I put on my playlist of Parton’s music while my students browsed to select their new library books. A few minutes later, I looked up from my book scanner to see my students dancing blissfully around the library to “I Will Always Love You.” It’s a scene I’ll never forget and a reminder of music’s transcendent gifts.

These three books will make hearts sing as they offer musical moments, melodious memories and merry moods.

Eugene and the Sounds of the City
by Sylvie Auzary-Luton

Eugene, a city-dwelling bear, loves to dance. Dancing “all the time, anywhere, to any noise,” Eugene hears the natural rhythms of urban life and longs to share his dancing joy, “but the busy city folks aren’t interested.” Even his sidewalk pirouettes don’t garner much attention from hurried bystanders. When his uninhibited dancing causes a traffic jam, animals emerge from their cars to express their indignation. Eugene is dejected and confused by their reactions. As he trudges home, he notices that his footsteps are becoming quieter. He looks up to see snow “covering the city’s noises in a blanket of stillness.” The peace of the newly fallen snow prompts him to start dancing slowly. Soon the other animals join him and “in the silence of a winter evening,” they all experience the rhythm of the city. Ringing with a cheerful sense of community, Eugene and the Sounds of the City will prompt children to listen for the rhythms to be found in their daily routines.

• Dance party

Purposeful movement in the classroom is always a good thing. Remind students that Eugene could not stop himself from dancing. As a class, write down Eugene’s dance moves and then perform them together. Afterward, play different types of music and let students dance and move in response to however the music makes them feel.

• Onomatopoeia

Provide students with a simple definition of the word “onomatopoeia.” I explained that it’s “a word that names a sound, but also sounds like the sound.” Ask students to think of an example of onomatopoeia to share with the class.

Reread Eugene and the Sounds of the City and write down all of the onomatopoeias in the text (there are many!). Point out how author Sylvie Auzary-Luton uses typography to highlight each sound. For example, the bicycle bell’s “ting ting ting” is delicate, while the traffic jam’s “BOOOM” is bold and big.

Provide colored pencils, crayons, markers and three index cards per student. Write an onomatopoeia on the board and invite students to rewrite it in accordance with how it sounds and/or how makes them feel.

• Daily rhythms

Eugene hears rhythm and music in everything. Just before dismissal for the day, challenge students to listen for musical rhythms or melodies in their afternoon or early morning routines. Repeat this exercise every afternoon for a week and collect a list of the sounds of life.

The Story Orchestra: Carnival of the Animals
by Katy Flint,
illustrated by Jessica Courtney-Tickle

The latest book in the Story Orchestra series presents composer Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Carnival of the Animals” in a picture-book format. Bored indoors on a rainy afternoon, brothers Thomas and James pick up a book of animals and discover a secret door in the bookcase. They go through the door and embark on a fantastical musical journey. As they travel across hot deserts, through tropical forests, among bright coral reefs and inside dusty museums, they encounter many different animals. At each stop in the brothers’ journey, readers can press a button on the page and hear a 10-second excerpt from the “Carnival of the Animals” that coordinates to what’s happening in the scene. Vintage-style illustrations fill the book’s oversized pages and aptly convey a sense of wonder. The book’s final spread includes information about Saint-Saëns, a musical glossary and a succinct guide to each of the musical excerpts. Accessible, informative and downright magical, The Story Orchestra: Carnival of the Animals provides an unforgettable introduction to this well-known piece of classical music.

• Introducing: the orchestra!

Some students may not have a concept of what an orchestra is. Before reading The Story Orchestra: Carnival of the Animals, read some books that introduce the orchestra aloud. I highly recommend Karla Kuskin and Marc Simont's The Philharmonic Gets Dressed and Carolyn Sloan and James Williamson's Welcome to the Symphony.

If possible, consider arranging a videoconferencing visit with a member of a local orchestra, or show clips from a local symphony performance. The New York Philharmonic has excellent introductory digital resources. Providing this background information will give students a foundation for the more in-depth experience of The Story Orchestra: Carnival of the Animals.

• Musical matching

Read the story once and listen to the coordinating musical clips on each page. Next, play the clips individually and out of order. Can students match each clip with its page in the book?

• Story extensions

“Carnival of the Animals” has 14 movements, and The Story Orchestra: Carnival of the Animals includes clips from nine of those movements. Play excerpts from the other five movements not included in the book. Inviting younger students to close their eyes while they listen to the music may help them focus. Play each excerpt twice, then instruct studunts to let the music inspire them to create a new piece of the book’s story. Be sure to allow time for students to share their story extensions with the class.

The Oboe Goes Boom Boom Boom
by Colleen AF Venable,
illustrated by Lian Cho

Mr. V addresses his new band students with excitement. “There is a perfect instrument for everyone. Let’s find yours!” he says. With accurate, precise imagery, he introduces eight instruments to his students. He describes each instrument’s history (“Armies used to charge into battle to the sounds of triumphant trumpet toots!”), sound ("Listening to a clarinet is like eating rich chocolate cake, bold and sweet at the same time”) and mechanics (“You blow ACROSS it, like when you make music by blowing across the top of an empty glass bottle”). But when it comes time for a student to demonstrate each instrument, young Felicity interrupts by banging, “Boom! Boom! Boom!” on a large red drum. Each member of the band is named after a real-life musician, and brief biographies are included in the book’s back matter. Venable’s pitch-perfect prose pairs with Cho’s lively illustrations to create an entertaining and memorable read-aloud experience.

• Cover conversation

Show students the book’s front cover and read the title aloud. Point out the oboe in the top left corner of the cover and ask, “Does the oboe actually go boom boom boom?” Allow time for discussion, then play a short clip of an oboe so that students can hear what the oboe sounds like. Ask students to consider why Venable decided to title her book The Oboe Goes Boom Boom Boom when the oboe does not actually make that sound.

Invite students to consider the purpose of a book’s title and front cover. I tell my students, “The job of a book cover is to grab our attention, pull us in and make us really want to read the book.”

Next, slide the book’s dust jacket off with drama and flair, revealing an illustration on the book’s boards of a beaming Felicity holding two drumsticks while bursting out of sheets of musical scores. Ask students to imagine the connections between the dust jacket and this image and to predict what Felicity’s role in the story might be.

• Musical similes

Introduce students to the literary device of the simile and read several examples from the book. Ask students to articulate how similes help us understand new concepts by comparing a new sound to a familiar sound. Play clips of instruments and invite students to come up with their own similes for each one. After generating five similes, let students illustrate their favorite one.

Invite the music teacher to the classroom (or visit the music room) for a musical guessing game. Students will read their similes aloud, and the music teacher will try to guess which instrument the simile describes.

• Classroom concert

Use the biographical sketches in the book’s back matter to create a playlist of YouTube clips of musical performances. Replicate the concert experience in the classroom by reading each biographical sketch, then playing a clip of the musician.

Kind and generous mice are the stars of the show in two sparkling picture books that prove that no heart is too small to spread the joy of Christmas.

When Clement Clarke Moore penned his famous holiday poem in the early 19th century, he had no way to know that “A Visit From St. Nicholas,” as it was originally titled, would become one of the most beloved Christmas verses of all time. He certainly couldn’t have imagined how famous the lines “Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse” would become.

But according to Tracey Corderoy and Sarah Massini’s Mouse’s Night Before Christmas, there was, in fact, a mouse stirring on that Yuletide evening. In this alternate version of events, a lonely mouse is spending the night gazing in awe at the tree, decorations and gifts of the human family whose house he shares while wishing he had a friend to celebrate with. When Santa lands (with a clatter, naturally) on the lawn, having lost his way in a snowstorm, Mouse offers to act as his guide and help save the day. Will Santa make Mouse’s Christmas wish come true?

Corderoy recounts her heartwarming mouse-capade in rhyming verses that reflect the spirit of Moore’s original poem. In lines such as “He was quiet, and careful, and ever so neat— / quite the best little helper that Santa could meet!” she strikes the perfect balance between honoring Moore’s phrasing and adding her own lively twists.

Illustrator Massini’s wonder-filled images anchor the book in gorgeous pastel hues with splashes of holiday red on Santa’s suit, the reindeer's harnesses and Mouse’s dashing scarf. As Santa’s sleigh soars across the sky, it leaves a trail of bluish-white stars in its wake that contrast beautifully against the dark and wintry night sky. Massini’s work is filled with texture: the spiky needles of the Christmas tree, the curly wisps of Santa’s beard, the colorful knits of the handmade stockings hanging from the mantel.

Mouse’s Night Before Christmas is a joyful addition to the canon of Christmas picture books. It’s steeped in tradition, holiday magic and the happiness that comes from helping others and sharing joy with someone special.

A mouse named Mistletoe already has a best buddy, an elephant named Norwell, in Tad Hills' Mistletoe: A Christmas Story, a tale of unlikely friendship that will call to mind Arnold Lobel’s beloved Frog and Toad adventures.

Lively and determined, Mistletoe is an avid knitter whose lace collars, jolly striped tights and matching red cap, coat and boots epitomize prim-and-proper fashion. Norwell is a thoughtful artist who loves to stay cozy indoors, while Mistletoe loves nothing better than being outside in the falling snow. Try as she might, tiny Mistletoe can’t convince her friend to join her. Sitting by Norwell’s fire and enjoying each other’s company, they each begin to plan a Christmas surprise for the other.

Like Lobel, Hills uses understated humor throughout the story to underscore the differences between his two characters and highlight their friendship in ways guaranteed to bring a smile to readers both young and old. “Just a drop for me, and a cookie crumb, please,” Mistletoe says when offered tea. Later, as Mistletoe works night and day to knit a gift for Norwell, she “realizes two things: one, sometimes you don’t have enough yarn, and two, elephants are big!” The creator of the bestselling Duck and Goose series, Hills is hardly a stranger to odd-couple friendships, and his lively prose energizes this otherwise quiet tale.

Using a palette of bright, bold colors, Hills skillfully alternates lively panels, full-page illustrations and double-page spreads to depict Mistletoe’s holiday mission and reveal how she transforms her giant rainbow-colored balls of yarn into an enormous present for Norwell. Mistletoe knits everywhere—even in the bathtub ("which isn't easy")—in order to finish on time. Her efforts to haul her massive creation to Norwell’s house are especially comical.

A timeless story about appreciating and honoring differences among friends, Mistletoe merrily conveys the seasonal feeling of joy we experience when we share gifts from the heart.

Ezra Jack Keats set the gold standard for snow stories with his Caldecott Medal-winning book, The Snowy Day, in 1962. Two picture books are worthy additions to his legacy.

A cold and snowy day has never been so cheery as in the delightful A Sled for Gabo, which contains a winning combination of picture and prose. Author Emma Otheguy’s rich text conveys both narrative and mood in an evocative but spare style, beginning with the opening spread: “The day it snowed Gabo followed the whistling sound of an old steam radiator into the kitchen.” Illustrator Ana Ramírez González paints the large, inviting kitchen in bright colors and includes a red table, a purple and orange stove, and walls covered in light blue paint and red, green and yellow tiles.

Gabo can’t wait to head outside to play, but he doesn’t have snow gear or a sled. His mother reassures him by saying, “Vamos a resolver”—Spanish words and phrases are skillfully sprinkled throughout the story—and equips her son with his father’s hat, multiple pairs of socks and plastic bags over his sneakers. With understated, matter-of-fact determination, she sends Gabo outside to solve his own problem.

Otheguy perfectly captures the meandering freedom of a child on the hunt for fun and adventure. Gabo, who is “much too shy for anyone just his age,” roams his lively neighborhood in search of a sled and encounters a variety of friendly adults, a stray cat and a frolicking dog. When one adult joyfully presents him with a cafeteria tray, Gabo can’t help feeling “very small and very sad” because he desperately wants a real sled. But before long, Gabo finds a new friend, a girl named Isa who quickly shows him that his tray will make an excellent sled.

Ramírez González bathes Gabo’s snowy outdoor world in warm tones. The sun gleams bright yellow, the houses sparkle with a multitude of colors, and reds, oranges and pinks burst forth from everything, including Gabo’s hat and his shoelaces. The illustrations accentuate how, in this welcoming neighborhood, everyone looks after one another—even the stray cat.

By the end of the day, Gabo has learned an important lesson about the joys of friendship and about sharing and making do with what you have. A Sled for Gabo’s friendly spirit will wrap itself around your heart like the warm helping of dulce de leche that Gabo and Isa share after their perfect day of sledding.

In Ten Ways to Hear Snow, a blizzard helps a young girl understand how her beloved grandmother copes with the difficulties of aging. Lina has been looking forward to making warak enab (stuffed grape leaves) with Sitti, her Lebanese grandmother. An evening snowstorm has left their city “muffled and white,” but that doesn’t stop Lini from heading to her grandmother’s nearby apartment.

Author Cathy Camper transforms Lina’s journey into a sparkling study of both keen observation and onomatopoeia. “Ploompf!” goes the powdery snow falling from a pine tree, and “swish-wish, swish-wish” is the sound of people brushing snow off their cars. Basking in every moment of this winter wonderland, Lina tallies nine different snowy sounds during her walk. Illustrator Kenard Pak’s images are full of muted tones and plenty of white space, which emphasizes the vast, quiet mood created by the newly fallen snow. His art sets the perfect stage for Lina to hear so many different and unfamiliar sounds.

Once Lina reaches her destination, the joy of her relationship with Sitti takes over the tale. Although Sitti is losing her eyesight, grandmother and granddaughter work side by side in her kitchen, filling grape leaves with lamb and rice. When Lina holds a grape leaf up to her nose and suggests that it looks like a mustache, a cheerful illustration shows the pair clowning around and taking selfies. Sitta may be getting older, but she remains independent, energetic and full of fun.

In a final, touching scene, Lina asks Sitti how she can see snow with her diminished eyesight, and the two discuss the importance of listening. Finally, hand in hand, they venture outside, where Sitti teaches her granddaughter one final way to hear snow. Ten Ways to Hear Snow is a quietly powerful story about the ways that both young and old can help each other adapt to a changing world, told with care and insight.

Tips for Teachers is a monthly column in which experienced teacher and children’s librarian Emmie Stuart shares book recommendations and a corresponding teaching guide for fellow elementary school teachers.

In September of 1940, a little more than a year before the United States entered World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered an address at the University of Pennsylvania on the occasion of its 300th anniversary. “We cannot always build the future for our youth,” he declared, “but we can build our youth for the future.”

We cannot create easy and utopian lives for our students, however much, as teachers, we might wish we could. But we must prepare students for the future by showing them how to be brave, responsible and compassionate. We must help them grow into thoughtful communicators, courageous leaders and gracious servants. One of the best ways we can do this is by introducing them to real people who, when they met with trials in their lives, held fast to their convictions.

These three books tell the stories of women who overcame challenges to make an impact on the world. But another, perhaps more important thread, also runs through each of these women’s lives: Their childhoods were shaped by the faithful encouragement and love of a caring adult. As you share these books with your students, remember that you, too, are building the future.

We Wait for the Sun
by Dovey Johnson Roundtree and Katie McCabe
illustrated by Raissa Figueroa 


Civil Rights activist Dovey Johnson Roundtree shares a childhood memory in We Wait for the Sun, recounting an early morning ritual she shared with her Grandma Rachel. “In the hour before dawn,” the pair slip into the cool night air and head to the forest where blackberries grow. Then, “as if by some secret signal,” other women appear and join in their “silent march” and “secret mission.” As they pick the berries, the women trade whispers and stories. When their buckets are brimming, Grandma Rachel pulls Roundtree into a hug and together they “watch the pink turn to red, the red to gold,” experiencing a glorious sunrise and the dawn of a new day together. We Wait for the Sun is a poignant tale that reveals the importance of noticing beauty in amid of suffering and captures the power of a grandmother’s love.

• Narratives of small moments

We Wait for the Sun relates Roundtree’s memory of a small moment in time. Read other books that zoom in on a small moment, then discuss how the authors use descriptive language to make the memory come alive. Find examples of sensory language in Roundtree’s text, and ask students to articulate how these words add depth to the memory.

Invite students to choose a moment from their own lives. After they have brainstormed and chosen a memory, guide them through the narrative writing process. Remind them to use both figurative and descriptive language and to address at least four of the senses to make their small moment memories as immersive as Roundtree’s early morning adventure.

• Historical context

Share portions of the book’s extensive back matter with students as well as resources that offer additional context for the courageous lives of Dovey Johnson Roundtree and her grandmother, Rachel Millis Bryant Graham. A bulwark in her community, Graham was sought out by activist and presidential advisor Mary McLeod Bethune, to whom Graham introduced her granddaughter. Read Eloise Greenfield and Jerry Pinkney’s Mary McLeod Bethune and discuss how these women drew strength from each other and empowered future generations.

• Metaphorical language

After learning more about Graham and Roundtree’s lives, give each student a slip of paper with the following passage from the book:

“The darkness isn’t anything to be afraid of, child. If you wait just a little, your eyes will learn how to see, and you can find your way. Hold on to my apron, now.”

Lead a discussion about metaphorical language to help students understand how Grandma Rachel’s words to her granddaughter are about more than their early morning walk. Ask students to identify how Grandma Rachel’s advice foreshadows Roundtree’s future.

Osnat and Her Dove
by Sigal Samuel
illustrated by Vali Mintzi

Osnat Barzani is born in 1590 in what is now Iraq, into a culture with rigid gender roles where people believe that reading is “for boys” and “girls spend their time on chores.” Yet young Barzani convinces her father, a rabbi who created a yeshiva, to teach her to read. When she marries, her husband encourages her studies, and soon Barzani begins teaching the Torah at the yeshiva. Eventually, after the deaths of both her father and her husband, Barzani becomes the leader of the yeshiva and the first female rabbi in history. Osnat and Her Dove is an inspiring story of a young Jewish hero, filled with wonderful cultural, religious and historical detail. It’s a testament to the power of knowledge and the importance of parental support.

•   Context clues

Using context to infer the meaning of unfamiliar words and concepts is a skill that students will use their entire lives. As you read Osnat and Her Dove aloud, record any new and unfamiliar words when you encounter them. After you finish reading, go down the list of words and help students find clues in the text and illustrations to make informed guesses about what they mean. In addition to vocabulary words in English, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian and Turkish used throughout the text, my students and I also enjoyed learning more about the geographic locations mentioned, including Amadiya, Mosul and Iraq.

• Folklore and facts

Samuel’s author’s note explains how she incorporated facts and historical writings with folk legends and popular tales to craft her narrative. Lead a class discussion about the difference between historical fiction and informational books. Ask students, “What can we learn from historical fiction books?” and “Why do you think authors choose historical fiction to tell the story of a real person’s life?” Read additional historical fiction picture books and invite children to discern fiction from facts. Older students can organize their findings in a “fact or fiction” T-chart graphic organizer.

Hold on to Your Music
by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen
adapted by Emil Sher
illustrated by Sonia Possentini

The story of author Mona Golabek’s mother, Lisa Jura, begins in Vienna, Austria, in 1938. Jura's piano teacher tells her that he is no longer allowed to give her lessons because she is Jewish. When she returns home, Jura’s parents explain that many Jewish people are being made to feel “that being Jewish is a crime.” Distraught and confused, Jura is comforted when her mother tells her, “Whatever tomorrow brings, Liseleh, you must always remember to hold on to your music.”

Soon Jura is sent to England via the Kindertransport, an organized evacuation of Jewish children from Europe, and ends up in a refugee hostel on Willesden Lane run by Mrs. Cohen. Encouraged by Mrs. Cohen and the other children, she continues to play the piano. Her practice and skill land her an audition at the renowned Royal Academy of Music, where she is accepted. At the end of the war, Jura performs in a recital in a large concert hall; as she takes her bow, she remembers her mother’s words and reflects, “I held on to my music and never let go.” Accessible and hopeful, Hold on to Your Music depicts the impact of both anti-Semitism and World War II on a young girl’s life and reminds us of the importance of persevering through uncertainty and hardship.

• Kindertransport

One of my favorite informational books of 2020 was Deborah Hopkinson’s We Had to Be Brave: Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport. Filled with personal accounts of young people whose lives were saved by the Kindertransport, it provides important historical context to Jura’s experience.

Show older students the first 30 minutes of Mark Jonathan Harris’ Academy Award-winning documentary Into the Arms of Strangers, which was made with the cooperation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and is narrated by Judi Dench. As you read firsthand accounts from Hopkinson’s book aloud, ask students to write down facts and insights they gain as they listen. Next, ask students to synthesize the information in their notes by incorporating it into a letter they imagine a child might write to their parents about their experiences during the Kindertransport.

• Something to hold onto

Jura’s music was a source of encouragement for Lisa and the other Willesden children. It was also her personal passion and became her career. Ask students to reflect on something that brings them joy. Give them time to journal their thoughts to the following prompts:

• What is an activity that brings you joy?
• How do you feel when you are engaged in this activity?
• How does it lift your spirits?
• What are some things you can do in the future to make sure you “hold on” to this thing?

Extend the activity by inviting students to consider how they can make their dreams a reality. Give them time to consider a personal or career ambition. What would it take for them to accomplish this goal? While students journal and plan, play The Children of Willesden Lane, an album that collects many of the musical pieces that inspired Jura when she was young.

Two picture book biographies introduce environmentalists who dedicated their lives to protecting environments they held dear, from the tops of the trees to a beautiful beach.

The Leaf Detective: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets in the Rainforest is the story of a leaf-loving little girl who grew up to become “Canopy Meg,” the woman who became a pioneering researcher of rainforests and began the process of educating the world on why and how we should all love them.

Author Heather Lang was inspired by both her subject, with whom she briefly traveled, and her own time spent among the trees. Lang’s text is rich with metaphor and personification as it conveys turning points in Lowman’s life, including her invention of a treetop canopy walkway that made the upper levels of the forest more accessible for close-up study. Sprinkled throughout the narrative are quotations from Canopy Meg herself, as well as valuable contextual asides that float on leaves as though they’re drifting away from the primary text.

Jana Christy’s stunning illustrations of the rainforest foliage are appropriately lush and vibrant, brimming with cool-toned greens and blues. This is artwork you’ll want to fall into face-first, as Christy uses striking close-ups and unusual angles to put the reader right into the forest. Streaming sunlight and deep shadows emphasize life at every layer of the dense canopy, and lifelike birds, bugs, reptiles and mammals offer glimpses into the rainforest’s dynamic ecosystem. On many pages, small sketches fill white space, illustrating specific elements of Lowman’s experiences with the feel of a researcher’s notebook. 

The book’s back matter is as excellent as the primary narrative. It includes a lengthy author’s note, a hefty bibliography and a vertical spread that illustrates the layers of a rainforest, which is worth the cost of admission all by itself. The Leaf Detective is a wonderful introduction to a scientist who discovered her life’s passion by looking up. 

Like Lowman, MaVynee Betsch was also shaped by the natural world—in her case, by the sights and sounds of a very special beach. In Saving American Beach: The Biography of African American Environmentalist MaVynee Betsch, author Heidi Tyline King tells the story of this determined woman and the land that inspired her. 

Betsch’s great-grandfather, Abraham Lincoln Lewis, purchased the land that became American Beach during a time when many beaches were segregated. Black families were welcome to enjoy Lewis’ beach, and it soon became a lively place full of music, community and fun. After Betsch enjoyed a successful career as an opera singer, she returned to Florida and made preserving the land and history of American Beach her life’s work. 

With brushstrokes that conjure the motion of ocean waves, Caldecott Honor illustrator Ekua Holmes evokes the warm nostalgia of summers spent among a loving community. Her collage illustrations incorporate ephemera such as music notes, old maps, opera tickets, flyers and newsprint, subtly and thoughtfully weaving tangible reminders of the past into scenes of brightly dressed people playing on the golden sand.

King’s text is descriptive and detailed, lyrical and full of striking turns of phrase, such as the beach’s “blue sky stretching to forever.” Concluding notes from both the author and the illustrator add historical context to the narrative and expand on the legacy Betsch left behind when she died in 2005. Saving American Beach is an exquisite and moving tribute to Betsch and the land she treasured.