Special Collections
Caldecott Award Winners
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Rain Drop Splash
by Alvin TresseltWith this classic picture book, young readers can follow the course of a heavy rain as it drenches people and animals and changes the landscape below.
Drummer Hoff
by Barbara EmberleyIn this poem seven soldiers create a cannon, but Drummer Hoff has the last chance to "fire it off" Winner of the 1968 Caldecott Medal
Duke Ellington
by Andrea Davis PinkneyEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, "King of the Keys," was born on April 29, 1899, in Washington, D.C. "He was a smooth-talkin', slick-steppin', piano-playin' kid," writes master wordsmith Andrea Pinkney in the rhythmic, fluid, swinging prose of this excellent biography for early readers. It was ragtime music that first "set Duke's fingers to wiggling." He got back to work and taught himself to "press on the pearlies." Soon 19-year-old Duke was playing compositions "smoother than a hairdo sleeked with pomade" at parties, pool halls, country clubs, and cabarets. Skipping from D.C. to 1920s Harlem, "the place where jazz music ruled," Duke and his small band called the Washingtonians began performing in New York City clubs, including the Cotton Club, where Duke Ellington and his Orchestra was officially born.
Martin's Big Words
by Doreen RappaportThis picture book biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. brings his life and the profound nature of his message to young children through his own words. Martin Luther King, Jr. , was one of the most influential and gifted speakers of all time. Doreen Rappaport uses quotes from some of his most beloved speeches to tell the story of his life and his work in a simple, direct way. A timeline and a list of additional books and web sites help make this a standout biography of Dr. King.
Winner of the Caldecott Honor
Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Winner
In the Night Kitchen
by Maurice SendakClassic dreamlike children's tale of a boy's nighttime cooking adventures.
The Spider and the Fly
by Tony Diterlizzi and Mary HowittA New Version of an Old Story first appeared in The New Years in 1829 and five years later in Mary Howitts Sketches of Natural History. Teaches a moral - Not everyone who talks sweetly offers sweets.
Dick Whittington and His Cat
by Marcia BrownThis a the well-loved tale of the London waif whose cat's prowess as a ratter results in Dick's becoming a successful merchant and Lord Mayor of London.
Winner of the Caldecott Honor
Swamp Angel
by Anne Isaacs and Paul O. ZelinskySwamp Angel can lasso a tornado, and drink an entire lake dry. She single-handedly defeats the fearsome bear known as Thundering Tarnation, wrestling him from the top of the Great Smoky Mountains to the bottom of a deep lake.
Caldecott Medal-winning artist Paul O. Zelinsky's stunning folk-art paintings are the perfect match for the irony, exaggeration, and sheer good humor of this original tall tale set on the American frontier.
A Caldecott Honor Book
An ALA Notable Book
A Time magazine Best Book of the Year
A New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year
Winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters
by John SteptoeThe king is going to marry. Mufaro has two very beautiful daughters. One is kind and considerate, the other selfish and spoiled. Which daughter will be chosen "The Most Worthy and Beautiful Daughter in the Land"? Which daughter will the king choose to be his wife?
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
April's Kittens
by Clare Turlay Newberry(Book has picture descriptions) Many children understand April's dilemma when her cat, Sheba, has three kittens. April is thrilled until her father insists that theirs is strictly a one-cat household. April must give up three cats, but which ones? The aptly named Charcoal? Tiger-striped Butch? Sweet-faced Brenda? -- or even Sheba? How April eventually comes up with the perfect solutions makes for a heartwarming story that has appealed to many young cat lovers and will continue to delight generations of children everywhere.
The Big Snow
by Berta Hader and Elmer HaderFrom the book: WHEN the geese begin to fly south, the leaves flutter down from the trees and the cold winds begin to blow from the north, the animals of the woods and meadows, big and small, prepare for the long, cold winter ahead when the countryside is hidden under a deep blanket of snow. They gather food and look for warm, snug places in the ground, trees, caves or thickets, where they can find protection against the icy winds. It might have been hard for the birds and animals of the hillside to survive when the Big Snow came if their good friends, who lived in the little stone house, had not remembered to put food out for them. 1949 Caldecott Medal winner.
A Child's Calendar
by John UpdikeA collection of twelve poems describing the activities in a child's life and the changes in the weather as the year moves from January to December.
Winner of the Caldecott Honor
Castle
by David MacaulayThe word itself conjures up mystery, romance, intrigue, and grandeur. What could be more perfect for an author/illustrator who has continually stripped away the mystique of architectural structures that have long fascinated modern man?
With typical zest and wry sense of humor punctuating his drawings, David Macaulay traces the step-by-step planning and construction of both castle and town.
The Treasure
by Uri ShulevitzA poor man, inspired by a recurring dream, journeys to a far city to look for a treasure, only to be told to go home and find it.
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts for grades 2-3 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
The Right Word
by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet2015 Caldecott Honor Book
2015 Sibert Medal Winner
For shy young Peter Mark Roget, books were the best companions -- and it wasn't long before Peter began writing his own book. But he didn't write stories; he wrote lists. Peter took his love for words and turned it to organizing ideas and finding exactly the right word to express just what he thought. His lists grew and grew, eventually turning into one of the most important reference books of all time.
Readers of all ages will marvel at Roget's life, depicted through lyrical text and brilliantly detailed illustrations. This elegant book celebrates the joy of learning and the power of words.
Coyote
by Gerald McdermottCoyote, who has a nose for trouble, insists that the crows teach him how to fly, but the experience ends in disaster for him.
Andy and the Lion
by James DaughertyWhen Andy goes to the library, he checks out a book about lions. Suddenly, lions are everywhere! A charming story. This file should make an excellent embossed braille copy.
The Glorious Flight
by Alice Provensen and Martin ProvensenA biography of the man whose fascination with flying machines produced the Blériot XI which crossed the English Channel in thirty-seven minutes in the early 1900s.
A Pocketful of Cricket
by Rebecca Caudill"Chee! Chee!" Inside Jay's dark pocket Cricket began fiddling. The talking stopped. Everybody listened. A Caldecott Honor classic that celebrates friendship and new experiences-back in print on its 40th anniversary. One afternoon late in August, before the start of a new school year, Jay finds Cricket. Cricket fits just right in small spaces-like under a tea strainer or in Jay's very own pocket-and Cricket makes the most exciting sounds. But what happens when it's time to go back to school? Will Cricket come too? Forty years after its original publication, this charming tale continues to capture the imaginative world of a child.
When I was Young in the Mountains
by Cynthia RylantA story about the childhood reminiscences of growing up in the Appalachian Mountains & the pleasures in life.
America's Ethan Allen
by Stewart H. HolbrookThis book presents the life and legends of Colonel Ethan Allen and Green Mountain boys of the American Revolution.
If I Ran the Zoo
by Dr SeussYoung Gerald McGrew imagines the animals he'd have in the zoo if he were in charge.
The Judge
by Harve ZemachA horrible thing is coming this way Creeping closer day by day-- Its eyes are scary, Its tail is hairy... I tell you, Judge, we all better pray! Anxious prisoner after anxious prisoner echoes and embellishes this cry, but always in vain. The fiery old Judge, impatient with such foolish nonsense, calls them scoundrels, ninnyhammers, and throws them all in jail. But in the end, Justice is done--and the Judge is gone. Head first! Harve Zemach's cumulative verse tale is so infectious that children won't be able to avoid memorizing it. And Margot Zemach's hilarious pictures are brimming with vitality as well as color.
Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present
by Charlotte ZolotowThe heroine of this book has a problem. And at first it does not look as though Mr. Rabbit is going to be much help in solving it. For everyone knows you cannot give your mother a red roof, a yellow taxi-cab, a green caterpillar, or a blue lake for her birthday. But then all the little girl had said was that her mother liked red, yellow, green, and blue--and so Mr. Rabbit was trying.
Knuffle Bunny Too
by Mo WillemsTrixie hurries to school to show off her one-of-a-kind Knuffle Bunny. But an awful surprise awaits her; someone else has the same bunny! Filled with hilarious illustrations, this is a wonderfully true story that will have the whole family laughing.