Book Finder

Silvey’s years of experience reading, evaluating, and publishing children’s books combines with her passion for literature that endures over time and generations comes together in this insightful glimpses at 100 books. These are both time-tested and modern classics that have and will continue to delight children from birth to about 12 years. Intriguing stories about the books and their creators are included with each short, descriptive essay. Additional titles are suggested as is a suggestion to keep a reading journal.

Giving students opportunities to read like mathematicians as they explore content has the potential to move their thinking and understandings in monumental ways. Each chapter presented in this volume provides readers with approaches and activities for pairing a young adult novel with specific mathematics concepts. Chapters include several instructional activities for before, during, and after reading as well as extension activities that move beyond the text as students continue to develop mathematical literacy.

In her introduction, Silvey asserts that “Children’s Books change lives. [This book] provides insight into how they do this.” The organization suggests how books have touched people (e.g. in career later choice or developing a deeper understanding). An excerpt, a bit of background, and the cover of each book discussed are included with each essay. Contributors represent a wide range of fields from science to business to well known children’s book creators. This fascinating glimpse at the power of literature is sure to inspire, intrigue, and inform.

This well-researched book is a lively cultural history of the Western Publishing Company and their bold WWII experiment to create affordable books for children. Learn, too, about the exceptionally talented writers and illustrators who helped create such a memorable series.

Using original source material, letters, and interviews with people who knew her, Marcus creates a compelling picture of the unusual woman who re-invented children’s picture books, especially with her enduring classics, The Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon.

This thoroughly researched and compelling history looks at the editors, authors, librarians, and booksellers who helped answer the provocative and centuries-old question: What should children read? Discover how landmark children’s books like The New England Primer, The Cat in the Hat, and The Chocolate Wars helped define children, families, and the culture of their times.

Conversations with families provide insight and information into how books are created and the intergenerational impact of illustrating and writing them. From the Rockwells, the Crews/Jonas family, the Pinkneys, the Myers’, and the Hurds – talent seems to run in the family!

Persepolis is an autobiography by Marjane Satrapi that depicts her childhood up to her early adult years in Iran and Austria during and after the Islamic Revolution. Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. 

This work is a captivating account of how photography evolved from labor-intensive daguerreotypes in the mid-1800s to one of the most popular hobbies and respected art forms in the world today. Brimming with black-and-white and color photographs from throughout its multifaceted history, this volume not only documents technological developments, but also the phenomenal effect the craft has had upon journalism, industry, science, medicine, the military, and beyond. Featuring the accomplishments of pioneers such as Louis Daguerre, George Eastman, Julia Margaret Cameron, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Margaret Bourke-White, and others, Photography: An Illustrated History presents an engaging history of photography through some of the most spectacular images ever captured on film.

This is the magnificent tale of a twelfth-century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible: build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.

Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea is a black-and-white graphic novel by the Canadian Québécois author Guy Delisle. The novel details the months Delisle spent in Pyongyang while working for a French animation company.

The newly revised Third Edition of Reading for Understanding: How Reading Apprenticeship Improves Disciplinary Learning in Secondary and College Classrooms is the latest iteration of the landmark book in the field of adolescent literacy. The book contains strategies for boosting the reading independence of middle, secondary, and college students.

Research conducted by the National Science Foundation, the Institute of Education Sciences, and the Office of Innovation and Improvement has validated the model taught in Reading for Understanding, demonstrating its effectiveness in raising students’ reading achievement levels.

For older, horror-loving teens: a blank-verse horror tale about werewolves in Los Angeles.

Six Words Fresh Off the Boat marries the phenomenon of Larry Smith’s successful Six-Word Memoirs with ABC and 20th Century Fox Television’s hit comedy Fresh Off the Boat. The book captures hundreds of takes on the immigration experience, from every-day people as well as world-famous celebrities including Aziz Ansari, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Julianne Moore, Mario Batali, George Takei, Neil Gaiman, Amanda Palmer, Billy Collins, Junot Diaz, Lac Su, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta. This book will have you thinking in sixes and challenging others to share six words about their lives.

Are the wealthiest people in America the happiest? Nick Carraway seems to think so until he gets involved with his rich neighbors, including the mysterious Jay Gatsby. Through Nick’s love interest Jordan, and his budding friendship with Jay, Nick discovers that Gatsby’s world is filled with love, betrayal and murder. 

Celebrities Ellen DeGeneres, Jennifer Aniston, Tim McGraw, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and others contribute suggestions of small changes you can make daily to have a positive impact on the health of our planet. Learn how you too can live green!

Langston Hughes famous poem, The Negro Speaks of Rivers, speaks to his life and the broader African-American experience. Illustrator E.B. Lewis pays tribute to his words using beautiful watercolor images.