Picture Books for Third - Eight Graders

FICTION AHLBERG, A.	The Runaway Dinner by Allan Ahlberg. A young boy named Banjo Cannon always eats a sausage for dinner, until the night that his sausage—and the rest of his meal—runs away.
FICTION ALEXANDER, L.	Dream-of-Jade: the Emperor’s Cat by Lloyd Alexander. Follows the adventures of a Chinese cat who became the emperor’s good friend and advisor.
FICTION BERNASCONI, P	Captain Arsenio: Inventions and (Mis) Adventures in Flight by Pablo Bernasconi. Pages from the recently discovered diary of Captain Manuel J. Arsenio, in which are recorded his many failed attempts to create a flying machine, starting in the 1780s with the Motocanary, progressing through the Aerial Submarine, the Hamstertronic, and three other disasters.
FICTION BORDEN, L	Across the Blue Pacific: a World War II Story by Louise Borden. A woman reminisces about her neighbor’s son who was the object of a letter writing campaign by some fourth-graders when he went away to war in 1943.
FICTION BORDEN, L	Sleds on Boston Common: a Story from the American Revolution by Louise Borden. Henry complains to the royal governor, General Gage, after his plan to sled down the steep hill at Boston Common is thwarted by the masses of British troops camped there.
FICTION DEEDY, C	The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark by Carmen Agra Deedy. Retells the story of King Christian X and the Danish resistance to the Nazis during World War II.
FICTION GEORGE, J	Luck by Jean Craighead George. A young sandhill crane, Luck, finds his place in the ancient crane migration from northern Canada to the Platte River. After a girl saves his life, Luck begins the long migration north to Siberia with his parents.
FICTION GREGORICH, B	Waltur Buys a Pig in a Poke: and Other Stories by Barbara Gregorich. Two bears, Waltur and Darwin, learn from their friend Matilda such lessons as “do not buy a pig in a poke” and “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.”
FICTION HARRIS, M	Wake the Dead by Monica A. Harris. Although he has been warned that he will wake the dead, Henry continues to make too much noise until the warning comes true, and then he must find a way to help the dead rest in peace again.
FICTION HESSE, K	The Cats in Krasinski Square by Karen Hesse. Two Jewish sisters, escapees of the infamous Warsaw ghetto, devise a plan to thwart an attempt by the Gestapo to intercept food bound for starving people behind the dark Wall.
FICTION HOPKINSON, D	Sky Boys: How they Built the Empire State Building by Deborah Hopkinson. In 1931, a boy and his father watch as the world’s tallest building, the Empire State Building, is constructed, step-by-step, near their Manhattan home.
FICTION KELLY, J	The Mystery of Eatum Hall by John Kelly. Mr. and Mrs. Pork-Fowler are invited to spend a weekend of gourmet dining at a spooky castle where their host, Mr. Hunter, is anxious to “meat” them.
FICTION KIMMEL, E	Blackbeard’s Last Fight by Eric A. Kimmel. In 1718, off the coast of North Carolina, a young cabin boy assists in the final capture and execution of Blackbeard the pirate.
FICTION LEE, M	Landed by Milly Lee. After leaving his village in southeastern China, twelve-year-old Sun is held at Angel Island , San Francisco, before being released to join his father, a merchant living in the area. Includes historical notes.
FICTION LUDWIG, T.	Just Kidding by Trudy Ludwig. With help from his father, older brother, and teacher, D.J. learns how to handle a classmate who claims that his mean-spirited “teasing” is just a joke.
FCITION MACKALL, D.	Rudy Rides the Rails: a Depression Era Story by Dandi Daley Mackall. In 1932, during the Depression in Ohio, thirteen-year-old Rudy, determined to help his family weather the hard times, hops a train going west to California and experiences the hobo life.
FICTION MCCULLY, E.	The Escape of Oney Judge by Emily Arnold McCully. Young Oney Judge risks everything to escape a life of slavery in the household of George and Martha Washington and to make her own way as a free black woman.
FICTION MCGOVERN, A	The Lady in the Box by Ann McGovern. When Lizzie and Ben discover a homeless lady living in their neighborhood, they must reconcile their desire to help her with their mother’s admonition not to talk to strangers.
FICTION MILES, V.	Old Mother Bear by Victoria Miles. A twenty-four-year-old grizzly bear gives birth to her last litter of cubs, then spends three years teaching them what they need to know to survive in their southern British Columbia home before they go off on their own. Includes facts about grizzlies and the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary.
FICTION MUTH, J	The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth. Nikolai asks his animal friends to help him answer three important questions: “When is the best time to do things?” “Who is the most important?” and “What is the right thing to do?”
FICTION NEGRON, R.	The Boy of Steel: a Baseball Dream Come True by Ray Negron. A young boy stricken with cancer has his dream come true when he gets to be a Yankee batboy for a day.
FICTION NESBIT, E.	Lionel and the Book of Beasts by Edith Nesbit. As young King Lionel turns the pages of his magical book, a hungry red dragon and other creatures in the illustrations come to life.
FICTION NOBLE, T	The Scarlet Stockings Spy by Trinka Hakes Noble. In 1777 Philadelphia, young Maddy Rose spies for General Washington’s army by using an unusual code to communicate with her soldier brother.
FICTION OMALLEY, K	Mount Olympus Basketball by Kevin O’Malley. Zeus, Hera, Athene, Poseidon, and Hades pull some dirty tricks as they face of against Hercules, Jason, Odysseus, Achilles, and Theseus in this gods versus mortals basketball game in ancient Greece.
FICTION PINKNEY, A	Peggony Po: a Whale of a Tale by Andrea Davis Pinkney. Peggony-Po, carved out of wood by his father, a one-legged whaler, determines to catch the huge whale that ate his father’s leg.
FICTION POLACCO, P	The Butterfly by Patricia Polacco. During the Nazi occupation of France, Monique’s mother hides a Jewish family in her basement and tries to help them escape to freedom.
FICTION RAPPAPORT, D	The Secret Seder by Doreen Rappaport. During the Nazi occupation of France, a boy and his father slip out of their village and into the mountains, where they join a group of fellow Jews at a humble seder table.
EASY RAVEN, M	Angels in the Dust by Margot Theis Raven. Great Grandma Annie reminisces about life on her family’s Oklahoma farm during the terrible drought of the 1930s when the region was known as the “Dust Bowl.”
FICTION RAVEN, M	Circle Unbroken: the Story of a Basket and Its People by Margot Theis Raven. A grandmother tells the tale of Gullahs and their beautiful sweetgrass baskets that keep their African heritage alive.
FICTION SHANNON, D	How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball by David Shannon. After Boss outlaws baseball in America, spring stops coming—until a young boy beats the tyrant at his own game.
FICTION SHANNON, G	The Secret Chicken Club by George Shannon. Debbie, a dancing cow, is anxious to join Wise Acres farm’s Secret Chicken Club.
FICTION SHULMAN, M	Mom and Dad Are Palindromes: a Dilemma for Words—Backwards by Mark Shulman. When Bob realizes that he is surrounded by palindromes, from his mom, dad, and sis Anna to his dog Otto, he discovers a way to deal with the palindrome puzzle.
FICTION WEATHERFORD, C	Freedom on the Menu: the Greensboro Sit-Ins by Carole Boston Weatherford. The 1960 civil rights sit-ins at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, are seen through the eyes of a young Southern Black girl.
FICTION WILLIAMS, M	Brothers in Hope: the Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan by Mary Williams. Eight-year-old Garang, orphaned by a civil war in Sudan, finds the inner strength to help lead other boys as they trek hundreds of miles seeking safety in Ethiopia, then Kenya, and finally in the United States.
FICTION WINTER, J.	The 39 Apartments of Ludwig Van Beethoven by Jonah Winter. Ludwig van Beethoven and his five legless pianos keep moving from one apartment to another when his neighbors complain about the noise.
FICTION YIN	Coolies by Yin. A young boy hears the story of his great-great-great-grandfather and his brother who came to the United States to make a better life for themselves helping to build the transcontinental railroad.
FICTION ZEE, R	Mississippi Morning by Ruth Vander Zee. Amidst the economic depression and the racial tension of the 1930s, a boy discovers a horrible secret of his father’s involvement in the Ku Klux Klan.