The Matzah that Papa Brought Home by Fran Manushkin
This story builds from each page. Papa brought the matzah home and Mama made a feast called seder dinner for Passover. It talks about what seder is. The little girl asks the “Four Questions” and they eat matzah ball soup and dip the bitter herbs. They sing a long song called the “Dayenu” and counted the ten plagues while they dipped their pinkies in wine. The litter girl finds the afikomen from the matzah and opened the door for the prophet Elijah. Next year they would like to celebrate Passover in Jeruselum. The last three pages were all about the history of Passover and all of the definitions of words like dayenu and afikomen and seder. This book gives Jewish children something to relate to and children of other religions an insight into a different religion and holiday.
First Strawberries: A Cherokee Story by Joseph Bruchac
Man and women were created to never be alone. The woman was out picking flowers one day instead of preparing a meal. The husband got mad and she decided to leave him. The sun decided to help the man tell her he was sorry for being angry. The sun shown its light on raspberries, blueberries, blackberries but she did not stop because she was angry. Finally, the sun made strawberries appear at her feet and she stopped, ate and picked them to give to her husband. Then man caught up and apologized and she gave him strawberries and that is how strawberries came into the world. Whenever Cherokees eat strawberries they are reminded to be kind to one another.
I Hate English! By Ellen Levine
Mei Mei and her family moved to Chinatown, NY from Hong Kong. She was smart in her old school but now she has to learn English. Each letter makes its own noise, unlike Chinese where she loved the strokes. She never spoke English in school even though she understood her teacher. Her cousin Bing took her to Chinatown Learning Center but wouldn’t work in English, only Chinese and she helped with arithmetic. She played games and sang songs and wrote letters all in Chinese. She would always dream about going on a plane to Hong Kong but instead they went to Jones Beach and spoke in Chinese. They dug up shellfish and ate them. One day Nancy came and helped Mei Mei with English and they read a story about a boy who lived in NY and his family wanted to move to Cali but she started crying because she didn’t know what a covered wagon was. At night, she was afraid of loosing something and her mother said goodnight and she said it too only in English. The next day Mei Mei was mad at Nancy and she told her that she thinks its too bad that she doesn’t want to learn English because everything in America happens in English. Nancy then took Mei Mei on a walk and Nancy told her about her life all in English. All of a sudden Mei Mei burst out and talked about her life in English and Children’s day in Hong Kong. And to this day Mei Mei talks in Chinese and English whenever she wants.
Mr. Lincoln’s Way by Patricia Polacco
Mr. Lincoln is the principal at an elementary school. Eugene “Mean Gene” Esterhouse hates him and bullies other kids on the playground. One day Mr. Lincoln shows Eugene a book about birds because he saw him admiring a cardinal. Eugene said his grampa taught him a lot about birds when he lived on his farm. Mr. Lincoln decides to create a bird atrium to help Eugune with his behavior. It attracted many birds and Eugene carried the book around everywhere to help him identify the birds. A couple days later, Mr. Lincoln called Eugene into his office because he made racial comments because his father didn’t like him hanging around Mr. Lincoln a lot because he was African American. Mr. Lincoln says he cares for the birds all the same, despite their color, and Eugene promises he will never use racial comments again. A couple days later the mallard duck eggs began to hatch but they need to come up with a plan to put them near a pond. Eugene and Mr. Lincoln lure them into the river where the ducks go into the water safely. His grandpa came to see if the ducks made it safely and Eugene asks if he can visit him and he say’s we’ll sure see.
Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China Ed- Young
A good woman lived with her daughters Shang, Tao and Paotze in northern China. One day, she had to leave to visit Granny for her birthday and told the girls to close the door tight at sunset and latch it. The wolf saw the mother leave and dressed as an old woman and told them it was their grandmother, Po Po. They told the wolf that their mother came to see her and asked why she came so late and why her voice is so low. She said she caught a cold and they let the wolf in and it blew the candle out. They all got into bed with the wolf and Shang asked why she had a bush on its foot and the wolf said he brought hemp string to weave baskets. Shang lit the light on the wolf but he blew it out but she saw his face and knew it was a wolf so she asked if he would like Gingko nuts which would make you live forever. The girls said they would pick some for her on the top of the tree outside and they all climbed to the top and hid from the wolf. The wolf asked where they were and they said the only way the nuts will work is if he climbs to the top so she told him to get a basket and rope and they will pull him to the top. First Shang tried to pull him to the top but dropped him, then Shang and Tao but dropped him again and then all three tried but dropped him at the very top where he broke his heart. The next day their mother returned home with food from their real Po Po and told her the story.
Unhei was going to her first day of school in America from Korea. Her grandmother gave her an inkpad with her name on it in a red satin pouch. On the bus, the kids were trying to pronounce her name, “You, hey!” She was scared to go into the classroom so a boy brought her into Mr. Cocotos room and he introduced her to the class but she said she didn’t know her name yet. When she got home from school she told her mother she wanted an American name because its hard to pronounce. They went shopping at Kim’s Market, which was Korean and got kimchi and seaweed. Mr. Kim asked if her name meant grace and she said yes and her mother and grandmother went to a name master for it. When she went to class the next day there was a jar with different names the children picked out for her to choose from. At the end of the day she met Joey and she showed him her name on the inkpad and he kept the paper. Everyday the names got added to the jar and one day she got a letter from her grandmother. On Saturday she saw Joey at Mr. Kim’s store but she didn’t know why he was there. On Monday, the name jar was gone but there was a piece of paper on her desk. Everyone was looking until she decided she was going to tell the class her name and wrote it in both English and Korean. After school, Joey came to her house and gave her the name jar back because he wanted her to keep her own name. He said she should add Korean nicknames for everyone in the jar and then said Mr. Kim gave him a nickname. He pulled out a silver pouch with an inkpad that read “chinku” or friend.
*All pictures from amazon.com
One Candle By Eve Bunting
This book is narrated by a little Jewish girl on the first night of Hanukkah. After sunset, they light one candle in the menorah, say special prayers and take their places at the table and eat. After they eat, her mother says its time and Grandma begins hollowing a potato. Even though everyone has heard this story before, this story is Hanukkah to them. It happened when Grandma and Great Aunt Rose were separated from their families and put into Buchenwald, Germany which was a concentration camp. Rose was 13 and Grandma was 12 and worked in the kitchens to cook for the officers. The girls were starving and when they knew Hanukkah was coming, they would smuggle some food out. The day before Hanukkah, they stole a potato. When she brought the potato back to the barracks where they lived with 7 other women, Grandma hollowed out the potato and put one candle in it for Hanukkah. She twisted threads and poured oil in the potato just as she did in the Holocaust. The narrator put the candle next to the burnt out menorah and they turned off the lights and went outside. The candle is to remind them to be strong in the bad times and remembering it in the good times. Sweet wine and grape juice was passed around and they cheers and said Lchayim, to life!
Merry Christmas Mom and Dad By Mercer Mayer
Narrator made a wreath for his mom and dad. He wanted to make cookies, find a present, wrap a present, pick out a Christmas tree, carry christmas balls, tried to go to sleep all for his parents but everything he tried, it got ruined. At the end, he didn't want to wake his parents up too early, so he brought his presents upstairs to show his parents.
The Legend of the Indian Painbrush by Tomie DePaola
Whoever You Are By Mem Fox
Jin Woo By Eve Bunting
A young boy, Little Gopher, is encouraged in his art to paint after he receives a vision through a dream. This tale tells how the sunset is created through the art of this boy, later a man, using a white buckskin canvas and the various flowers (Indian paintbrush) available in his area, which he had not previously been able to achieve. The story tells how Indian paintbrush came to grow in the southwestern United States.
This book is about how children all over the world have differences such as color, race, education, homes. However, every child shares a common ground. Every child loves, laughs, smiles, and cries.
David’s parents are adopting a baby from Korea named Jin Woo. David doesnt like the idea of having another brother in the family because he likes the family the way its always been. Since a lot of attention is given to Jin Woo, David feels like no one loves or cares for him anymore. However, his mother has written a letter to David from Jin Woo's point of view, which explains to David that although there is a new baby in the family, he is still loved unconditionally. After the letter, David tries harder to help take care of Jin Woo.
*All pictures from amazon.com
