By Marilyn Nelson
Illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering

A Carle Museum "Top of the Shelf" Book.
Click here to read our book review.

Abba Jacob is a monk who lives on a faraway island with his loyal rat terrier, Snook. Every day, from the week hours of dawn till the sun sets over the sea, Snook keeps Abba Jacob company as he prays and works, tending the gardens or fixing the plumbing of the little hermitage he calls home. But when the two are separated by a ferocious storm, Snook must learn to fend for himself in the wild, all alone in a world both fierce and wonderful. Will he ever hear the loving voice he waits for?

Simply and lyrically told by award-winning poet Marilyn Nelson and beautifully illustrated with wit and warmth by Timothy Basil Ering, this moving, evocative tale of friendship conveys the power of faith against all odds.

By Jane Yolen
Illustrated by David Small

A Carle Museum "Top of the Shelf" Book.
Click here to read our book review.

Elsie is a city girl. She loves the noise of the cobbled streets of Boston. But when her mother dies and her father moves them to the faraway prairies of Nebraska, Elsie hears only the silence, and she feels alone in the wide sea of grass. Her only comfort is her canary, Timmy Tune. His songs fill her quiet days. But when Timmy flies out the window, Elsie is forced to run after him, into the tall grass, where she's finally able to hear the voice of the prairie - the sweet sounds of birds and wind and grass - and she begins to feel at home.

By Gordon Titcomb
Illustrated by Wendell Minor

A Carle Museum "Top of the Shelf" Book.
Click here to read our book review.

Based on a song by the acclaimed musician Gordon Titcomb, this is a hauntingly beautiful tribute to a bygone era when everyone traveled by train. Titcomb's lyrics are evenly matched by Wendell Minor's sumptuous paintings. The Last Train is a book for train lovers, American History buffs, and everyone else.

By Tomie DePaola

A Carle Museum "Top of the Shelf" Book.
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With sensitivity and humor, Tomie dePaola shares recollections of life during World War II in this emotional addition to the Newbery Honor-winning 26 Fairmount Avenue series.

By Jonah Winter
Illustrated by Red Nose Studio

Before everyone recycled...There was a town that had 3,168 tons of garbage and nowhere to put it. What did they do? Enter the Garbage Barge! This mostly true and completely stinky story is sure to make you say "Pee-yew!"

By Lois Lowry
Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline

A Carle Museum "Top of the Shelf" Book.
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Drawn from her own personal experience as a child, two-time Newbery medalist Lois Lowry has crafted a story about the power of longing and one girl's connection wither her father, who has just returned from the war. In her first picture book, Lois Lowry pairs with acclaimed artist Bagram Ibatoulline to deliver a timeless story about the power of a very special relationship.

By Laban Carrick Hill
Illustrated by Bryan Collier

Dave was an extraordinary artist, poet, and potter who lived in South Carolina in the 1800s. He combined his superb artistry with deeply observant poetry, carved onto his pots, transcending the limitations he faced as a slave. In this inspiring and lyrical portrayal, National Book Award Finalist Laban Carrick Hill and award-winning artist Bryan Collier tell Dave's remarkable story, on rich in history, hope, and long-lasting beauty.

By Richard Michelson
Illustrated by R.G. Roth

Brewster is excited about starting first grade...until Mama announces that he'll be attending Central - a school in the white part of town. Mama says they have art and music and a library bursting with books, but Brewster isn't so sure he'll fit in.

Being black at a white school isn't easy, and Brewster winds up spending his first day in detention at the library. But there he meets a very special person: Miss O'Grady. The librarian sees into Brewster's heart and gives him not only the gift of books, but also the ability to believe in himself. This powerful and tender story of desegregation in the 1970s introduces readers to the brave young heroes who helped to build a new world.

By Rita Williams-Garcia

Set during one of the most tumultuous years in recent American history, ONE CRAZY SUMMER is the heartbreaking, funny tale of three girls in search of the mother who abandoned them - an unforgettable story told by a distinguished author of books of children and teens.

By Patricia Polacco

A Carle Museum "Top of the Shelf" Book.
Click here to read our book review.

In the middle of the dark night, the Crosswhites - including young Sadie - flee the Kentucky plantation they slave on, leaving everything they own behind, including the wooden sparrow January carved for Sadie. Dear January has been beaten and probably killed by the plantation master. They fear who may be next. Across the Ohio River and traveling the Underground Railroad, they make the slow and arduous journey north to Marshall, Michigan, where finally they are free! Or are they? The fear of slave catchers hangs over them, and one day a mysterious package shows up on their doorstep. Sadie's toy sparrow! And a note that says, "I found you." How the Crosswhite family and the whole town of Marshall face slave catchers in their midnight attack and stand up heroically for what is right is brought to stunning life in art and words by the great storyteller Patricia Polacco.

By Andrea Davis Pinkney
Illustrated by Brian Pinkney

Since he was a young boy in Navasota, Texas, Alvin Ailey loved to stomp his feet and clap his hands to the music of the True Vine Baptist choir. Later, he learned how to dance. He spent some time with the best teachers of the era and eventually started his own modern dance company, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. This is the story of Alvin Ailey's life - a life that left its imprint as much on the history of the American people as on the history of modern dance.

By Barbara Kerley
Illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham

According to Susy, people were just plain wrong about her papa. They thought they knew Mark Twin - after all, he was a world-famous author. Thousands of people had read his books and attended his lectures. Some of them even considered themselves Mark Twain experts. But they didn't really know him. And so, in secret, thirteen-year-old Susy wrote her own biography of Mark Twain - because she was determined to set the record straight! Through seamless prose, sly pictures, and generous excerpts from Susy's actual diary (cleverly designed inside separate mini-book inserts), readers are treated to a frank, adoring, and uproarious portrait of an American icon - the extraordinary Mark Twain (according to Susy).

By Kathryn Lasky
Illustrated by Ora Eitan

For many years, legendary American artist Georgia O'Keeffe rose just before dawn and walked the remote hills near her home in Abiquiu, New Mexico. Where others might see a barren landscape, her eye was finely tuned to light, color, and shape; the surprising things she saw came to life in many of her most famous paintings.

Inspired by O'Keefe's descriptive letters, award-winning author Kathryn Lasky imagines a day with the energetic Georgia in the wide-open western country that she loved. Ora Eitan's spare, evocative paintings glow with her own artistic vision of Georgia's world.

By Jacqueline Woodson
Illustrated by Hudson Talbott

Soonie's family makes SHOW WAYS - quilts with secret meanings that are maps to freedom. Her family tells stories of bravery that inspire courage. Each generation passes on to the next the belief that there is a road to a better place.

By Richard Michelson
Illustrated by Mary Azarian

The story of Tuttle's Red Barn is the story of America. John Tuttle arrived in Dover, New Hampshire, in 1632 with only his father's ax and the two pewter candleholders his mother had given him after they'd hugged good-bye. But from that humble beginning he built the farm that, today, still stands on the same land.

A fascinating look at America as seen through the eyes of one family, Tuttle's Red Barn is a must-read for anyone who appreciates the story of our country. Caldecott medalist Mary Azarian's vibrant woodcut illustrations accompany Richard Michelson's informative and remarkable account of one family that has stayed connected through the centures by a love of family, and one big red barn.

By Donald Hall
Illustrated by Barbara Cooney

A Caldecott Award book

By Chris Van Allsburg

A Carle Museum "Top of the Shelf" Book.
Click here to read our book review.

Come and meet the Queen of the Falls and witness with your own eyes her daring ride! At the turn of the nineteenth century, a retired charm school instructor named Annie Edson Taylor, seeking fame and fortune, decided to do something that no one in the world had ever done before - she would go over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel. Dive into one of the oddest adventures of all time with the two-time Caldecott medalist Chris Van Allsburg as he masterfully creates text and illustration to chronicle the courageous and eccentric journey of Mrs. Taylor as she performs one of the most death-defying feats in American history!