Homemade fun and simple pleasures abound

Mimmy and Sophie are sisters who live in Brooklyn, New York, during the Great Depression. Even though their parents don't have a lot of money, Mimmy and Sophie still have lots of fun together, whether they're finding treasure, going to Coney Island, or playing in mud puddles.

Charming black-and-white drawings by Thomas F. Yezerski accompany these sweet stories, perfect for independent reading or for reading aloud, about two sisters who aren't always best friends but are always there for each other.
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When Jacob says something terrible to Honey after she hits a home run, even Jacob's best friend will not talk to him and he wishes he could take back what he said to Honey. ...

A little boy idolizes his older brother. So when his big brother leaves for the army, the boy has some very big shoes to fill....

This timely book, reissued with new art, goes right to the heart of the school testing issue. When the principal sends a lady to administer a test to the first grade class, the children find that none of the proffered answers are exactly right and they have trouble with the test. Fortunately, their teacher knows what is really important: being creative and being a good friend, positive traits that a standardized exam cannot test for. This is a great book to remind people that doing well on a test is not all that matters in the classroom.

Platinum Award Oppenheim Toy Portfolio


Teaching Tools Available...

Jim's anxieties on his first day of school are happily forgotten when he makes a new friend....

This timely book, reissued with new art, goes right to the heart of the school testing issue. When the principal sends a lady to administer a test to the first grade class, the children find that none of the proffered answers are exactly right and they have trouble with the test. Fortunately, their teacher knows what is really important: being creative and being a good friend, positive traits that a standardized exam cannot test for. This is a great book to remind people that doing well on a test is not all that matters in the classroom.

Platinum Award Oppenheim Toy Portfolio


Teaching Tools Available...

Backpack Baby shows all of his things. Then he points out one special "think" and proudly proclaims it, "Mine!"...

Jim had waited all his life. But still he could not read. "It will happen, " said the teacher. "It will happen when you are ready." But Jim was ready now.

Some of the children in the class could read. Some simply remembered what was under each picture. Jim knew what all the signs in the classroom said, but that was not reading. Then one day the sign on the hamster's cage said something different!

Children who have met Jim, Paul, Anna Maria, and the others in previous books will welcome them back in this universal -- and triumphant -- story, with its loving pictures of classroom life....

Library of Congress Children's Book of the Year

When Pa was taking Jim to school for the first time, Jim said, "Will I have a friend at school?" "I think you will," said Pa.

But even his father's gentle reassurance doesn't make Jim feel any better. The other children in kindergarten are scary strangers to him. He's sure that he'll never find a friend...until naptime, when he discovers someone who feels the way he does....