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3.
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When General George Washington is elected the first President of the United States, his wife chooses young Oney Judge, a house slave who works as a seamstress at Mount Vernon, to travel with her to the nation’s capital in New York City as her personal maid. When the capital is moved to Philadelphia, the Washingtons and Oney move, too, and there Oney meets free blacks for the first time. At first Oney can’t imagine being free – she depends on the Washingtons for food, warmth, and clothing. But then Mrs. Washington tells Oney that after her death she will be sent to live with Mrs. Washington’s granddaughter. Oney is horrified because she knows it is likely that she will then be sold to a stranger – the worst fate she can imagine. Oney realizes she must run. One day she sees an opportunity and takes it, ending up in New Hampshire, where she lives the rest of her life, poor but free.
Pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations bring to life this picture book biography of Oney Judge, a young woman who, in the end, has no mistress but herself. ...
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An outstanding book for young naturalists
Floy Hutchings, also known as Squirrel, is the daughter of the man who opened the first hotel in the Yosemite Valley in the 1860s. She has to fend for herself much of the time and is considered wild by her family and her father's guests. When the future naturalist John Muir is hired as a carpenter, Floy becomes his inquisitive shadow as he builds himself a cabin over a stream, talks to flowers, and listens to snow. Floy, determined never to grow up because she'd have to be a lady, and Muir, searching nature for a way to live free of society's expectations, are primed to find common ground.
In this story set against a backdrop of watercolor paintings that vividly capture the beauty of Yosemite, Floy learns to see the world through John Muir's eyes.
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"Beautiful day!" "Not a cloud in the sky!" "A-picnicking we go!" When Picnic was first published in 1984, readers fell in love with Emily Arnold McCully's lush watercolors and charming story about a little mouse who is reunited with her family. Now the Caldecott artist has added words and painted bigger illustrations in her signature whimsical style to accommodate a larger-sized read-aloud book. But what has not changed is a timeless story about the hurt of being lost, and the joy of being found again. ...
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With her sketchbook labeled My Inventions and her father’s
toolbox, Mattie could make almost anything – toys, sleds, and
a foot warmer. When she was just twelve years old, Mattie
designed a metal guard to prevent shuttles from shooting off
textile looms and injuring workers. As an adult, Mattie
invented the machine that makes the square-bottom paper
bags we still use today. However, in court, a man claimed the
invention was his, stating that she “could not possibly
understand the mechanical complexities.” Marvelous Mattie
proved him wrong, and over the course of her life earned the
title of “the Lady Edison.” With charming pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations, this
introduction to one of the most prolific female inventors will
leave readers inspired.
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From Caldecott medalist Emily Arnold McCully comes the inspiring story of
Cordelia, a young girl whose relationship with her neighbor, the great
suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, inspires her to a remarkable act of courage.
*"McCully's richly hued, softly textured paintings beautifully evoke the late
19th-century era...skillfully weaving fact and story, The Ballot
Box Battle offers a history lesson pleasingly framed in a story about an
independent young girl" (School Library Journal, starred review).
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8.
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In 1841, Japan had been closed to the outside world for 250 years, and anyone who tried to return to the country after leaving it could be executed. So when the small fishing boat on which fourteen-year-old Manjiro was working was shipwrecked, he despaired of ever returning to his village. The captain of the American whaling ship that rescued Manjiro took a special interest in him, inviting him to come live in Massachusetts. There, Manjiro was treated like Captain Whitfield’s son, and he began to feel as though Massachusetts was his second home. Still, he never gave up his dream of finding a way to return to Japan and see his mother again. Watercolor illustrations bring to life the true story of a determined and resourceful young man whose intimate knowledge of two cultures later led him to play an important role in the opening of Japan to Western trade and ideas. ...
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In a story set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Paris, Mirette, a young girl living in the Widow Gateau's boarding house, becomes the pupil of a former tightrope walker and, in exchange, gives her teacher a valuable lesson about faith and courage....
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10.
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Rebecca Putney is a bobbin girl who helps support her struggling family by working all day in a hot, noisy cotton mill. Working conditions at the mill are poor, and there is talk of lowering the workers' wages. Rebecca's friend Judith wants to protest the pay cut--but troublemakers at the mill are dismissed. Does Rebecca have the courage to join the protest? Full color....
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