North: The Amazing Story of Arctic Migration

North: The Amazing Story of Arctic Migration

by Nick Dowson, Patrick Benson

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Book Description
A passionate nature lover and a renowned artist trace the awe-inspiring spring migration of millions of creatures to the Arctic--the greatest journey on Earth.

At the top of our world is a huge wild place called the Arctic.

In the winter, it is a cold and barren land, where few animals can survive. But when spring comes, it brings with it animals from every corner of the earth. Gray whales, white cranes, wolves, and caribou begin their migrations as the snow melts, gradually making the long journey north. Once they reach their destination, they will raise their young, feast on the lush Arctic tundra, and bask in the sunlight that lasts all summer. Still, this season too must pass, and by the time winter grips the Arctic once again, the visitors have gone--only to return the following year. This lushly illustrated picture book celebrates the cyclical nature of the seasons, showcasing the barren and beautiful landscapes of the Arctic Circle and reminding the reader of the hardships and harmony of life in the wild.

About the Author
Nick Dowson is the author of TRACKS OF A PANDA and TIGRESS. A teacher and naturalist, he lives in Suffolk, England.

Patrick Benson has received the Mother Goose Award, the Christopher Award, and the Kurt Maschler Award. He has collaborated with Roald Dahl, Russell Hoban, and Martin Waddell, whose book OWL BABIES has sold 12 million copies. Patrick Benson lives in Scotland.

The House in the Night

The House in the Night

by Susan Marie Swanson, Beth Krommes

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Book Description
A spare, patterned text and glowing pictures explore the origins of light that make a house a home in this bedtime book for young children. Naming nighttime things that are both comforting and intriguing to preschoolers—a key, a bed, the moon—this timeless book illuminates a reassuring order to the universe.

About the Author
Susan Marie Swanson is an award-winning poet and the author of several children's books. She lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Beth Krommes is the illustrator of several award-winning books, including The Lamp, the Ice, and a Boat Called Fish and Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow. She lives in Peterborough, New Hampshire, with her family.

Childhood and Children in Early Christianity

Let the Little Children Come to Me: Childhood and Children in Early Christianity

by Cornelia B. Horn, John W. Martens

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Book Description
"With careful examination of the available evidence, the authors painstakingly sift through what can be known about children in early Christianity, and in doing so they offer new evaluations of old conclusions and significantly advance our understanding of this important topic for the social history of early Christianity." -- Carolyn Osiek, Charles Fischer Professor of New Testament, Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University

"This volume provides a wealth of detail about childhood, family structure, becoming an adult, and marriage in antiquity as well as renunciation of family ties in Christian asceticism. The authors pay careful attention to the impact of gender, class, and slave or free status on children's lives, and incorporate such unusual topics as toys, games, pets, and music. They argue that children from the beginning were welcome participants in all facets of Christian communal life. Clearly written and well-documented, this book is a valuable resource for students at all levels."

About the Author
Cornelia B. Horn, assistant professor of Early Christianity at Saint Louis University, is the author of Asceticism and Christological Controversy in Fifth-Century Palestine. John W. Martens is associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and Director of the M.A. in Theology Program at Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity. He is the author of One God, One Law: Philo of Alexandria on the Mosaic and Greco-Roman Law.

Very First Book of Poetry

Here's A Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry

by Jane Yolen

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Book Description
This exuberant celebration of poetry is an essential book for every young one’s library and a georgeous gift to be both shared and treasured.

Sit back and savor a superb collection of more than sixty poems by a wide range of talented writers, from Margaret Wise Brown to Gertrude Stein, Langston Hughes to A. A. Milne. Greeting the morning, enjoying the adventures of the day, cuddling up to a cozy bedtime, these are poems that highlight the moments of a toddler’s world from dawn to dusk. Carefully gathered by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters and delightfully illustrated by Polly Dunbar, HERE'S A LITTLE POEM offers a comprehensive introduction to some remarkable poets, even as it captures a very young child’s intense delight in the experiences and rituals of every new day.

About the Author
Jane Yolen is the author of more than 250 books for children and young adults, including SOFT HOUSE, OWL MOON, and HOW DO DINOSAURS SAY GOOD NIGHT? She also collected poems for THIS LITTLE PIGGY: LAP SONGS, FINGER PLAYS, CLAPPING GAMES, and PANTOMINE RHYMES, an anthology of rhymes and games for toddlers. Jane Yolen divides her time between Massachusetts and Scotland.

Andrew Fusek Peters is a poet and anthologist whose work has appeared in collections for children and teens. He has also written many books. Andrew Fusek Peters lives in Shropshire, England.

Polly Dunbar is the author and illustrator of DOG BLUE and FLYAWAY KATIE, as well as the illustrator of SHOE BABY, written by her mother, Joyce Dunbar. Polly Dunbar lives in Brighton, England.

How to Survive Middle School

How to Survive Middle School

by Donna Gephart

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Book Description
Eleven-year-old David Greenberg dreams of becoming a TV superstar like his idol, Jon Stewart. But in real life, David is just another kid terrified of starting his first year at Harman Middle School. With a wacky sense of humor and hilarious Top 6½ Lists, David spends his free time making Talk Time videos, which he posts on YouTube. But before he can get famous, he has to figure out a way to deal with:

6. Middle school (much scarier than it sounds!) 5. His best friend gone girl-crazy 4. A runaway mom who has no phone! 3. The threat of a swirlie on his birthday 2. A terrifying cousin 1. His # 1 fan, Bubbe (his Jewish grandmother) 1/2. Did we mention Hammy, the hamster who’s determined to break David’s heart?

When David and his best friend have a fight, David is lucky enough to make a pretty cool new friend, Sophie, who just (gulp) happens to be a girl. Sophie thinks David’s videos are hilarious, and she starts sending out the links to everyone she knows. Sophie’s friends tell their friends, and before David knows it, thousands of people are viewing his videos–including some of the last people he would have expected.

About the Author
Donna Gephart is the author of As if Being 12 3/4 Isn’t Bad Enough, My Mother Is Running for President, which recently won the Sid Fleischman Humor Award. She lives in Jupiter, Florida, with her family.

Tofu Quilt

Tofu Quilt

by Ching Yeung Russell

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Book Description
Based on the author’s experiences growing up in 1960s Hong Kong, this novel-length, free-verse poem follows a young girl who aspires to be a writer in a society that still questions the value of educating girls.

Luckily, Yeung Ying’s mother, who received an education herself, feels otherwise, and she scrapes together private-school tuition for her daughter. In individual, chapter-length selections, Yeung Ying gives a strong sense of her loving family, her vibrant neighborhood, and the impact of specific, life-shaping experiences, all in a spare, believable young voice. Readers will come away with a strong sense of both an individual and a culture, and they’ll appreciate the importance that small, daily details hold in Yeung Ying’s life: a shockingly delicious taste of a dessert becomes the seed that grows into her writing dream, for example. Young people will be inspired by Yeung Ying’s determination to realize her ambition and to find inspiration everywhere, from overheard snatches of apartment-house gossip to quiet family moments: “I always / perk up my ears / for treasures.” A welcome glossary and author’s note add further cultural context.

About the Author
Ching Yeung Russell is a Lee and Low author.

Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom

by Margarita Engle

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Book Description
Grade 9 Up—Often, popular knowledge of Cuba begins and ends with late-20th-century textbook fare: the Cuban Revolution, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Fidel Castro. The Surrender Tree, however, transports readers to another, though no less tumultuous, era. Spanning the years 1850–1899, Engle's poems construct a narrative woven around the nation's Wars for Independence. The poems are told in alternating voices, though predominantly by Rosa, a "freed" slave and natural healer destined to a life on the lam in the island' s wild interior.

Other narrators include Teniente Muerte, or Lieutenant Death, the son of a slave hunter turned ruthless soldier; José, Rosa's husband and partner in healing; and Silvia, an escapee from one of Cuba's reconcentration camps. The Surrender Tree is hauntingly beautiful, revealing pieces of Cuba's troubled past through the poetry of hidden moments such as the glimpse of a woman shuttling children through a cave roof for Rosa's care or the snapshot of runaway Chinese slaves catching a crocodile to eat. Though the narrative feels somewhat repetitive in its first third, one comes to realize it is merely symbolic of the unending cycle of war and the necessity for Rosa and other freed slaves to flee domesticity each time a new conflict begins.

Aside from its considerable stand-alone merit, this book, when paired with Engle's The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano (Holt, 2006), delivers endless possibilities for discussion about poetry, colonialism, slavery, and American foreign policy.

Review
“Engle writes her new book in clear, short lines of stirring free verse. Caught by the compelling narrative voices, many readers will want to find out more.”—Booklist, starred review

“A powerful narrative in free verse . . . haunting." — Horn Book

“Hauntingly beautiful, revealing pieces of Cuba’s troubled past through the poetry of hidden moments.” — School Library Journal

“Young readers will come away inspired by these portraits of courageous ordinary people.”  — Kirkus Reviews

“The poems are short but incredibly evocative.”  — VOYA

About the Author
MARGARITA ENGLE is a Cuban American poet, novelist, and journalist whose work has been published in many countries. She lives with her husband in northern California.