Dr. Dave's Family Favorites' - Print this page

Everyday Heroes

Preschool

1. Tickle, Tickle by Helen Oxenbury. Simon & Schuster, 1987. $6.99 (Boardbook)ISBN: 0689819862
        For the youngest child, Helen Oxenbury’s boardbook series is a delight. From mudpile to bathtub to nap time, cute toddlers and babies fill the pages.
2. Moonbear’s Pet by Frank Asch. Aladdin Paperbacks, 1997. $4.99 (Paperback) ISBN: 0689820941
        Colorful and engaging illustrations set the stage for this story about two friends who find that their friendship is more important than being right.
3. The Little Engine That Could Watty Piper. Illustrated by George Hauman. Platt & Munk, 1930. $7.99 (Hardcover) ISBN: 0448405202
        “I think I can,” says the little engine that never gave up. In this classic tale the littlest engine stops to help and against all odds succeeds in getting his cargo over the mountain.
4. Hazel’s Amazing Mother by Rosemary Wells. Puffin, 1985. $5.99 (Paperback) ISBN: 0140549110
        Hazel gets lost and meets up with some not so nice bullies. Preschoolers will delight when mom comes to the rescue and sets all right again. A well told story is set off with bright and colorful illustrations.
5. Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate. Illustrated by Ashley Wolff. Dutton Books, 1996. $16.99 (Hardcover) ISBN: 0525454462
        The start of school is a big day for everyone. This book is a fun and lively illustrated story of how children and their teacher get ready for the first day of kindergarten.
6. Koala Lou by Mem Fox. Illustrated by Pamela Lofts. Harcourt Brace, 1988. $6.00 (Paperback) ISBN: 0152000763
        Koala Lou is a lovable koala bear that just misses her mom’s undivided attention. She enters the Bush Olympics, hoping to win her mom’s love. Of course she finds that she had it all along.
7. Read to Your Bunny by Rosemary Wells. Scholastic, 1997. $2.99 (Paperback) ISBN: 0439087171
        “Reading together twenty minutes a day, is the most important gift you can give your child.” Read to Your Bunny is filled with Well’s classic, colorful, adorable illustrations. Each page is an invitation to read more and more often.

1. Ruth Law Thrills a Nation by Don Brown. Houghton Mifflin Co, 1993. $5.95 (Paperback) ISBN: 0395735173
        In the year 1916 Ruth Law flew an airplane from Chicago to New York, a distance record of 590 miles. People followed her whole route and cheered as she flew by. It was a thrilling event in 1916 and just as thrilling to read about today.
2. Marvin and the Mean Words by Susy Kline. Illustrated by Blanche Sims. Paper Star, 1997. $4.99 (Paperback) ISBN:0698116577
        In this easy chapter book, Marvin is a second grader who’s not perfect. But to make matters worse, he thinks his teacher doesn’t like him. He overhears his teacher and doesn’t realize she is expressing dislike for a professional hockey player who happens to be named Marvin also. Great characters and a lively story bring this misunderstanding to a happy ending.
3. When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest. Illustrated by P.J. Lynch. Candlewick Pr, 1997. $16.99 (Hardcover) ISBN: 0763600946
        Thirteen year old Jessie leaves her grandmother and small village to travel by ship across the ocean to America. A tender story, When Jessie Came Across the Sea is a classic tale of every immigrant’s dream to find a new life in a new country.
4. The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush retold by Tomie dePaola. PaperStar, 1988. $5.95 (Paperback) ISBN: 0698113608
        Tomie dePaola gives us a story with beautiful illustrations and a tender retelling of a boy’s care for his people. With perseverance this boy was able to paint his vision and left behind the flower, Indian Paintbrush, as a reminder of his gift.
5. The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks by Katherine Paterson. Illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon. Puffin, 1990. $5.99 (Paperback) ISBN: 0140557393
        A greedy and mean overlord accuses two of his workers of a misdeed. A beautiful and colorful mandarin duck was caged by the overlord. The duck is set free. Who saves the two workers when they are sent away for punishment? This is a well told story in the best tradition of folktales.
6. Diego illustrated by Jeanette Winter. Text by Jonah Winter. Knopf, 1991. $5.99 (Paperback) ISBN: 067985617X
        Diego Rivera was one of Mexico’s earliest and most famous mural painters. This beautifully illustrated story highlights his early life, his family who loved him, and his early love of painting. The text is in English and Spanish.
7. Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco. Picture Yearling, 1992. $6.99 (Paperback) ISBN: 0440409365
        Mrs. Katz and Tush is a beautiful story about friendship and caring. A young African American boy befriends an elderly Jewish neighbor and brings her a kitten. Through caring for the kitten, Tush, their relationship blossoms into sharing stories and celebrations.

1. Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman. Illustrated by Judy Pedersen. HarperTrophy, 1997. $4.95. (Paperback) ISBN: 0064472078
        When a neighborhood seemed hopeless, a seed was planted and a garden grew. Seedfolks relates the story of how a garden created a community out of a neighborhood. A community grew where people of all races and backgrounds came together and found that they shared something most important.
2. Under the Blood-Red Sun by Graham Salisbury. Yearling Books, reprint 1995. $4.99 (Paperback) ISBN: 0440411394
        The year is 1941, and for Tomikazu a young Japanese American boy living in Hawaii, his world disappears overnight. Tomi and his family are living the American dream, but their world turns to a nightmare with the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
3. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr. Puffin, 1977. $4.99 (Paperback) ISBN: 0698118022
        Living in Hiroshima, Sadako is a lively, athletic girl bent on being a runner on her school team. Tragedy falls when Sadako comes down with leukemia, a disease from the bombing ten years earlier. As a sign of healing she courageously begins folding a thousand paper cranes. Her class finishes the project in her memory.
4. Gentle Annie : The True Story of a Civil War Nurse by Mary Francis Shura. Apple, 1991. $4.50 (Paperback) ISBN: 0590435000
        Anna Etheridge was a real person. She was 16 when she enlisted with the Union Army during the Civil War. She served for four years, nursing wounded soldiers often in the heat of battle. In this fictionalized account of her life, we see the horrors of war and also great courage through a young girl’s eyes.
5. Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner. Illustrated by Marcia Sewall. HarperTrophy, 1980. $4.95 (Paperback) ISBN: 0064401324
        Willy is a ten year old boy living on a potato farm in Wyoming. When his grandfather falls ill and they are in danger of losing their farm, Willy must somehow raise the money to pay the taxes. Against everyone’s advice, he enters the state sled dog race. The winning prize would save the farm and hopefully help his grandfather get well. But the best sled dog racer in the world has also entered.

1. Two Old Women : An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival by Velma Wallis. Illustrated by Jim Grant. Harperperennial, 1993. $11.00 (Paperback) ISBN: 0060975849
        In the time of hunger and starvation, two old women are left behind to fend for themselves, so that the village might survive. It is winter and they have two choices: to die or to die trying. Velma Wallis relates a story told to her by her mother. It is a story of courage, friendship and strength in the face of overwhelming odds.
2. October Sky by Homer H. Hickam. Bantam Books, 1998. $6.99 (Paperback)ISBN: 0440235502
        It was the 1950s and no one expected anyone but miners and football players to grow out of this small coal mining town in West Virginia. But a small group of boys dared to dream a different future, rockets and space. Their persistent efforts to launch a rocket that would travel over a mile high inspired the whole town to support them in their efforts. They were known as the “rocket boys.”
3. Red Scarf Girl : A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-li Jiang. HarperTrophy, 1997. $5.95 (Paperback) ISBN 0064462080
        Ji-li Jang was in the sixth grade when China’s Cultural Revolution started. As her world falls apart, her family is denounced and torn apart. Ji-li survives because of the loyalty and love she shows for her family and her friends.
4. Along the Tracks by Tamar Bergman, Michael Swirsky (Translator). Houghton Mifflin Co.,1988. $6.95 (Paperback) ISBN: 0395745136
        Yankele and his family escape from Poland when the Nazis start their terror against the Jews. Fleeing to Russia, they find safety until the war reaches them again. With his father off fighting, the family must flee again. On a refugee train the unthinkable happens and Yankele is accidently separated from his mother and sister. This is the well written and remarkable story of how Yankele survives as one of the “abandoned ones” in Russia.
5. My Brother, My Sister and I by Yoko Kawashima Watkins. Aladdin Paperbacks, 1994. $4.50 (Paperback) ISBN: 0689806566
        Yoko and her older brother and sister are refugees in Japan. With their mother dead and their father missing, their existence is a day to day struggle. They find hope and support in each other as they meet every crisis. Beautifully and simply told, this is a true story of the author’s early life, a sequel to So Far From Bamboo Grove.

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