[LOTS MORE TITLES TO COME]

The Hundred Dresses (not a picture book)

by Eleanor Estes

Last Stop on Market Street (2015)

by Matt de la Pena (Author), Christian Robinson (Illustrator)

Amazon.com blurb:  Every Sunday after church, CJ and his grandma ride the bus across town. But today, CJ wonders why they don’t own a car like his friend Colby. Why doesn’t he have an iPod like the boys on the bus? How come they always have to get off in the dirty part of town? Each question is met with an encouraging answer from grandma, who helps him see the beauty-and fun-in their routine and the world around them. This energetic ride through a bustling city highlights the wonderful perspective only grandparent and grandchild can share, and comes to life through Matt de la Pena’s vibrant text and Christian Robinson’s radiant illustrations.

The Lunch Thief (

by Anne C. Bromley (Author), Robert Casilla (Illustrator)

The Magic Beads (

by Susin Nielsen (Author), Genevieve Cote (Illustrator)

 

Ruth and the Green Book (2010)

by Calvin Alexander Ramsey (Author), Gwen Strauss (Author), Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)

Amazon.com blurb:  Ruth was so excited to take a trip in her family’s new car! In the early 1950s, few African Americans could afford to buy cars, so this would be an adventure. But she soon found out that black travelers weren’t treated very well in some towns. Many hotels and gas stations refused service to black people. Daddy was upset about something called Jim Crow laws…

Finally, a friendly attendant at a gas station showed Ruth’s family The Green Book. It listed all of the places that would welcome black travelers. With this guidebook–and the kindness of strangers–Ruth could finally make a safe journey from Chicago to her grandma’s house in Alabama.

Ruth’s story is fiction, but The Green Book and its role in helping a generation of African American travelers avoid some of the indignities of Jim Crow are historical fact.

Those Shoes (2009)

by Maribeth Boelts (Author), Noah Z. Jones (Illustrator)

Amazon.com blurb:  All Jeremy wants is a pair of those shoes, the ones everyone at school seems to be wearing. Though Jeremy’s grandma says they don’t have room for “want,” just “need,” when his old shoes fall apart at school, he is more determined than ever to have those shoes, even a thrift-shop pair that are much too small. But sore feet aren’t much fun, and Jeremy soon sees that the things he has — warm boots, a loving grandma, and the chance to help a friend — are worth more than the things he wants.