A boy is learning his father’s craft: recognizing the trees that release valuable resin – myrrh – and gathering the round drops, which look almost like tears. One day the two find a “tear’ of unusual size and, in the marketplace, three foreign strangers are interested in purchasing it as a gift for a baby. […]

As the church Celebration of Creatures service approaches, Francesca the cockroach yearns to be there, but Martin the skunk warns her against it: “I don’t think that we are meant to be included, Francesca. It’s for the respectables, the cute and cuddlies. We are outcasts, my dear. They’ll never let us in. Can’t you just […]

It is the day before Christmas in a small Russian village. Alexi’s babushka is telling him what Christmas was like when she was a girl – before the soldiers came. Alexi has many questions, including, “Why can’t we celebrate Christmas tomorrow in St. Nicholas?” Babushka sadly replies that it would take a miracle after sixty […]

Clover’s mom says it isn’t safe to cross the fence that segregates their black side of town from the white side where Anna lives. But the two girls strike up a friendship, and get around the grown-ups’ rules by sitting on top of the fence together. This book is a good selection near the Martin […]

It was the perfect summer. That is, until Jeremy Ross moved into the house down the street and became neighborhood enemy number one. Luckily Dad had a surefire way to get rid of enemies: Enemy Pie. But part of the secret recipe is spending an entire day playing with the enemy! Enemy Pie serves up […]

This is a well-written biography which introduces Francis as a frivolous yet charming “King of Youth” and follows him through his conversion and founding of the Franciscan order, and finally, to welcoming “Sister Death” at the end of his remarkable life. It also describes incidents such as Francis’ reconciliation with the wolf of Grubbio and […]

Newbery Medalist Katherine Paterson (Bridge to Terabithia and Jacob Have I Loved) retells the life of Jesus in simple, beautiful language for all ages, making the story new again. Startling images from Jesus’ life light the text with the same warmth and directness. Arthur A. Levine Books (2008).

As a young girl in Kenya, Wangari is surrounded by trees. But when she gets older, she sees the trees being cut down. Wangari is afraid that soon all the forests will be destroyed. So she decides to plant nine seedlings. And as they grow, so do her plans… This true story of Wangari Maathai, […]

It may be Christmastime but on a small, forlorn farm the holiday season is best forgotten, along with painful memories of loved ones lost. Mother Nature has other plans, however, and a chance snowstorm brings together two unlikely hearts, one human and one beast, yet both yearning for comfort, companionship, and that most elusive gift […]

This wonderfully illustrated book retells eight of Jesus’ parables and describes nine of his miracles, all in a conversational and contemporary way that is accessible to all. Reviewing these stories is a great way to familiarize children with Christ’s ministry and teachings, especially in the weeks leading up to Easter. Lincoln Children’s Books (2007).

A pride of peacocks notices that a flock of swans can both swim and fly, skills they do not possess. They wonder if the swans will use their superior strength against them. Soon they convince themselves that they are in danger, and begin stockpiling weapons. In response, the swans gather their own weapons. Fear and […]

When all of creation—trees, stones, ants, the sky, fish—begins arguing over who or what God is, quiet Old Turtle is the only one who has the wisdom and ability to see beyond herself to capture the essence. Old Turtle, after silencing the crowds with her understanding, makes a prediction about the appearance of a new […]

This is a moving story of the power of the simple gift of love, written by Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck (The Good Earth). On Christmas Eve, a man recalls the holiday many years ago when he gave his father, a struggling farmer, a most-appreciated gift: the boy rose extra early to […]

It’s clear that the narrator holds a bitter grudge as s/he sends an enemy crude and discarded gifts over the course of the “twelve nights of Christmas.” What the narrator’s enemy decides to do with each of these gifts is nothing less than a Christmas miracle, touching on themes of forgiveness and redemption and the […]

When the Selfish Giant builds a high wall around his lovely garden to keep the children out, the North Wind blows, the Frost comes and the Snow dances through the trees. The Giant wonders why Spring never comes to his cold, white garden. Then one day the Giant looks out to see a most wonderful […]

Each kindness makes the world a little better. Chloe and her friends won’t play with the new girl, Maya. Maya is different—she wears hand-me-downs and plays with old-fashioned toys. Every time Maya tries to join Chloe and her gang, they reject her. Eventually, Maya plays alone, and then stops coming to school altogether. When Chloe’s […]

The author revisits this oft-told tale to demonstrate the pleasures of collaboration and mutual generosity. Two hungry travelers, denied food by the inhabitants of a mountain village, publicly declare that they can make soup from a stone. Only they need a carrot… and a potato… and a few more ingredients to make it taste really […]

Nikolai is a boy who believes that if he can find the answers to his three questions, he will always know how to be a good person. His friends–a heron, a monkey, and a dog–try to help, but to no avail, so he asks Leo, the wise old turtle. “When is the best time to […]