Kids Book Index
Brendan Wenzel
A single stone changes meaning depending on the animal and conditions around it. A mouse sees it as dark in the sun’s shadow, while an owl sees it as light by moonlight. A slug experiences it as rough, and a porcupine as smooth. Across the seasons, its colors shift with foliage, leaves, fog, and winter light. Over time, water eventually covers the stone.
This book appears on 3 reading lists across 1 edition from 3 organizations.
16 Words: William Carlos Williams & “The Red Wheelbarrow”Lisa RogersThis nonfiction picture book explores poet and doctor William Carlos Williams and the observations behind “The Red Wheelbarrow,” a poem of sixteen words. Williams’s patient, African American street vendor Thaddeus Marshall, and his wheelbarrow help inspire the poem. The story moves through Williams’s medical work and the spare moments in which he notices people and ordinary scenes around him. It contrasts his daily work with Marshall’s work selling vegetables in Rutherford, New Jersey. A rainy-day setting and the act of looking closely show how a familiar sight can become a poem.Five to NineOn the same reading list for the same age or grade groupView book details
The Thing about Bees: A Love LetterShabazz Larkin, illustrated by Shabazz LarkinAn African American father talks with his two children about bees: they may buzz close, land on food, and sting, but their absence would mean losing many foods. He explains bees’ role in pollinating foods such as watermelon, avocados, apples, and strawberries. As he describes the ways bees can be bothersome, he compares them to his children’s own behavior, while affirming his love for them. The book joins a family love poem with a celebration of bees and the foods their pollination helps produce.Five to NineOn the same reading list for the same age or grade groupView book details
Across the BayCarlos AponteCarlitos lives in Cataño with his mother, grandmother, and cat, Coco. Drawn by the possibility of finding his father, he travels by ferry across the bay to San Juan. As he moves from his quiet hometown into Puerto Rico’s capital, he encounters its busy sights and sounds while seeking an answer about family and home.Five to NineLexile Text Measure 570LATOS Book Level 3.1On the same reading list for the same age or grade groupView book details