Kids Book Index
Terry Catasús Jennings
Esperanza, whose name means Hope in Spanish, is born in Cuba and moves with her newly immigrated family into a small house in the United States. As the family settles in, they welcome relatives and friends who share their home. Their little house becomes a safe place for other immigrants, shaped by compassion and community building. The story is semi-autobiographical.
This book appears on 2 reading lists across 2 editions from 2 organizations.
The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and PhotographsChana StiefelThis biography follows Yaffa Eliach, who grew up in the Jewish community of Eishyshok, Poland, where her grandmother made portraits of local people. When Nazis entered the town, Yaffa’s family escaped while most of its 3,500 Jewish residents were killed. After surviving the war in hiding and later becoming a historian in the United States, she helped create a Holocaust memorial. She then spent 17 years collecting photographs of Eishyshok’s Jewish citizens for the Tower of Faces exhibit.Nine to TwelveLexile Text Measure 750LATOS Book Level 4.8On the same reading list for the same age or grade groupView book details
Mama and Mommy and Me in the MiddleNina LaCourWhen Mommy leaves on a business trip, a little girl spends a week missing her while she waits for her return. The separation brings mixed emotions and feels difficult despite the love and support of the adults around her. Mama is with the girl during Mommy’s absence, as the family manages the time apart and looks forward to being together again.Under FiveLexile Text Measure 420LATOS Book Level 2.9On the same reading list for the same age or grade groupView book details
The Lodge That Beaver BuiltRandi SonenshineRandi Sonenshine’s book follows a beaver lodge and the life around it across a full year. Its patterned text draws on the structure of a familiar cumulative rhyme while tracing the lodge’s construction and the work of Beaver, a mate, and later offspring. The pond habitat also includes a musk turtle sheltering beneath the lodge, a goose nesting on top, and plants such as buttonbush, alder, and sedge that conceal ducklings from a hawk. Repeated references to the lodge connect each new scene. The book closes with a section of facts about beavers.Five to NineOn the same reading list for the same age or grade groupView book details