Feasts and Festivals Around the World: From Lunar New Year to Christmas

March 8th, 2022, Little Bee Books, illustrated by Tomoko Suzuki


A Synagogue Just Like Home

Spring, 2022, Candlewick Press, illustrated by Laurel Molk

Junior Library Guild Selection Junior Library Guild Selection

P.J. Library Selection


Bathe the Cat (February 2022)

February 8th, 2022, Chronicle Books, illustrated by David Roberts


Kids Indie Next Pick

2023 Irma S. Black Gold Medalist

New York Public Library Best Book of 2022

Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2022

2023 ALSC (Association for Library Service for Children) Notable Children's Book

Nebraska Golden Sower Award Nominee

CLEL BELL Early Literacy Award (Colorado Libraries)

Texas 2x2 Award

Indiana Early Literacy Firefly Award Ballot

2023 Rainbow Booklist

Imagination Soup Best Picture Books of 2022

Bookstagang Best of 2022

Fuse8Productions Best Rhyming Books of 2022

Junior Library Guild Selection Junior Library Guild Selection



Step By Step

August 2021

An upbeat read-aloud that encourages young readers in their quests to discover the world.” Kirkus Review - for Step by Step


My Israel and Me

September 21, 2021

Kalaniot Books, illustrated by Rotem Teplow.

Q&A with Alice Blumenthal McGinty

My Israel and Me Activity Guide

“In perfectly rhyming, rhythmic quartets and with remarkable color illustrations that evoke spectacular Israeli landscapes, Alice Blumenthal McGinty and Rotem Teplow express pride in Israel’s many accomplishments, joy in its beautiful scenery, admiration of its diverse population, and respectful recognition of its unique place in both reality and the imagination.”—Jewish Book Council Review


The Water Lady

March 30, 2021

“This inspiring picture book tells the true story of a woman who brings desperately needed water to families on the Navajo reservation every day.”

Schwartz and Wade/Random House Children's Books.


2022 Illinois Reads Selection

SLJ (School Library Journal) Best Book of 2021 selection

Junior Library Guild Selection Junior Library Guild Selection

2022 ALA Notable Book

2022 Norman A. Sugarman Children's Biography Honor Award


Videos and Reviews for The Water Lady

Kirkus Starred Review

School Library Journal Starred Review

"[An] illuminating story about a contemporary child’s experience with water insecurity, set in the Navajo Nation.” —The Horn Book



A Story For Small Bear

October 13th, 2020

*Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2020

*Amazon Best Book of the Month, Ages 3-5

“If you help — no dilly, no dally — then we’ll have time for stories” October, 2020, Schwartz and Wade/Random House Children's Books

Parenting Guide

Video and Reviews for A Small Bear


The Sea Knows

May, 2020

We are young. The sea is old. The sea has secrets to unfold. The sea knows.

In this playful, rhyming celebration of the marine world, readers can explore all of the wondrous things the sea knows. It knows huge whales and small krill; it knows short crabs and tall giant kelp; it knows brightly colored starfish in shallow pools; and in the inky depths it knows the alluring jewel of an anglerfish’s glowing lure.

Discover all of the strange and magnificent underwater creatures in this accessible tribute to the power and mystery of the ocean.

"alluring illustrations and well-researched, interesting, and age-appropriate information." - Kirkus Reviews

"The writing flows well, making this picture book a pleasure to read aloud and a natural for classroom units on the sea."  - ALA Booklist

Meet Alice B McGinty and Alan B Havis online at News From The Happy Side.

Reviews and Videos for The Sea Knows

Educator Guide

 

The Girl Who Named Pluto: The Story of Venetia Burney

May 2019


2020 Bank Street Best Children’s Book

Junior Library Guild Selection Junior Library Guild Selection

When Venetia Burney's grandfather reads aloud from the newspaper about a new discovery--a "ninth major planet" that has yet to be named--her eleven-year-old mind starts whirring. She is studying the planets in school and loves Roman mythology. "It might be called Pluto," she says, thinking of the dark underworld. Grandfather loves the idea and contacts his friend at London's Royal Astronomical Society, who writes to scientists at the Lowell Observatory in Massachusetts, where Pluto was discovered. After a vote, the scientists agree unanimously: Pluto is the perfect name for the dark, cold planet.

Reviews, Awards, and Interviews for The Girl Who Named Pluto

Poster and Teaching Guide


 

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ISBN-13: 978-1499807127 | Little Bee Books | Tomoko Suzuki
BAM! | IndieBound | Barnes&Noble | Amazon

Pancakes to Parathas: Breakfast Around The World

February, 2019

*Northern Lights Book Award, Food Category

*Sakura Medal 2021 Nominee

Breakfast varies from country to country, but it's how all children begin their day. Explore the meals of twelve countries in this playful approach to the world!

From Australia to India to the USA, come travel around the world at dawn. Children everywhere are waking up to breakfast. In Japan, students eat soured soybeans called natto. In Brazil, even kids drink coffee--with lots of milk! With rhythm and rhymes and bold, graphic art, Pancakes to Parathas invites young readers to explore the world through the most important meal of the day.

Educator Guide Available

Awards, Interviews, and Photos for Pancakes to Parathas

 

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ISBN-13: 978-1477816448 | Two Lions | Thomas Gonzalez
IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Amazon

Gandhi: A March to the Sea

*2014 South Asia Book Award For Children’s and Young Adult Literature, Honor Book

Mohandas Gandhi’s 24-day March to the Sea, from March 12 to April 5, 1930, was a pivotal moment in India’s quest to become an independent country no longer ruled by Great Britain. With over 70 marchers, Gandhi walked from his hometown near Ahmedabad to the sea coast by the village of Dandi. The march was a non-violent means to protest the taxes that Great Britain had imposed on salt -- not the salt that the Indians could get from the sea, but the salt that Great Britain forced them to buy. Gandhi believed that peaceful protests were an effective way to challenge British law, and his peaceful but ultimately successful movement became known as Satyagraha.

Educator Guide Available

Reviews of Gandhi

 

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ISBN-13: 978-1-58089-432-6 | Charesbridge | Jennifer Black Reinhardt

Rabbi Benjamin’s Buttons

*2015 Sydney Taylor Notable Book

*P.J. Library Selection

As a sign of affection for their warm-hearted rabbi, the families of the congregation make Rabbi Benjamin a special holiday vest, complete with four shiny silver buttons. Throughout the year Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Chanukah, and Passover the rabbi celebrates with his congregation, unable to resist their delicious home-cooked food. But with each holiday his vest grows tight, tighter, until . . . POP!

Educator Guide Available

Reviews of Rabbi Benjamin’s Buttons

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

 

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Darwin

*2010 Orbis Pictus Honor

*2010 Booklist Best Biographies

Filled with the fascinating words of Charles Darwin—designed as handwritten entries—this picture book biography reveals the assembling of a profound idea: the survival of the fittest. Two hundred years after his birth, 150 years after the publication of his ORIGIN OF SPECIES, this thought-provoking, splendidly illustrated account invites us into the private thoughts, hopes and fears of a soul who forever changed the way we see the world.

Reviews

Amazon | Barnes & Noble IndieBound

ISBN-13: 978-0618995318

HMH Books for Young ReadersMary Azarian

 

Eliza’s Kindergarten Pet

Miss Summer has a special treat for Eliza’s kindergarten class—a new pet guinea pig that the kids name Cookie. But Eliza doesn’t like this kind of cookie: "A cookie with teeth?" Eliza thinks. She knows that people eat chocolate chip cookies. But do chocolate chip cookies ever eat people?

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

ISBN: 978-0761457022

2010, Two Lions Press, Illustrated by Nancy Speir

 

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Eliza’s Kindergarten Surprise

Eliza has to go to school for the first time ever. But she doesn’t want to leave Mommy. Mommy understands. She places a kiss on her fingertips and gently slides it into Eliza’s pocket. But Eliza’s pocket still feels empty inside. Then, at school, she sees things that remind her of her mother. She gets an idea and makes a mommy doll as a surprise for Mommy!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

ISBN: 978-1477816837

2013 (Paperback), Two Lions Press, Illustrated by Nancy Speir

 

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Ten Little Lambs

Ten mischievous little lambs devise an abundance of silly games to make their sleepover party a night to remember, but soon sleep overtakes them, in a hilarious counting book filled with lively illustrations and lyrical text.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

ISBN-13: 978-0803725966

2002, Dial Books, illustrated by Melissa Sweet

 

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Thank You, World

*Dolly Parton Imagination Library Selection

Thank you, breeze, for lifting up my kite wings past treetops tall and proud.

Thank you, trees. Your branches are my playhouse. I?m climbing to the clouds!

Eight very different kids, from eight different continents, all go about their day and experience the same moments of happiness: greeting the sun in the morning, swinging on a swing, flying a kite, being tucked in by Mommy at bedtime. Uplifting and visually rich, this book reminds us that the world isn’t as large as it seems, and that life’s greatest pleasures are the simple ones.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

No longer in print.

Dial, Wendy Anderson Halperin