Picture Books

If you want some quick, quality reads check out the books above, they'll make you think.

Rosa's Bus: The Ride to Civil Rights by Jo S. Kittinger tells the story of...the bus Rosa Parks made history on. From the moment it came off the lines in Detroit to its second life in Montgomery, bus #2857 was destined to make history.

Odetta The Queen of Folk by Stephen Alcorn is a throughly delightful tribute to the woman who made music seemingly from the moment she was born and brought great joy to those around her. The language is beautiful and the illustrations gorgeous.

Play Ball, Jackie! by Stephen Krensky tells the fictional story of ten year old Matty Romano who gets to see Jackie Robinson play his first MLB game because a friend of his fathers had no desire to see blacks play ball. There are a number of books, both fiction and non-fiction about Jackie Robinson and what it was like for him to break the barrier. This is a good addition (though I wasn't crazy about the illustrations).

Dan Yaccarino's tribute to his family, All the Way to America: The Story of a Big Italian Family and A Little Shovel is quite simply, lovely. It doesn't matter where your family comes from, the message is clear - work hard, enjoy life and never forget your family. The whole shovel thing? Brought tears to my eyes. Go borrow this book and read it as a family.