Middle Grade

For ages 8-12

Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition

More and more we recognize the importance of being fit and healthy. Diet, exercise, and sleep can help us feel and look better, have more energy, and enhance performance. Whether through organized sports or personal discipline, good habits need to be formed. Take a look at these books to kick-start your reading on this vital […]

School Days, School Days…

There’s more to school than readin’, writin’, and ‘rithmetic. “What is the most important thing one learns in school? Self-esteem, support, and friendship.” (Terry Tempest Williams) These titles will ease the way toward learning about those non-tangible, but so important, aspects of life. Web links to additional information and activities about school follow these reviews. […]

Mind your Ps and Qs

Manners Count everywhere! Whether at home, school, grocery store, online, riding bikes, on the phone, or on the field … good manners show respect, courtesy, kindness, and responsibility. Web links to additional information and activities about manners follow these reviews. Contributor: Peg Glisson Reviews Emily Post’s Table Manners for Kids Emily Post and Cindy Post […]

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

Rosh Hashanah or Jewish New Year is observered on the first and second days of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Jewish year (coinciding with September or early October). Customs include sounding the shofar, eating symbolic foods, and wishing one another a “good year.” It is the beginning of ten days of reflection and prayer, […]

Picnics

Let’s have a picnic! Picnics imply relaxed, casual time with family, friends or perhaps colleagues. Some of the books below celebrate fun picnic times; others take us to some unusual picnics; others have important events tied to a picnic. Who knew picnics could have so many nuances? A couple cookbooks to spark ideas for your […]

Superheroes

Superheroes June 15 is Superman Day, coinciding with the release of the newest Superman movie. Some superheroes and heroines have extraordinary abilities, enhanced senses, and advanced equipment or gadgets. Others have no superhuman powers but have mastered certain skills to a remarkable degree. They have a strong moral code and risk their own safety for […]

The Caribbean and Caribbean-Americans

The Caribbean and Caribbean-Americans 2013 marks the eighth anniversary of June as National Caribbean American Heritage Month. The United States officially recognizes that the destinies of the peoples of the Caribbean and North America have been linked since the sixteenth century. The region is filled with natural resources, blended cultures and even real life pirates. […]

Family History

Family History Family history can become a fascinating journey back in time for kids and adults. It’s a wonderful way to help children make connections, have a sense of the world and history. Intergenerational relationships provide insight, a sense of time and place, memories, and tolerance. The books listed below offer family stories, focusing on […]

Nature

Nature Nature is a wonderful teacher. Studying nature increases observation skills and the capacity to understand the unknown, while also cultivating a love of investigation, fostering a sense of ownership and stewardship of the earth, and soothing the soul. Whether it’s wilderness or “nearby nature,” there’s something in nature for everyone! Web links to additional […]

Space

Space Who doesn’t look at the sky with wonder? A person might wonder what the stars are made of or if anyone else is up there? These books will foster a love of the night sky and a sense of exploration. Strap in for an exciting ride! Web links to additional information and activities about […]

Inventions

Inventions Create, innovate, design something new–that’s what invention is all about. Invention’s foundation is imagination, coupled with resourcefulness and persistence. While an invention is typically a device, method, or process, one could argue authors also invent. The books on this list explore all types of inventive people and ideas. Web links to additional information and […]

Multicultural

Multicultural “One light, one sun… one sun lighting everyone. One world turning…one world home for everyone” How many of us know those lyrics from the Raffi song? Why, then, do we make it so complicated? For nearly 30 years, teachers and librarians have been adding multi-cultural stories to their collections. Such books offer children of […]

Women’s History

Women’s History What started as a weeklong celebration in a California School District in 1978 became National Women’s History Month by a Congressional resolution in 1987. Today there are a multitude of activities and celebrations to highlight the ways women have overcome trials and shaped our world. We’ve chosen some insightful, and immensely readable, fiction […]

Passover

Passover Passover celebrates the freedom of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt over 3200 years ago. It begins in March or April, on the 15th day of the Hebrew month, Nisan. Marked by synagogue services and the Seder feast celebrated at home, the story of the Passover, read from the Haggadah, is interspersed with […]

Easter

Easter Easter celebrate Jesus Christ’s resurrection following the crucifixation and can be any Sunday between March 22nd and April 25th since it is tied to the Spring Equinox. In addition to religious observances, Easter is celebrated with candy, new clothes, the Easter Bunny, and colored eggs. Tuck one of these Easter books inside any Easter […]

Christmas

Celebrate Christmas, a holiday that is now religious, cultural, and commercial, the history of Christmas celebrations is fascinating. If you were in the Middle Ages you might mistake Christmas for Mardi Gras as celebrations were boisterous and unruly. If you lived in Boston during the mid-1600s you would not have celebrated at all—the holiday was […]

Folk Tales

Folk Tales The term folklore generally refers to traditional beliefs, myths, legends, and tall tales. Folklore from North America has a long and proud history. Native American folk tales and myths are as numerous and diverse as they many tribes they originate from. Often they explain natural phenomena or the relationship between people and the […]

Election, Part III

The White House Occupants After the long, arduous campaign process leading to the White House, the newly elected President of the United States of America and his (or, someday, her) family moves into the Presidential Quarters of America’s most famous residence. The site was chosen by George Washington and the corner stone was laid in […]

Veterans Day

On November 11, 1918 an armistice between Allied Forces and Germany was signed, ending World War I after four years of fighting. The armistice ended hostilities at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. The following year U.S. President Woodrow Wilson issued the first Armistice Day proclamation: To us […]

Election, Part II

History and Humor of Getting Elected in the United States The following selections were gleaned from the rich literature resources found at CLCD and reflect the humor of elections and the elected, as well as some of the changes in the history of elections and voting in the United States. Using CLCD made it easy […]