The Amber Cat

While two friends convalesce from chicken pox, one boy’s mother tells them of a summer, long ago, when she was eleven–just their age–offering a story about a girl named Harriet who would mysteriously come and go at the beach. Who was Harriet? An underlying poignancy adds depth to this winning story with its surprise ending.

Zarafa: The Giraffe Who Walked to the King

Zarafa is a beautiful and gentle giraffe. The ruler of Egypt offers her as a gift to the king of France. She sails up the Nile by felucca, crosses the sea by brigantine and walks the last five hundred miles to Paris. People love it. And they love her, meeting and greeting her along the way, cheering her on. Afterward, the grateful French king places Zarafa in his own royal garden, where all of Paris comes to visit and love her.

Built by Angels

As legend tells it, the Old-New Synagogue in Prague was built by angels, and later was home to a golem who remains locked away in the building to this day. In lyrical prose, Mark Podwal shares the story of the world’s oldest active synagogue, which was completed in 1270. Throughout the years, this sacred place of prayer and celebration has endured plagues, wars, and the Nazi regime. Its story is part legend, part history, and one that stands as a testament to the perseverance of the Jewish people.

Pig-Boy: A Trickster Tale from Hawai’i

The mischievous, shape-shifting Pig-Boy gets in trouble with both the King and Pele, the goddess of fire, but always manages to slip away as his grandmother has told him to do.

The Ugly Duckling

Set in the wilds of Africa, Caldecott Honor winner Rachel Isadora’s stunning interpretation of the beloved Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale portrays African animals and landscapes with beautiful detail. As the ugly duckling searches for a place where he can fit in, Isadora’s vibrant collages capture the beauty in everything from glistening feathers to shimmering sunsets.

Pharaoh’s Boat

The author tells the story of how one of the greatest boats of ancient Egypt came to be built—and built again. In the shadow of the Great Pyramid at Giza, the most skilled shipwrights in all of Egypt are building an enormous vessel that will transport Cheops, the mighty pharaoh, across the winding waterway and into a new world.

There the ships lie until they are discovered by accident in 1954, carefully unearthed, and reconstructed under the direction of the chief of the Restoration Department of Egyptian Antiquities with the help of Nile boat builders.