Family life

Sarah, Plain and Tall

When their father invites a mail-order bride to come live with them in their prairie Kansas home, Caleb and Anna are captivated by their new mother and hope that she will stay.

Strawberry Girl 60th Anniversary Edition (Trophy Newbery)

 

The land was theirs, but so were its hardships

 

Strawberries — big, ripe, and juicy. Ten-year-old Birdie Boyer can hardly wait to start picking them. But her family has just moved to the Florida backwoods, and they haven’t even begun their planting. “Don’t count your biddies ‘fore they’re hatched, gal young un!” her father tells her.

Making the new farm prosper is not easy. There is heat to suffer through, and droughts, and cold snaps. And, perhaps most worrisome of all for the Boyers, there are rowdy neighbors, just itching to start a feud.

The House In The Night

A spare, patterned text and glowing pictures explore the origins of light that make a house a home in this bedtime book for young children. Naming nighttime things that are both comforting and intriguing to preschoolers—a key, a bed, the moon—this timeless book illuminates a reassuring order to the universe.

La Fiesta De Las Tortillas / The Fiesta Of The Tortillas (Spanish Edition)

The author remembers the day in which the Spirit of the Corn visited the restaurant that his family owned in El Salvador. The narration is full of suspense and impregnated with the delicious scents that surrounded the kitchen and that remain intact in the memory and the heart of the author from his childhood.

Swing

A lantern, a mixing bowl, everything they ever borrowed from the neighbors, even their dog Leopoldo — Josey’s absentminded parents lose EVERYTHING. Sometimes they even lose track of time when they promise to do something fun with Josey. But then, with a big, rusty CLANK, a missing lantern falls out of the backyard tree, and suddenly Josey sees a way to solve her family’s problems. It’s going to take a lot of help, a little magic and a turbo-powered swing, but Josey might just have a shot at bringing the neighborhood — and her family — back together again.

The Eggbees

The EGGerson family lives on a planet called NEGGarus in a galaxy far, far away. On NEGGarus, everything is either round or oval shaped. The people who live there Supersapien EGGbeings, or EGGbees come in different sizes and colors, but they re all shaped like, well, EGGs. The EGGerson family, like all EGGbee familes, has twelve members because they’re better by the dozen. In addition to Daddy, Mommy, Grandpa, and Grandma, there are GrEGG, JEGGsica, EGGward, EGGelbert, MEGGie, PEGGie, EGGmond, and EGGbeth. One day, Mommy EGGerson tells her children that their cousins from MEGGxico are coming for a visit. The kids are thrilled to meet the MEGGanas: LEGGticia, EGGuardo, PEGGlicia, DiEGGo, EGGnacio, MEGGuelito, MEGGarita, and EGGlida. But the EGGerson kids are surprised and confused by the MEGGanas’ appearance: their shells are a beautiful brown color, not white like the EGGersons’. As the cousins spend the next few days together, they come to realize that in spite of the difference in their shell color they have lots of things in common. Sure to generate giggles in children ages 4-8, this bilingual picture book focuses on family and daily activities to share an important concept with children about acceptance.

No Dogs Allowed!

Sometimes the unexpected is even more fun than the best-laid plans. Iris, her family, the neighbors, and dog take a road trip to the lake. But first, the cars break down. Then they get lost. And when they finally arrive at the lake, they see a NO DOGS ALLOWED sign. What to do? Iris’s family’s make-do attitude saves the day, for as they go about their beach activities while trying to figure out what to do with the dog, each takes a turn taking care of the dog. Soon the day is over, and the dog has had the best time of all — the beach had been brought to him. Sesame Street’s Sonia Manzano’s first picturebook provides an ocean of humor, a warm, close-knit Puerto Rican community, and a take-charge family who refuses to let things get in their way!