A NCTE Notable Poetry Book The perfect gift for young soccer fans, this picture book features twenty-two imaginative poems that capture all aspects of the world's most popular sport. From the coach who inspires players to fly like the wind, to the shin guard that begs to be donned, to soccer dreams that fill the night, Soccerverse celebrates soccer. Featuring a diverse cast of girls and boys, the poems in this collection cover winning, losing, teamwork, friendships, skills, good sportsmanship, and, most of all, love for the game. Elizabeth Steinglass cleverly incorporates thirteen different poetic forms throughout the book, defining each in a note at the end, and Edson Ikê's bold artwork is as creative as the poems are surprising.

Beloved and bestselling poet Jack Prelutsky and New York Times Best Illustrated artist Carin Berger team up to create a new collection of silly, strange, and sensational animal poems! Told through couplets and visually arresting shadow boxes, dioramas, and cut-paper collage, Stardines Swim High Across the Sky evokes both natural history museums and wild and silly fantasy. "The zoology may be suspect, but the laughs are guaranteed."—Publishers Weekly Sixteen extraordinary imagined creatures inhabit the pages of this unique, inspired, humorous picture book ideal for sharing together, and for reading again and again. Jack Prelutsky reinvents many familiar and beloved animals by combining inanimate objects with them (so, for example, a pair of pants and an anteater become a panteater). Carin Berger's illustrations are showstoppers. Her shadow boxes and dioramas utilize vintage type, ephemera, and such elements as ribbon, cards, buttons, and wood and bring the animals to life. Read it aloud, read it together: this is a catalog of effervescent silliness and will undoubtedly inspire young poets and artists alike. "The total effect is both whimsical and fascinating, with rich language in the poems and unexpected objects in the pictures to return to over and over again.'—The Horn Book Supports the Common Core State Standards

A lyrical, gorgeously illustrated look at the majesty of trees—and what humans can learn from them Stand tall. Stretch your branches to the sun. Be a tree! We are all like trees: our spines, trunks; our skin, bark; our hearts giving us strength and support, like heartwood. We are fueled by air and sun. And, like humans, trees are social. They “talk” to spread information; they share food and resources. They shelter and take care of one another. They are stronger together. In this gorgeous and poetic celebration of one of nature’s greatest creations, acclaimed author Maria Gianferrari and illustrator Felicita Sala both compare us to the beauty and majesty of trees—and gently share the ways in which trees can inspire us to be better people.

Capture the joys of reading in this amazing poetry collection! From that thrilling moment when a child first learns to decipher words, to the excitement that follows in reading everything from road signs to field guides to internet articles to stories, these poems celebrate reading. They also explore what reading does -- how it opens minds, can make you kind, and allows you to explore the whole world. Ryan O’Rourke’s rich artwork beautifully captures the imagination and playfulness in these poems by noted author Amy Ludwig VanDerwater.

When a little girl has doubts about the color of her skin, her mother shows her all the wonderful, beautiful things brown can be! This message of self-love and acceptance uses rich, dreamy illustrations to celebrate the color using all the senses: sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. "I don't want to be brown!" says a little girl about her skin. But so many beautiful things in the world are brown -- calming beaches, cute animals, elegant violins, and more. Brown is musical. Brown is athletic. Brown is poetic. Brown is powerful! Through lyrical words and stunning illustrations, it soon becomes clear that this brown sugar babe should be proud of the skin she's in.

Kate and Tam meet, and both of their worlds tip sideways. At first, Tam figures Kate is your stereotypical cheerleader; Kate sees Tam as another tall jock. And the more they keep running into each other, the more they surprise each other. Beneath Kate's sleek ponytail and perfect façade, Tam sees a goofy, sensitive, lonely girl. And Tam's so much more than a volleyball player, Kate realizes: She's everything Kate wishes she could be. It's complicated. Except it's not. When Kate and Tam meet, they fall in like. It's as simple as that. But not everybody sees it that way. This novel in verse about two girls discovering their feelings for each other is a universal story of finding a way to be comfortable in your own skin.

When faced with the danger of giants, ogres, and witches, other damsels might quake with fear . . . but not LillyBelle! At the School for Damsels, LillyBelle enjoys many damsel-in-training classes, like cake baking and vocal training, but the rule that a damsel must be in distress . . . not so much. When she's captured by one villain after another, LillyBelle will need to use her charm and her wit to save herself and prove once and for all that damsels don't have to be in distress--all in time for tea!

A tiny tugboat overcomes her fears of a turbulent storm to save a stranded barge in this timeless tale of persistence. When faced with a tough challenge, Little Scoot only tries harder. Sent into a gathering storm to rescue a barge that's run aground, Little Scoot is tempted to turn around. But though she's scared of the squall, she perseveres through thunder, lightning, blustery winds, and swamping waves, reminding herself "Little Scoot never quits!" This triumphant tale is a testimony to the power of determination.

A NSTA/CBC Best STEM Book The curiosity of the first African American entomologist Charles Henry Turner--a scientist who studied bugs--shines in this nonfiction picture book, which showcases his ideas and discoveries about ants, bees, and other insects. Charles Henry Turner's mind itched with questions. Fascinated by animals, bugs, and crustaceans, Turner studied their lives. When books didn't answer his questions, he researched, experimented, and looked for answers on his own, even when faced with racial prejudice. Author Janice Harrington and artist Theodore Taylor III capture the life of this scientist and educator, highlighting his unstoppable curiosity and his passion for insects and biology. The extensive back matter includes an author's note, timeline, bibliography, source notes, and archival images.

Here is the remarkable story of Bus #2857 and its passengers, including Rosa Parks, who changed history in Montgomery, Alabama, in December 1955. Like all buses in Montgomery, Alabama in the 1950s, bus #2857 was segregated: white passengers sat in the front, and Black passengers sat in the back. Bus #2857 was ordinary -- until a woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. Her arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a major event in the Civil Rights moment, which was led by a young minister named Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For 382 days, Black passengers chose to walk rather than ride the buses in Montgomery. This picture book is told from the point of view of the bus, telling its story from the streets where it rode, to its present home in the Henry Ford Museum.