Book Finder
Use our Book Finder tool to create your own customized list of fiction and nonfiction books. Search through more than 5,000 books on Reading Rockets — by author, illustrator, age, reading level, genre, format, and topic.
Island Counting 1 2 3
Count people and animals doing what they do on a Caribbean island. From one to ten, the rhyming text combines with brightly colored, child-like illustrations to produce the sense of place and people.
Mud City: A Flamingo Story
The creator of this book visited the Inagua National Park in the Bahamas to tell a dramatic story of how the elegant pink flamingos live, thrive, and even survive a hurricane on their protected island home. Dramatic paintings and a vibrant narrative will inform and inspire young readers.
Nina Bonita
This delightful book is set on a Caribbean island and features a little white rabbit who admires a beautiful black girl. He asks her what her secret is and she tells him to drink lots of black coffee and to eat lots of black beans. He doesn't give up though and in the end finds what change he can make.
The Bossy Gallito /Bossy Gallito / El gallo de bodas: A Traditional Cuban Folktale
Travel with Bossy Rooster to his uncle's wedding. Of course the road is not entirely smooth in this cumulative, handsomely illustrated tale from Cuba — and that's when the fun begins!
The Banza: A Haitian Story
Vivid colors depict the Haitian setting for a tale in which a goat uses the banza, a banjo, given to him by a tiger, for protection in an unforeseen way. The traditional tale is retold in a way ideal for sharing aloud, and is complemented by expressive illustrations.
Angelina's Island
Every day, Angelina tells her mother she wants to go home. Not to their new city home, cold and gray and unfamiliar — but their old island home in Jamaica, sunny and colorful and filled with rainbow-colored fruits and birds. Angelina believes she'll never feel at home in this new place, until her mother finds a wonderful surprise in the newspaper. A beautiful tribute to the traditions of the West Indies, Carnival, and the longing for home that young immigrants will recognize immediately.
Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré
What happens when you plant a seed? With a bit of care, something grows. The first children’s librarian from Puerto Rico, Pura Belpré (for whom an American Library Association literary award is named) planted seeds of stories throughout New York City where she worked, introducing children to tales from her homeland in Spanish and English. Illustrations bring the time and period to life.
Looking for a Jumbie
Naya’s mom says jumbies aren’t real but on a night with a full moon, the little girl goes out to find one. Instead, she meets other creatures straight from Caribbean folklore. Rich colors and not-too-scary characters combine with an engaging narration ideal for sharing aloud.
The Secret of the Plátano
Richly-colored illustrations depict a lush Caribbean countryside as a grandmother and her grandson dance and sway to the secret of the plátanos, complemented by rhythmic language. Both author and illustrator draw upon their Dominican heritage to evoke a strong sense of place. Also available in Spanish, El secreto del plátanos.
Under the Sunday Tree
Poetry and vibrant paintings in the primitive style by a recognized Bahamian artist create memorable portrayals in this unique collaboration of words and images.
