Book Finder

What has six legs, is very strong, always busy, and probably lives in your neighborhood? The ant, of course! Find out more about this small insect, then try your hand at some ant-related projects. Clear photographs and readable text in this attractive book will start your ant-venture. (For an ant’s eye view of the insect world in photographs, take a look at In Front of the Ant: Walking with Beetles and Other Insects by Ryuichi Kuwahara).

José lives in a diverse neighborhood where he’s just as likely to hear Spanish, English, or Chinese. The appealing photographs in this book document José’s life at home, at school, and on the streets of his colorful barrio in San Francisco, a city that is a dynamic mosaic of different cultures. Available in a Spanish.

Share the five days of Carnaval revelry — beginning with the lengthy preparations in Olinda, a northeastern Brazilian city. The book features stunning photographs and crisp text, handsomely formatted.

Visit Guadalajara, Mexico and live for a day in the life of a Mexican horseman during the celebration known as el día del charro. In this photo-essay, Ancona discusses the training necessary to become a charro or a charra.

Art is meant to be enjoyed, and sometimes even eaten! Create, then consume, the attractive, tasty, and nutritious treats featured in this fun recipe book.

Life on a cattle farm is both a grind and a thrill. Share both with the Eby family on their working ranch in New Mexico as they share the commotion of spring cattle roundup where everyone — including the kids — works diligently.

Meet kids in Cuba as they work, play, and go to school. They live in cities and in the country, similar to other children around the world. A straightforward text is expanded by the crisp, varied photographs.

Make a thumbprint, add a few lines, and voila! you get an instant cartoon! This easy-to-follow book helps even the youngest make fascinating, funny creatures.

Caren and her family prepare for the festival of San Juan de Dios in Tultepec, a Mexican town noted for its fireworks. Full color photographs and lively text capture many aspects of this exciting tradition.

Full color photographs and informative text introduce four Hispanic holidays that are celebrated in the United States, including the Day of the Dead and Las Posadas. Each celebration is photographed in a different U.S. city.

Imagine traveling to Egypt with the well known and much loved teacher, Ms. Frizzle. Well, the kids join the Friz on a trip to Egypt finding them enmeshed in the goings-on of ancient Egypt — including mummification and building the pyramids. The intermingling of lively text and adroit illustration are well placed in the oversize format.

The Georges most prominent in early America — England’s George III and America’s George Washington — had much in common even though their politics put them on opposite sides of the issue of independence as well as the Atlantic. Serious information about the men, their struggles, and the times in which they lived is conveyed in an engaging format and light touch that tells of the birth of the United States.

George Ancona’s colorful photographs capture the spirit, movement, and form of basic finger spelling used by the deaf and often learned by hearing children as well.

Readers learn of Mexican migrant workers’ difficult lives in this photo-documentary. Despite backbreaking labor in poor conditions, the workers take pride in what they do and struggle to help their families get ahead.

Dr. Seuss could have come up with the names of these lip-smacking delights! Frozen Bananoids, Soap Bubbles Supreme – the recipes may have peculiar names, but they are familiar to and enjoyed by children and adults alike.

This collection of creative activities involve science, art, cooking, and more. Concocting these concoctions will provide hours of ooey, gooey fun.

Visit Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula to meet several generations of Mayan Indians, learn a bit about their history, culture, and contemporary life in this riveting portrait in pictures and words.

Ancona takes a look at Latino and Hispanic murals within the United States in this fascinating photo-essay. The photos vary between broad shots, close-ups that reveal details, and images of a variety of people either creating or viewing the paintings.

Jesse Owens was a breakthrough athlete – an African American who captured the world stage (and four gold medals!) at the 11th Olympiad in Nazi Germany. In this book, readers will learn about his life through brief text and watercolor illustrations. Younger readers may enjoy Patricia and Fredrick McKissack’s picture book, Jesse Owens: Olympic Star.

What do the colors, sights, and spectacle of a powwow mean to a present-day boy? A contemporary powwow transforms Anthony Standing Rock from a modern kid in a t-shirt to a powerful dancer at this Crow gathering in Montana.

Ms. Brandt’s class gets an assignment to write about all of the U.S. presidents. Basic information about who can be the president and what the job really entails is followed by a one-page overview of each president. Several blank pages and a space to fill in information at the end of George W. Bush’s term will keep this book, which has the informal look of a child’s journal, current beyond this year’s election.

Even though the ancient Greeks conceived the Olympics, it was a small Frenchman “with a shrill voice and a bushy mustache” who almost single-handedly brought the modern Olympics to life again. This revealing, clear, and handsome book provides an engaging and authoritative overview of the summer Olympics.

Take a tour through four national aquariums and learn how they are set up, the educational displays they offer, and what sort of things a visitor will see.

The planetarium is closed for repairs, so the Magic School Bus blasts off on a real tour of the solar system. After their previous field trips, the children in Ms. Frizzle’s class are rather blasé about landing on the Moon, Venus, and Mars. A first-class introduction to the planets, fine for pleasure or purpose reading.