All you need is LOVE.

Teach children about sharing and caring in these extraordinary new titles, all about love in its many forms

Subira Subira

By Tololwa M. Mollel, illustrated by Linda Saport; 32 pages; Clarion, 2000; $15

After Mother dies, Father asks Tatu to take care of her little brother, Maulidi, before and after school. It is no easy task. A sullen, angry Maulidi bites her arm and throws rocks at her. Tatu seeks out MaMzuka, a mysterious spirit woman who can grant wishes, and asks her to make her brother good. The old woman instructs her to pluck three whiskers from a lion--a terrifying task Tatu completes with patience, courage, and a song. (Words and music to the song she sings are appended, so all can join the repeated refrains.) MaMzuka blows away the three treasured whiskers, telling a dismayed Tatu, "To change your brother, just remember how you got the whiskers."

See activity box, right.

Then try ... Gloria's Way

By Ann Cameron, illustrated by Lis Toft; 96 pages; Farrar, 2000; $15

With the help of her best friends, Huey and Julian; their dad, Mr. Bates; and her own busy dad, Gloria makes a special valentine for her mom, dumps an apple pie upside down, and figures out fractions.

Then try ... My Very Own Room/Mi proprio cuartito

By Amada Irma Perez, illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez; 32 pages; Children's Book Press, 2000; $15.95

Craving a space all her own after years of sharing a room with her five little brothers, a nine-year-old Mexican-American girl decides she should take over the storage closet for her very own.

Then try ... The Girl Who Spun Gold

By Virginia Hamilton, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon; 32 pages; Blue Sky/Scholastic, 2000; $16.95

In an elegant, richly illustrated West Indian variant of Rumpelstiltskin, young Quashiba's mother tells gold-loving Big King that her daughter can spin the finest golden thread. He marries the girl, expecting her to weave him three rooms of golden things in a year and a day.

Satchel Paige 

Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James E. Ransome; 40 pages; Simon & Schuster, 2000; $16

This energetic picture-book biography of Leroy "Satchel" Paige describes the love of baseball that led him to become pitcher extraordinaire for the Negro Leagues in the 1920s, and the first black pitcher to be drafted into the major leagues in 1948. Toting luggage for train travelers at the Mobile, Alabama, station, Leroy Paige earned his nickname by hanging their satchels on a long stick balanced across his shoulders. Sent to reform school for stealing, 12-year-old Satchel played on the school baseball team. As a young man in 1924, he became a star of the Negro Leagues; and in 1948, he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians. Full-page, expressive oil paintings capture Satchel's intense concentration and passion for the game, and the insightful text measures the devastating effects of segregation on the careers of the Negro Leagues' players. See activity box, right.

Grades 2-5

Then try ...The Girl Who Struck Out Babe Ruth

Jean L. S. Patrick, illustrated by Jeni Reeves; 48 pages; Carolrhoda, 2000; $21.27

Grades 1-4

Adaline Falling Star

On April 2, 1931, 17-year-old pitcher Jackie Mitchell,the first female member of the Lookouts, a men's minor league baseball team, struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig during a preseason game with the New York Yankees.

Grades 4-8

Mary Pope Osborne; 170 pages; Scholastic, 2000; $16.95

Adaline Carson, 11-year-old daughter of famous scout Kit Carson and Singing Wind, an Arapaho woman, is devastated to be left with her father's cousins in St. Louis, where she is expected to work as a servant. Pa has joined John Fremont's expedition through the Rockies, and with Ma recently dead, the only thing Adaline has left to love is the cornsilk dolly Pa made for her. Considered a savage by her cousins, Adaline, the eloquent narrator of this poignant novel, becomes purposely mute--"quiet as a rabbit"--in their hostile presence. Only the kitchen slave, Caddie, understands and helps her. When she runs away, disguised as a boy, Adaline is sustained by the company of another stray: an ugly little mongrel dog she is determined not to love.

Then try ... Sacajawea

By Joseph Bruchac; 199 pages; Harcourt, 2000; $17

Told to Sacajawea's seven-year-old son, Pomp, in Sacajawea's and William Clark's alternating viewpoints, this is the riveting, fictionalized story of the Lewis and Clark expedition that left Missouri in 1804 and reached the Pacific Ocean more than a year later. Based on original source materials, this is an expertly crafted work of historical fiction.

Grades 5-8.

The Graduation of Jake Moon

Grades 5-8

By Barbara Park, illustrated by Paul Colin; 116 pages; Atbeneum, 2000; $15

When Jake is in third grade, his beloved grandfather, Skelly, develops Alzheimer's disease. As it worsens over the years, Jake becomes more and more resentful about helping to care for him. Skelly no longer recognizes new faces, has a voracious sweet tooth, repeats questions endlessly, and tends to wander if he's not watched over carefully. Jake, now in eighth grade, does not cope magnificently with this adversity. He still loves his grandfather, but has not had friends to the house since the time Skelly embarrassed him when a new friend was spending the night. Just when Jake thinks he can't be more miserable, Skelly wanders off from the Senior Center and disappears. Don't for a minute think this is a depressing Alzheimer's treatise; Park's narrative is fresh and funny and always compelling.

See activity box, below.

Then try ... A Year Down Yonder 

By Richard Peck; 130 pages; Dial, 2000; $16.99

During the recession of 1937, 15-year-old Mary Alice is sent to spend the school year with her crafty, crusty Grandma Dowdel, in a small Illinois town also featured in Peck's Newbery Honor book, A Long Way From Chicago (1998). City girl Mary Alice, who arrives with a portable radio and her cat, Bootsie, is not looking forward to living in a hick town with no picture show, no telephone, and even an outdoor privy. You'll get the sights and sounds of the Depression from this laugh-out-loud collection of wry anecdotes, each featuring Grandma Dowdel, who, underneath it all, really does have a heart of gold.

Grades 5-8

The Raft

By Jim LaMarcbe; 32 pages; HarperCollins, 2000; $15.95

Nicky is sure his summer, to be spent with his eccentric grandmother in her riverside cabin in the woods, will be boring. There's no TV, and he's even expected to catch fish for their supper. Then he discovers a raft floating downstream, its boards covered with drawings of wild animals. Where did it come from? Entranced, he spends every free minute on the raft, observing and drawing the animals he sees, with subtle encouragement from Grandma. Children in a great hurry, with too many lessons and planned sports, will revel in Nicky's discoveries about wildlife, his talent as an artist, and his burgeoning closeness to his artist grandmother. This quiet, unhurried story, with its animal imagery and nature-rich watercolors, brings out the river rat and the artist inside us all.

Grades K-5

See activity box, right.

Then try ... Michelangelo

By Diane Stanley; 48 pages; HarperCollins, 2000; $15.95

In a gorgeous, heartstoppingly beautiful picture-book biography of artist Michelangelo, Stanley has incorporated his masterpieces of painting and sculpture into her own stately watercolors.

Grades 4-8

Then try ... Lucky Pennies and Hot Chocolate With Grandpa,

By Carol Diggory Shields, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata; 32 pages; Dutton, 2000; $14.99

A grandfather and grandson enjoy a perfect November day together, telling knock-knock jokes, playing ball and dominoes, driving around with the top down, and sharing a good book.

Grades PK-1

Judy Freeman is a children's literature consultant and the author of More Books Kids Will Sit Still For (R.R. Bowker, 1995: 1-888-BOWKER2); and Hi Ho Librario: Songs, Chants, and Stories to Keep Kids Humming, a package that includes a book and tape cassette (Rock Hill Press, 1997: 1-888-ROCKHILL).

ACTIVITY: Subira Subira

Story Variants--Make a large Venn Diagram comparing this tender story, based on an African folktale, with the versions or variants by Nancy Raines Day (The Lion's Whiskers: An Ethiopian Folktale, illustrated by Ann Grifalconi; Scholastic, 1995) and Jane kurtz (Pulling the Lion's Tail, illustrated by Floyd Cooper; Simon & Schuster, 1995). Discussion point: How did getting near to the lion help each main character solve her problem? Children can then write about a time they solved a family or personal problem using the wise advice of others and/or their own ingenuity.

ACTIVITY: Satchel Paige

Vital Statistics--Read this inspirational. story and use the "Vital Statistics" page as a model for students to do reports on other sports greats. Using information from books, the newpapers' sports pages, and the Internet, they can write up and illustrate their findings in an oversized-sports-card format. Post the cards outside the classroom as a "wall of heroes."

ACTIVITY: The Graduation of Jake Moon What Would You Do? -- The devastatingly on-target first chapter, where two boys taunt an old man in a dumpster while the third watches and does nothing, will start a heartfelt dialogue with students, about personal and family responsibility, embarrassment, and coping skills in times of trial. For that third boy is Jake; watching without interference but with plenty of guilt, as his two friends unknowingly make fun of his grandfather. Question starter: What would you have done in Jake's place? Children can work in trios to role-play the scene; trying out different endings.

ACTIVITY: The Raft

Book of Hearts--Encourage children to make a unique Valentine's Day gift by drawing a portrait of an older relative, bordered by a heart-shaped frame. Have children cut out several extra matching heart shapes and staple them behind the portrait to make a "Book of Hearts." Children can invite other family members to add Valentine's wishes to the pages, or they can include poems, inspirational quotes, or personal messages. Have them present the completed book to the relative.