Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Poetry & Nursery Rhymes

Before Josh and Jordan Bell were streaking up and down the court, their father was learning his own moves. In this prequel to Newbery Medal winner The Crossover, Chuck Bell takes center stage, as listeners get a glimpse of his childhood and how he became the jazz music worshiping basketball star his sons look up to. A novel in verse with all the impact and rhythm listeners have come to expect from Kwame Alexander, Rebound will go back in time to visit the childhood of Chuck "Da Man" Bell during one pivotal summer when young Charlie is sent to stay with his grandparents, where he discovers basketball and learns more about his family's past.

From award-winning Irish author Meg Grehan comes an accessible and beautifully crafted middle-grade novel-in-verse about Stevie, a young girl reckoning with anxiety about the many things she has yet to understand - including her feelings about her friend Chloe.

How to catch a leprechaun? It’s tougher than you think! He’ll turn your whole house upside down. He’s quicker than a wink!

Taut free verse tells the little-known story of the first contraband camp of the Civil War - seen by some historians as the "beginning of the end of slavery in America". One night in 1861, three escaped slaves made their way from the Confederate line to a Union-held fort. The runaways were declared "contraband of war" and granted protection. As word spread, thousands of runaway slaves poured into the fort, seeking their freedom. These "contrabands" made a home for themselves, building the first African American community in the country.

15-year-old Dylan has always felt like an outsider in his small town. Isolated when he was younger as the result of his unpredictable, now absent mother and feeling like a disappointment to his grandfather who has stepped in to raise him, Dylan finds relief in the woods behind his grandfather's auto shop. Amidst the cool quiet of the trees, Dylan thrives on bird watching and writing poetry. But one afternoon after spotting an injured hawk, Dylan finds himself pushing out of his comfort zone to track down help for the bird—and ends up rescuing a part of himself in the process.

You gotta know the rules to play the game. Ball is life. Take it to the hoop. Soar. What can we imagine for ourselves? What if we were the star players, moving and grooving through the game of life? What if we had our own rules of the game to help us get what we want, what we aspire to, what will enrich our lives? The Playbook is intended to provide inspiration for kids ages 10 and up to help them succeed on and off the court.

A historically relevant middle-grade novel-in-verse about a girl's resiliency when faced with hatred towards refugees. Fans of The Night Diary and Inside Out and Back Again shouldn’t miss out. It's 1972 and Viva’s Indian family has been expelled from Uganda and sent to a resettlement camp in England, but not all of them made the trip. Her father is supposed to meet them in London, but he never shows up. As they wait for him, Viva, her mother, and her sister get settled in camp and try to make the best of their life there.

The Catch Club Kids are at it again! This time, they're out to trap the Daddysaurus—a mystical creature capable of such amazing acts of kindness, bravery, brilliance and humor. The kids try to trap the creature with all his favorite activities, but will they succeed? Maybe all they need is a little sweetness to make this awesome Daddysaurus appear! T

As the first rumblings of the pandemic sound around Garvey, he hardly notices. Caught up with his friends, school, chorus, and his newfound relationship with his father, he doesn't imagine that the new disease adults are talking about could touch him. But it will. When everything changes, when fear moves in, and when all seems dark, Garvey feels helpless. Yet one voice—Garvey's voice—can be a powerful spark in the dark …

In a captivating collection of poems, Roxane Orgill steps into the frame of Harlem 1958, bringing to life the musicians' mischief and quirks, their memorable style, and the vivacious atmosphere of a Harlem block full of kids on a hot summer's day.

Garvey's father has always wanted Garvey to be athletic, but Garvey is interested in astronomy, science fiction, reading - anything but sports. Feeling like a failure, he comforts himself with food. Garvey is kind, funny, smart, a loyal friend, and he is also overweight, teased by bullies, and lonely. When his only friend encourages him to join the school chorus, Garvey's life changes. The chorus finds a new soloist in Garvey, and through chorus Garvey finds a way to accept himself and a way to finally reach his distant father.

In this middle grade novel-in-verse by the Newbery Medal-winning and Coretta Scott King Honor Award-winning author of The Crossover, soccer, family, love, and friendship take center stage as 12-year-old Nick learns the power of words when he wrestles with problems at home, stands up to a bully, and tries to impress the girl of his dreams. Helping him along are his best friend and sometimes teammate, Coby; and The Mac, a rapping librarian who gives Nick inspiring books to read.

During a visit to her grandma's house, a young girl discovers a box of poems in the attic - poems written by her mother when she was growing up. Her mother's family often moved around the United States and the world because her father was in the air force. Over the years her mother used poetry to record her experiences in the many places the family lived. Reading the poems and sharing those experiences through her mother's eyes, the young girl feels closer to her mother than ever before.

In this lively book, children discover a world of colors all around them: red is spices and swirling skirts, yellow is masa, tortillas, and sweet corn cake. Many of the featured objects are Latino in origin, and all are universal in appeal. With rich, boisterous illustrations, a fun-to-listen-to rhyming text, and an informative glossary, this playful concept book will reinforce the colors found in every child's day!

Anikwa and James, 12 years old in 1812, spend their days fishing, trapping, and exploring together in the forests of the Indiana Territory. To Anikwa and his family, members of the Miami tribe, this land has been home for centuries. As traders, James' family has ties to the Miami community as well as to the American soldiers in the fort. Now tensions are rising - the British and American armies prepare to meet at Fort Wayne for a crucial battle, and Native Americans from surrounding tribes gather in Kekionga to protect their homeland.

"I have lost my new blue socks. Did I put them in my box?" Simple rhymes - including "socks", "box", "fox, " and "ox"! - spin the tale of a small duck who waddles through the countryside, forlornly searching for his blue socks. "I'm trying not to be depressed. / Without my socks I feel undressed." Finally, a sharp-eyed peacock sees a bit of blue peeking out of duck's lace-up shoes and the mini-mystery is solved! This winsome story shares the familiar experience of not really losing something after all.

John Farrell takes kids on a rhyming tour of the night sky, from A to Z, with facts about the wonders of space. From distant Andromeda, a galaxy made up of billions of stars, to the constellation of the zodiac, Farrell covers the high points of outer space. How do you find Jupiter or Venus? How does the Moon cause the tides of Earth's shores? How can you find the North Star, and why do all other stars seem to go around it? The answers to these and many other questions are contained in this beautiful volume of science that will delight a young listener's imagination.

This collection of short poems from Newbery Award-winning author Paul Fleischman delightfully celebrates the essence of birds. The companion to Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, its poems feature two voices speaking sometimes together and sometimes in turn. Experience the magic and magnificence of the immortal phoenix. Enjoy the fluttering elation of finches at dawn and the swiftness of swallows at dusk. And empathize with the loneliness of the pigeon in the Cincinnati Zoo.

When the ferocious beast with the polka-dot hide catches a piglet, he has a tough decision to make: whether to have him on whole wheat or rye bread. But the clever piglet saves his own life when he convinces the beast that the seams on his polka-dot hide are about to burst. To save his hide, the beast agrees to let the piglet fix all of his meals. “You have to eat the foods you like the least,” the piglet tells the beast. Soon, the beast is too sick to move, and the piglet sees his chance for escape.

This is a book for kids who wish they were jumping in leaf piles and climbing trees instead of learning their multiplication tables. It's for kids who worry that they'll never make it out of third grade, or that the other kids will make fun of them, or that their best will never be good enough. Messy desks, forgotten homework, embarrassing hiccups, favorite teachers - they're all here in these silly, sad, and funny poems.