Bridge to America

The year is 1920; the setting is a small village in Poland.  Fival and his family are extremely poor and live in fear of the Cossacks and their pograms against Jews.  Fival's father has gone to America to find work and save money, so he can send for the rest of the family.  When the passage money finally arrives, Fival and his family move to Duluth, Minnesota to join his father.  Based on the true story of Phil Myzel, this novel by Linda Glaser tells an absorbing, hopeful story of immigrants to America in the early twentieth century.  It is a resource for social studies classes.

Dragonfly Door

Readers of this picture book about the life cycle will meet two insect friends, Lea and Nym, who are water nymphs living in a marsh.  One day Lea is missing and Nym looks everywhere for her.  Eventually Nym learns that Lea has died and gone to a new world to be a dragonfly.  It's a story about the life cycle, but with overtones about death and future life, possibly making it appropriate to use with grieving children.  Written by Minnesota author John Adams, with illustrations by Barbara Gibson, this is a simple story to share with young children.  Endnotes provide more detail about the life cycle of dragonflies.

Beaver, Bear, Snowshoe Hare; North Woods Mammal Poems

A combination poetry and science book, this includes poems about 21 animals found in the North Woods.  Poetry forms include: free verse, haiku, lullabies, lyric, narrative, and sonnets, among others.  The information for each animal includes a brief sketch, including their scientific name.  This is the work of two Minnesotans--Cheryl Dannenbring is the author, and Anna Hess is the illustrator.  Although the page layouts could have been more readable in spots; in general, this can be a resource for classes studying Minnesota animals.

Aunt Mary's Rose

Aunt Mary tells her nephew Douglas to water and care for a special rosebush; and then someday, a little bit of Douglas will be inside the rosebush.  Douglas can only see a plain old rosebush, until Aunt Mary tells the family story of the rosebush from the time when her grandfather planted it. The story is based on a real event in author Doug Woods' youth.  The illustrations by LeUyen Pham are soft pastel watercolor paintings, with sepia-toned 'photos' of the family from the 1930's-1950's.  This could be used as a supplementary resource to introduce farm life in that era, or to introduce a family biography unit.

Scare a Bear

What if a bear wandered into your camp? Do you know how to scare a bear? This rhyming story by Kathy-Jo Wargin has lots of suggestions to try when a too-friendly bear visits camp.  The humorous illustrations by John Bendall-Brunells add to the fun. A perfect way to end the summer camping season!

The Golden Ghost

Fittingly, it is Labor Day weekend, which is where this story starts.  Delsie and her friend Todd can't find anything interesting to do on this last weekend of summer.  Then they dare one another to explore several old abandoned houses near the edge of town.  All are locked except one which has evidence that someone might be living in it.  Even more surprising, something doesn't want Delsie to leave.  It's a dog, a strange golden dog that only Delsie can see.  This is the latest installment in Marion Dane Bauer's ghost story series, and will be a perfect fit for kids who want a dog, but can't have one.