Show 2.13: Heroes
Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters
Author: Andrea Davis Pinkney
Ten freedom fighters let their lights shine on the darkness of discrimination. The lives these women led are part of an incredible story about courage in the face of oppression; about the challenges and triumphs of the battle for civil rights; and about speaking out for what you believe in -- even when it feels like no one is listening.

Show 2.12: Good Guys / Bad Guys
Cowboys of the Wild West
Author: Russell Freedman
Introduces readers to the proud young men who inspired a legend -- the trail-driving cow herders of the late nineteenth century. Historic black-and-white photographs and no-nonsense writing give this volume style, punch and character.

Show 2.11: Friendship
Joyful Noise
Author: Paul Fleischman, Illustrator: Eric Beddows
Winner of the 1989 Newbery Award, Joyful Noise is a children's book of poetry about insects that was designed for two readers to enjoy together. On each page are two columns of verse for children to alternate reading aloud about the lives of six-legged creatures ranging from fireflies writing in the sky to a love affair between two lice, crickets eating pie crumbs and the single day in the life of a mayfly.

Show 2.10: Illness
Doctor De Soto
Author and Illustrator: William Steig
Dr. De Soto, a mouse dentist, copes with the toothaches of various animals except those with a taste for mice, until the day a fox comes to him in great pain.

Show 2.09: City vs. Country
145th Street
Author: Walter Dean Myers
A collection of stories set on one block of 145th Street. We get to know the oldest resident; the cop on the beat; fine Peaches and her girl, Squeezie; Monkeyman; and a lot more. Some of these stories are private, and some are the ones behind the headlines.

Show 2.08: Humor
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
Author: John Scieszka, Illustrator: Lane Smith
Wonderfully quirky, this book breathes new life into staid children's stories. In these irreverent variations on well-known themes, the ugly duckling grows up to be an ugly duck, and the princess who kisses the frog wins only a mouthful of amphibian slime.

Show 2.07: Leadership
Weslandia
Author: Paul Fleischman, Illustrator: Kevin Hawkes
Wesley's garden produces a crop of huge, strange plants which provide him with clothing, shelter, food, and drink, thus helping him create his own civilization and changing his life.

Show 2.06: Romance
Ooh-La-La (Max in Love)
Author and Illustrator: Maira Kalman
Max, the dog poet, is finally in Paris, and all the most elite Parisians want to show him around. But when he sees the Dalmatian Crepes Suzette perform at the Crazy Wolf, he knows he's found the dog of his dreams.

Show 2.05: Mystery
The Mystery of the Monkey's Maze
Author: Doug Cushman
This is a book to help you explore the amazing territory that is inside the bag you live in that you call your skin. It will show you experiments to try, tests to take, and tools to make that will help you see and feel and hear what is going on inside. You'll amaze yourself.

Show 2.03: Prejudice
Dear Dr. King
Edited by Jan Colbert and Ann McMillan Harms, photographs by Ernest C. Withers and Roy Cajero
A collection of letters from children and teachers in the Memphis City school system.

Show 2.02: Dreaming
Skellig
Author: David Almond
Michael was looking forward to his new house and neighborhood, until his infant sister became very ill. Now his parents are constantly frantic, the scary doctor is always coming around, and Michael feels helpless. When he goes out into the old rickety garage, he comes across a mysterious being living beneath spider webs and eating flies for dinner. This creature calls himself Skellig, and over the weeks Michael and his new friend Mina bring Skellig out in to the light, and their worlds change forever.

Show 2.01: Illustrating
Tuesday
Author: David Wiesner
Frogs rise on their lily pads, float through the air, and explore the nearby houses while their inhabitants sleep.

Show 1.52: Siblings
Twin Tales
Author: Donna Jasckson
Explores aspects of the topic of twins, including why and how they are born, twin telepathy, identical and fraternal twins, separation of twins, and more.

Show 1.51: Christmas
A Christmas Carol
Author: Charles Dickens, Illustrator: William Geldart
A miser learns the true meaning of Christmas when three ghostly visitors review his past and foretell his future.

Show 1.50: Running Away
Ghost Boy
Author: Iain Lawrence
Unhappy in a home seemingly devoid of love, a fourteen-year-old albino boy who thinks of himself as Harold the Ghost runs away to join the circus, where he works with the elephants and searches for a sense of who he is.

Show 1.49: Creativity
Frindle
Author: Andrew Clements
Illustrator: Brian Selznick
Nick Allen likes to liven things up at school - and he's always had plenty of great ideas. When Nick learns some interesting information about how words are created, suddenly he's got the inspiration for his best plan ever...the frindle. Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle? Things begin innocently enough as Nick gets his friends to use the new word. Then other people in town start saying frindle. Soon the school is in an uproar, and Nick has become a local hero. His teacher wants Nick to put an end to all this nonsense, but the funny thing is frindle doesn't belong to Nick anymore. The new word is spreading across the country, and there's nothing Nick can do to stop it.

Show 1.48: Seven Deadly Sins
King Midas: A Golden Tale
Author: John Warren Stewig
Illustrator: Omar Rayyan
King Midas loves gold. Nothing can satisfy his desire for the precious metal, until a mysterious stranger offers him the gift of the Golden Touch. In this modern retelling of the familiar tale of greed and regret, Midas learns the hard way that some things in life are indeed more precious than gold.

Show 1.47: Family
The Animal Family
Author: Randall Jarrell
Illustrator: Maurice Sendak
A lonely hunter living in the wilderness beside the sea gains a family made up of a mermaid, a bear, a lynx, and a boy.

Show 1.46: Movies / Harry Potter
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Author: J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter has no idea how famous he is. That's because he's being raised by his miserable aunt and uncle who are terrified Harry will learn that he's really a wizard, just as his parents were. But everything changes when Harry is summoned to attend an infamous school for wizards, and he begins to discover some clues about his illustrious birthright. From the surprising way he is greeted by a lovable giant, to the unique curriculum and colorful faculty at his unusual school, Harry finds himself drawn deep inside a mystical world he never knew existed and closer to his own noble destiny.

Show 1.45: Intuition
Tom
by Tomie De Paola
In a story based on his own childhood, Tomie dePaola tells about little Tommy's regular Sunday visits with his grandfather, Tom.

Show 1.44: Starting Over
Little Lit: Folklore and Fairy Tale Funnies
by Art Spieigelman and Francoise Mouly
Cartoonists and children's book artists from around the world have gathered to bring you the magic of fairy tales through the wonder of comics. The stories range from old favorites to new discoveries, from the profound to the silly.

Show 1.43: Monsters
Bunnicula
by Deborah & James Howe
It all begins when the Monroes go to see the movie Dracula. At the theater, Toby finds something on his seat -- a baby rabbit, which he takes home and names Bunnicula. It proves to be an apt name as far as Chester the cat is concerned. Well-read and observant, Chester soon decides that there is something odd about the newcomer. Is Bunnicula really a vampire? Only Bunnicula knows for sure.

Show 1.42: Mothers
Monster Mama
by Liz Rosenberg
Everyone in town knows that Patrick's mother is a monster--even Patrick. To Patrick, Monster Mama is the best mother in the world. Then one day Patrick's mother sends him out for something lovely for dessert. When three bullies pounce, Patrick realizes that he may be more like his mother than he realized.

Show 1.41: Gender
William's Doll
Written by Charlotte Zolotow, Illustrated by William Pene Dubois
William is a happy little boy who wants only one thing: a doll. His brother calls him a sissy, and his father buys him "boy" toys to try to get him to change. When William's understanding grandmother learns what William wants, she takes him to the store and chooses a doll for him. She knows that William needs the doll to cuddle and love, and to help him become a caring father one day.

Show 1.38: Imprisonment
The Giver
by Lois Lowry
Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

• Read our interview with Lois Lowry

Show 1.37: Fathers and Sons
Guess How Much I Love You?
Author: Sam McBratney, Illustrator: Anita Jeram
During a bedtime game, every time Little Nutbrown Hare demonstrates how much he loves his father, Big Nutbrown Hare gently shows him that the love is returned even more.

Show 1.36: Fear
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
Author: Alvin Schwartz, Illustrator: Stephen Gammell
Walking corpses, dancing bones, knife-wielding madmen, and narrow escapes from death -- they're all here in this chilling collection of ghost stories. Let the faint of heart beware!

Show 1.35:

"What are you going to be when you grow up?" Here's an exploration of this age-old question as only the creator of Max in Hollywood, Baby could do it. A dazzling series of linked portraits deftly draws us into a colorful, fantastical world full of people engaged in assorted occupations.

Show 1.34: Unrequited Love
I Feel a Little Jumpy Around You
Edited by Naomi Shihab Nye and Paul B. Janeczko

A collection of poems, by male and female authors, presented in pairings that offer insight into how men and women look at the world, both separately and together.

Show 1.33: Hope

Dear Dr. King: Letters from Today's Children to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
(Edited by Jan Colbert and Ann McMillan Harms, Photographs by Ernest C. Withers and Roy Cajero

A collection of letters from children and teachers in the Memphis City school system.

Show 1.32: Heroes

Theodore Roosevelt: Letters from a Young Coal Miner (Dear Mr. President series)
by Jennifer Armstrong
Fifteen-year-old Frank Kovacs, a Polish immigrant working in the coal mines of eastern Pennsylvania, begins a correspondence with Theodore Roosevelt after he assumes the presidency on September 14, 1901.

Show 1.31: Intuition

Heaven Eyes
by David Almond
Erin Law and her friends are Damaged Children. At least that is the label given to them by Maureen, the woman who runs the orphanage that they live in. Damaged, Beyond Repair because they have no parents to take care of them. But Erin knows that if they care for each other they can put up with the psychologists, the social workers, the therapists - at least most of the time. Sometimes there is nothing left but to run away...

Show 1.30: Violence

The Spying Game
by Pat Moon
After his father is killed in a traffic accident, twelve-year-old Joe Harris becomes obsessed with punishing the man he thinks is responsible, but his plan gets out of control when he discovers that the man's son is a classmate.

Show 1.29: Family

Dancing in Cadillac Light
by Kimberly Willis Holt
Set against a backdrop of a small town in Texas in 1968, Kimberly Willis Holt's fourth novel brims with quirky Southern characters and the wisdom and humor that are her trademarks.

Show 1.28: Underwater

The Truth about Great White Sharks
by Mary M. Carullo, photographer Jeffrey L Rotman, illustrated by Michael Wertz
Take a trip to the ocean's depth to learn the truth about these infamous creatures.

Show 1.27:

Riding Freedom
by Pam Munoz Ryan, illustrated by Brian Selznick
By the age of 12, Charlotte Parkhurst knows the world of the 1860s holds more opportunities for boys than girls. So she cuts off her hair, dons boy's clothing and begins a new life that gives her many privileges, including the right to vote.

Show 1.26: Outer Space

The Mystery of Mars
by Sally Ride and Tam O'Shaughnessy
In 1997, NASA's Pathfinder began a new era in Mars exploration when it touched down and, along with its tiny rover, Sojourner, explored the Martian surface for the first time in 20 years...

Show 1.25: Gender

William's Doll by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by William Pene Dubois
William is a happy little boy who wants only one thing: a doll.

Show 1.24 Awards

A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
In 1937, during the Depression, fifteen-year-old Mary Alice, initially apprehensive about leaving Chicago to spend a year with her fearsome, larger-than-life grandmother in rural Illinois, gradually begins to better understand and admire her grandmother's unusual qualities.

Show 1.23 Siblings

Twin Tales: The Magic and Mystery of Multiple Birth by Donna M. Jackson
From fantastic, televised stories of separations at birth to the identical sisters in your fourth-grade class, the phenomenon of twins has always been an enthralling and mysterious subject, especially for children.

Show 1.20 Gotta Be Me

My Life, Take Two by Paul Many
Sixteen-year-old Neal Thackeray believes his life is pre-programmed to follow a logical (and boring) path from school to job to marriage to home ownership....

Show 1.18 Good Guys/Bad Guys
Habibi
by Naomi Shihab Nye
When fourteen-year-old Liyanne Abboud, her younger brother, and her parents move from St. Louis to a new home between Jerusalem and the Palestinian village where her father was born, they face many changes and must deal with the tensions between Jews and Palestinians.