Children's Books for Parents and Teachers - book reviews and suggestions for parents and teachers.
Social Issues
Umbrella Summer

Annie Richards knows there are a million things to look out for—bicycle accidents, food poisoning, chicken pox, smallpox, typhoid fever, runaway zoo animals, and poison oak. That’s why being careful is so important, even if it does mean giving up some of her favorite things, like bike races with her best friend, Rebecca, and hot dogs on the Fourth of July. Everyone keeps telling Annie not to worry so much, that she’s just fine. But they thought her brother, Jared, was just fine too, and Jared died.


Upstairs Room

A Life in Hiding… When the German army occupied Holland, Annie de Leeuw was eight years old. Because she was Jewish, the occupation put her in grave danger-she knew that to stay alive she would have to hide. Fortunately, a Gentile family, the Oostervelds, offered to help. For two years they hid Annie and her sister, Sini, in the cramped upstairs room of their farmhouse. Most people thought the war wouldn’t last long. But for Annie and Sini — separated from their family and confined to one tiny room — the war seemed to go on forever.


Words Are Not for Hurting

This is a useful tool  for Parents  and caregiver in teaching the difference between kind  and hurtful words and their impact on others.