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Ballet for Martha
This is the story of the collaboration between Martha Graham and Aaron Copeland that resulted in a famous work of music and a famous ballet. Reveals the work that happens behind the scenes by the choreographer, composer and set developer of a ballet.
| Author: Greenberg, J. & Jordan, S. |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | language arts - writing
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Strongest Man in the World, The: Louis Cyr
The text of this book goes far beyond just being the biography of a famous 20th century strong man, Louis Cyr. It is a description of early health mores and an evolution of the circus concept. Additionally, we learn a little about the other famous circus
| Author: Debon, Nicolas |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Work
Interesting photographs and spare text describe work. (Note that a child's point of view is portrayed.)
| Author: Morris, Ann |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Work > occupations > cowboy
Black Cowboy Wild Horses
This book is based on the true story of Bob Lemmons, a former slave, whose adventures as a cowboy in Texas were legendary.
| Author: Lester, Julius |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
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Boss of the Plains
The illustrations and text tell how and why the cowboy hat, called the Boss of the Plains, was created by John B. Stetson in 1859. A bibliography and biography extend the usefulness of the book.
Ghost Towns
Color photographs and colorful text describe many ghost towns in the American West. The author includes a list of books for further reading.
| Author: Bial, Raymond |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
In the Days of the Vaqueros
Russell Freedman has created another interesting non-fiction book, this time on the vaqueros, who were the forerunners of cowboys. As usual, the author illustrates his essays with paintings, archival photographs and includes useful resources in a bibliog
| Author: Freedman, Russell |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Work > occupations > farming
Angels in the Dust
A poignant story of a family living in the Dust Bowl trying to make ends meet.
| Author: Raven, Margot Theis |
HSE Descriptors:
science | social studies
|
Buffalo Gals: Women of the Old West
Primary documents (e.g., journal entries, letters, song lyrics) are woven into a description of the women on the old west and their lives.
| Author: Miller, Brandon Marie |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Children of the Great Depression
With the aid of archival photographs from The Farm Security Administration, Freedman tells the poignant story of the humiliation, poverty, migration, lack of schooling, and back-breaking work faced by children during the Great Depression of the 1930's in
| Author: Freedman, Russell |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Family Farm
Two children learn that their family is in danger of losing its farm. They devise a plan for saving it.
Food
The evolution of the acquisition, distribution, and consumption of food throughout history is described in interesting text and colorful, informative illustrations. The author includes a helpful glossary.
| Author: Ventura, Piero |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | science
|
Harvest Year
This book offers a month-by-month presentation of the regional harvesting of food in the U.S.A. with photographs, maps, and simple clear text.
Haystack
The uses of the old-fashioned haystack are brought back to life throughout the seasons.
Josepha
A boy narrates the story of his friend and protector, the immigrant young man Josepha, who had to leave school to work.
| Author: McGugan, Jim |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel
When offered a choice between a ceramic clock and a shovel as a gift before leaving for America, Bridie chooses the latter and uses it throughout her resourceful life.
Places in Time
This story atlas describes on facing pages activities at a particular place and time in U.S. history, e.g. Fort Laramie during the westward expansion on the Oregon Trail in 1849. Included are community and building diagrams with numbered points of intere
| Author: Leacock, Elspeth & Buckley, Susan |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Raising Yoder's Barn
After a fire destroys Yoder's barn, the Amish community gathers to build a new one. The gorgeous illustrations extend the reader's view of Amish life. One reader found a "blackface" depiction of a boy, dirty from the ashes, negatively suggestive.
| Author: Yolen, Jane |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Spring Thaw
In this deceptively simple and beautifully illustrated book, the sights and sounds of the first thaw come alive.
Thunderstorm
A wordless book that follows a storm through Mid-western farm country with only the times listed of the storm.Thunderstorm is a valuable, breathtaking insight into one of the Mid-west's most natural occurrences.
| Author: Geisert, Arthur |
HSE Descriptors:
science | language arts - writing
|
Up Before Daybreak: Cotton and People in America
An historical look at the influence cotton has had on the economy and people of the United States. The author traces the cotton industry from colonial times through the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the Southern plantations to the mill towns lik
| Author: Hopkinson, Deborah |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Up Before Daybreak: Cotton and People in America
An historical look at the influence cotton has had on the economy and people of the United States. The author traces the cotton industry from colonial times through the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the Southern plantations to the mill towns lik
| Author: Hopkinson, Deborah |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Winter Room, The
This book tells the story of Eldon, a boy growing up in the mid-20th century in rural Minnesota. He and his brother Wayne work hard to help out on the farm, but have time for fun and adventures too. After a short introduction, the book is structured in
Work > occupations > firefighter
Fire in Their Eyes
Color photographs and lively text follow a group of special wildfire firefighters called "hotshots" through training to their drop by parachute into wildfire zones.
| Author: Biel, Karen |
HSE Descriptors:
science
|
Great Fire, The
By weaving personal accounts from survivors together with carefully researched history, Jim Murphy constructs a riveting narrative that recreates the great Chicago fire with drama and immediacy. Authentic photos and drawings complement the text.
| Author: Murphy, Jim |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Summer of Fire: Yellowstone 1988
This book chronicles the 1988 fire at Yellowstone National Park and the fire's after-effects. Many stunning photographs accompany the well written text.
| Author: Lauber, Patricia |
HSE Descriptors:
science
|
Work > occupations > fishing
Cod's Tale, A
With charming illustrations and text, this book makes a case for ecology and conservation by presenting the history of cod. Also included are a timeline as a crawler at the bottom of the page and further suggestions for reading.
| Author: Kurlansky, Mark |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | science
|
Mermaid Summer, The
Jon and Ana, brother and sister, display intelligence and courage as they break a mermaid's curse on their grandfather and the fishing community.
Moby-Dick
Melville's classic tale of Ahab's obsessive hunt for the great white whale Moby Dick is retold in a format that includes excerpts from the original, summarized passages (each in a different type face), a very helpful glossary, a labeled cross-section of t
| Author: Melville, Herman/Needle, Jan |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
|
Young Man and the Sea, The
In an attempt to push his father out of the alcohol-fueled funk he's been in since his wife died, 12-year-old Skiff Beaman repairs the family fishing boat and meets a 900-lb. tuna 30 miles at sea.
| Author: Philbrick, Rodman |
|
Young Man and the Sea, The
In an attempt to push his father out of the alcohol-fueled funk he's been in since his wife died, 12-year-old Skiff Beaman repairs the family fishing boat and meets a 900-lb. tuna 30 miles at sea.
| Author: Philbrick, Rodman |
|
Work > occupations > logging
Marven of the Great North Woods
Marven's immigrant Russian Jewish family sends him alone by train and by ski to a logging camp in Minnesota to escape the diphtheria epidemic in the city of Duluth. He finds a niche for himself in very different cultural surroundings through the friendsh
Work > occupations > mining
Boy of the Deeps
On his first day in the coal mines, a boy with his father survive an accident.
| Author: Wallace, Ian |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Growing Up in Coal Country
Based on primary documents and oral histories, this book tells the stories of life in the coal mines in eastern Pennsylvania around the turn of the 20th century.
| Author: Bartoletti, Susan |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Trapped:How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert
An in-depth recounting of the collapse of a Chilean copper mine in 2010 that entombed 33 miners for 69 days, their heroic struggle to survive and the efforts of those who saved them. The book is riveting in detail and even inspirational. Book contains ex
| Author: Aronson, Marc |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | language arts - writing | science
|
Work > occupations > nurse
Angels of Mercy
This book is about the army nurses of WW II. Chapters about WW II in general, about nurses in Europe, and about nurses in the Pacific are loosely connected. Some text recounts important events of the war; other portions tell more personal recollections. I
| Author: Kuhn, Betsy |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Work > occupations > railway workers
Ain't Nothing But a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry
The author is a historian who became interested in John Henry, a supposedly mythical ex-slave who outraced the steam engine in digging a tunnel through the side of the Allegheny Mountains. This book chronicles the author's efforts to find the truth about
| Author: Nelson, Scott Reynolds |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Casey Jones's Fireman
Sim Webb, Casey Jones's fireman, tells the story of the fateful crash of the Cannonball.
| Author: Farmer, Nancy |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | language arts - reading
|
She's Been Working on the Railroad
Women began working on the railroads in the mid-1800s and still do so today. This is their story. The text is illustrated with photographs, and a variety of textual aids (e.g., glossary, index) are also included.
| Author: Levinson, Nancy Smiler |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
|
Steam, Steel, and Stars
In 1955, the photographer O.W. Link captured the last steam railroad on its last runs in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio.
| Author: Link, O. W. and Hensley, F. |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
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