THE CROSSING

illustrated by Jim Madsen

2011 Simon & Schuster

ISBN 978-1-4169-9474-9

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• starred review                  PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: ...poetic descriptions of the landscape and journey... a refreshing new angle ...

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SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: ...the sights, sounds, and smells of his incredible journey...a beautiful, atmospheric narrative that explores the possibilities of that momentous expedition [Lewis and Clark].

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NEW YORK TIMES:

..poetic text and lush artwork tell an evocative story...

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review

MAMA MITI: WANGARI MAATHAI

AND THE TREES OF KENYA

illustrated by Kadir Nelson

2010 Simon & Schuster

ISBN 978-1-41693-505-6

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• winner of the Anne Izard's Storytellers' Choice Award

• winner of the Frances and Wesley Bock Book Award

• Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list, Maryland Association of School Librarians

• Elementary California Readers list for 2013

• starred reviews KIRKUS & PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

• nominated for the NAACP Image Award

• Best Books of the Year list ESSENCE magazine

• Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People

• Amelia Bloomer Project Recommended List

• used as the focal point for the Maryland Artist/Teacher Institute, summer 2013

• part of the Pearson MyView 2017 K-5 Reading Program

• 25 Children’s Books to Nourish Curiosity by Food Tank

• in Chinese (Chang-Tang Int. Publishing Co., Taichung, Taiwan ISBN 978-986-6347-25-2)

• in Japanese (Suzuki, Tokyo ISBN 978-4-7902-5223-8)

• to be in Spanish (Pearson)

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: 

breathtaking … a vivid portrait of the community from which Maathai's tree-planting mission grows.

From KIRKUS: …. This is, in a word, stunning

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review review review review

To hear the author reading the book, click here.

Above is a photo of children in Cura Orphanage (outside Nairobi) in Kenya, reading MAMA MITI. The orphanage (in 2011) cares for 50 children who have lost their parents to AIDS, providing safety, health, and a new family, full of hope.