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Recommended Books for After-School Programs, Grades K-3

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Recommended Books for After-School Programs, Grades K-3

(Adapted from After-School Curriculum Guide (Children's Defense Fund: Washington D.C., 1999). Used with permission. This permission does not imply endorsement by the Children's Defense Fund.)

These books are recommended by the Children's Defense Fund and have been identified as especially appropriate for black and Latino children.

September:  I Can Make a Difference in My . . . SELF
A Kente Dress for Kenya, by Juwanda G. Ford
Brother to the Wind, by Mildred P. Walters
Messy Bessey, by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack
On the Day You Were Born, by Debra Frasier
Senefer: A Young Genius in Old Egypt, by Beatrice Lumkins

October:  Fall Fest
At the Crossroads, by Rachel Isadora
Harvest Year, by Cris Peterson
Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm, by Jerdine Nolen
Jenny Reen and the Jack Muh Lantern, by Irene Smalls
The Magic School Bus Gets Eaten, by Joanna Cole

November:  I Can Make a Difference in My . . . FAMILY
Fireflies for Nathan, by Shulamith Levy Oppenheim
Just Right Stew, by Karen English
Stevie, by John Steptoe
What Mary Jo Shared, by Janice M. Udry
When Jo Louis Won the Title, by Belinda Rochelle

December:  Winter Wonderland
An Island Christmas, by Lynn Joseph
Crafts for Kwanzaa, by Kathy Ross
Irene Jennie and the Christmas Masquerade, by Irene Smalls
Kwanzaa, by Deborah M. Newton Chocolate
Little Lil and the Swing-Singing Sax, by Libba Moore Gray
'Twas the Night B'fore Christmas, by Melodye Rosales

January:  I Can Make a Difference in My . . . COMMUNITY
Big Meeting, by Dee Parmer Woodtor
Down Home at Miss Dessa's, by Bettye Stroud
Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King, by Jean Marzollo
Mirandy and Brother Wind, by Patricia C. McKissack
Tar Beach, by Faith Ringgold

February:  Legacy of Love
Crafts for Valentine's Day, by Kathy Ross
The Drinking Gourd, by F. N. Monjo
Fredrick Douglass:  The Last Days of Slavery, by William Miller
Jumping the Broom, by Courtni C. Wright
Marriage of the Rain Goddess:  A South African Myth, by Margaret Olivia Wolfson

March:  I Can Make a Difference in My . . . COUNTRY
Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky, by Faith Ringgold
Mary McLeod Bethune:  Voice of Black Hope, by Milton Meltzer
Ragtime Tumpie, by Alan Schroeder
Wagon Train:  A Family Goes West in 1865, by Courtni C. Wright

April:  Spring Fling
Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain, by Verna Aardema
Gift of the Sun, by Dianne Stewart
The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds, by Patricia Relf
Miz Fannie Mae's Fine New Easter Hat, by Melissa Milich
Swinging on a Rainbow, by Charles Perkin

May:  I Can Make a Difference in My . . . WORLD
Juan Bobo, by Carmen Bernier-Grand
Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney
The People Who Hugged the Trees, by Deborah Lee Rose
The Rainbow People, by Claudette E. Sims
Sundiata:  Lion King of Mali, by David Wisniewski
Talking Walls:  The Stories Continue, by Margy Burns Knight

 

Related Articles
Curriculum Guide from the Childrens Defense Fund

S.P.A.R.K. Peer Tutoring Project

YET Center Programs

Tutoring Toolkit: Tools to Strengthen Your Tutoring Program

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