Fleabag by Helen Stephens is the story of a little dog that has no home.  This little dog meets a boy who is sad because he has no one to play with.  They bond a friendship despite the little boy’s parent telling him to stay away from the dirty flea ridden dog.   Unfortunately, their bond is put to a test when the little boy has to move away.  See what happens in this adorable story about a dog who always does the right thing even if no one is watching!

Baby teeth are causing Polly Peterson so many problems. She is the only one in her third grade class who hasn’t lost at least one baby tooth!  Everyone in her class discovers this fact when the teacher prepares a chart showing how many baby teeth each student has lost. The chart doesn’t even have a column for zero baby teeth lost, so the teacher makes one just for Polly.

Then when Polly finally loses a baby tooth, she must decide if she should leave it for the Tooth Fairy.  Do third graders still believe in the Tooth Fairy or is it only for babies? All of her problems are complicated even further when the new boy in third grade, Zachary Brown, begins teasing Polly. Soon the whole class starts calling her “Babyteeth.”

Polly in turn finds ways to tease and embarrass Zachary, but then notices that he never plays with anyone during recess. She at least has her two best friends, Amelia and Oliver, who try to make her feel better. Polly begins to realize that both she and Zachary need to behave differently. Can they find a way to get along?

Read Third Grade Baby by Jenny Meyerhoff to learn what really is most important to Polly. 

Zoey and her Mom live in an apartment in the city, just the two of them. One day Zoey is surprised to learn that they are going to visit her grandmother. As Zoey packs she thinks about this very surprising news, after all she never even knew she had a grandmother and had certainly never visited her before.

While Zoey’s mother and grandmother discuss in loud voices, Zoey decides to explore the house. Her mother has described her former bedroom, all pink and white and gold. In this room Zoey discovers a beautiful doll house and a tiny doll, dressed like a princess. Suddenly this 3 and one-quarter inch tall doll wakes up! I’m not sure who was more surprised the doll or Zoey!

Zoey is startled and runs out of the room and down the stairs! But the doll, well she is delighted to be awake again. She’s been asleep for a long time, and has even forgotten her own name. While she tries to remember her name the doll waits patiently for the return of her four foot tall servant. She’s had girl servants before and they always returned to care for her. And why not? She is as beautiful as a princess!

And so begins an unlikely friendship between Zoey and a three and one-quarter inch tall doll. The Very Little Princess by Marion Dane Bauer is about more than just this very special doll, it also looks at mother-daughter relationships from the perspective of a young girl. 

Emma Kate by Patricia Polacco is a story about Emma Kate and her best friend. They are inseparable, they do everything together including going to school, riding bikes, going to soccer practice, and they even get their tonsils taken out at the same time! The illustrations are done in beautiful pencil drawings  with only a select few vivid color details on every page. With a surprise twist at the end you may want to reread this book!

First published in 1943, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry never fails to move generations of readers with its story of love and survival.  What begins as the strange meeting of two strangers stranded on a desert, later unfolds into a fantastic tale of planetary voyage by a child who called himself "Little Prince."  Now in graphic form with drawings by French comic artist Joann Sfar and translator Sarah Ardizzone, this book will carry reader's imagination to a new horizon and further enhance its messages of human compassion and true meaning of life.  This is a book that you cannot read once.

Read more books by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Joann Sfar.

It’s hard not to like someone who is quite clear about all of the best things in her life… especially when those things are just about everything! This is the story of Ruby Lu, Brave and True, an exuberant Chinese American girl by author Lenore Look.

The descriptions of Ruby’s life feature her friends, her teachers at school, and her extended family of Dad, Mom, baby brother Oscar, Grandpa or “GungGung”, Grandma or “PohPoh”, and cousin Flying Duck. Some of the adventures Ruby goes through include: Staging magic shows in the backyard for all the kids in the neighborhood, Making new friends at Chinese school, and even learning how to drive! A bonus at the end of the text is ‘Ruby’s Fantastic Glossary & Pronunciation Guide’ – which gives kid friendly descriptions and pronunciations to the Chinese words and cultural items described in the book.

Ultimately you will get a sense of Chinese culture (as seen through the eyes of an almost 8 year old Chinese American girl), family and community. All of it combines to make Ruby a secure, confident, adventurous girl who appreciates the best of everything.