Special Collections
Bluebonnet Award Winners
Description: The Texas Bluebonnet Award winners are selected by librarians, teachers, parents, students and other interested persons and are appropriate for grades 3-6. #award
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Ramona and Her Father
by Beverly Cleary and Tracy DockrayRamona just wants everyone to be happy. If only her father would smile and joke again, her mother would look less worried, her sister would be cheerful, and Picky-picky would eat his cat-food. But Ramona's father has lost his job, and nobody in the Quimby household is in a very good mood.
Ramona tries to cheer up the family as only Ramona can -- by rehearsing for life as a rich and famous star of television commercials, for instance -- but her best efforts only make things worse. Her sister, Beezus, calls her a, pest, her parents lose patience with her, and her teacher claims she's forgotten her- manners. But when her father admits he wouldn't trade her for a million dollars, Ramona knows everything is going to work out fine in the end.
Newbery Medal Honor Book
Winner of Pacific Northwest Library Association’s Young Reader’s Choice Award
Fountas and Pinnell Level: O
Lexile: 691L - 770L
Reading Recovery: 34
DRA: 34
PM Readers: 24 Silver
Grade: 3
Ages: 8 - 9
Learning A to Z Level: S
Accelerated Reader (ATOS): 3.9 - 5.1
Superfudge
by Judy BlumeSometimes life in the Hatcher household is enough to make twelve-year-old Peter think about running away. His worst problem is still his younger brother, Fudge, who hasn't changed a bit since his crazy capers in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. If you ask Peter, Fudge is just an older -- and bigger -- pain.
Then Peter learns that his mom is going to have a baby and the whole family is moving to Princeton for a year. It will be bad enough starting sixth grade in a strange place and going to the same school as Fudge. But Peter can imagine something even worse. How will he ever survive if the new baby is a carbon copy of Fudge?
Winner of Pacific Northwest Library Association’s Young Reader’s Choice Award
A Dog Called Kitty
by Bill WallaceTHE PUPPY WAS SMALL AND FUZZY, WITH A FRIENDLY WAGGING TAIL-- AND RICKY WAS AFRAID OF HIM! When the pup shows up at the farm, small and fuzzy with a floppy wet tongue and a bushy tail that's always wagging, no one knows where he's from. Motherless and hungry, he needs to be fed or he'll starve to death. Most boys would welcome such a dog into their lives; feed it and train it and raise it to be a good farm pet. But Ricky's different. Ever since he was attacked as a baby by a mad dog, he's been afraid of them. This is an unforgettable adventure story about the trust that grows up between a boy and a mongrel. Winner of the Texas Bluebonnet, the Oklahoma Sequoyah, and the Nebraska Golden Sower Awards Cover art copyright © 1992 by Rudy Nappi www.scholastic.com This edition is available for distribution only through the school market.
Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade
by Barthe DeclementsWhen fat Elsie Edwards walks into Jenny Sawyer's fifth grade class, she's the last person Jenny expects to be friendly with. Elsie is not only fat, she steals everyone's lunch money to buy candy. And when the book club money disappears, the whole class is punished. Nothing's fair! The teacher, Mrs. Hanson, is very strict. Fractions are impossible. And Jenny is assigned as Elsie's guide in school. Nothing's fair! But Elsie turns out to be a math genius. She helps Jenny learn fractions. Elsie's diet begins to work. Then Jenny and her friends discover that Elsie's fat really covers up a good friend. Nothing's fair-but some things are not as bad as they seem!
Skinnybones
by Barbara ParkPlay Ball???"I've played Little League baseball for six years now. But to tell you the truth, I'm not exactly what you'd call a real good athlete. Actually, I'm not even real okay. Basically, what I'm trying to say here is, I stink."For the smallest kid on the baseball team, Alex "Skinnybones" Frankovitch has a major-league bigmouth! But even Alex knows he's gone too far when he brags his way into a pitching contest with T.J. Stoner, the best baseball player -- and biggest creep -- in the entire school. What a mistake! This might be one mess that not even Alex can talk his way out of--
The Dollhouse Murders
by Betty Ren WrightTwelve-year-old Amy knows there is some connection between Aunt Claire's old dollhouse in the attic and a deadly secret from years ago.
Winner of Pacific Northwest Library Association’s Young Reader’s Choice Award
The Hot and Cold Summer
by Johanna HurwitzRory and Derek were best friends but with Bolivia visiting next door, would their friendship last?
Christina's Ghost
by Betty Ren Wright[From The Back Cover] "The last thing Christina wants to do this summer is stay with grumpy Uncle Ralph in his old Victorian house. She's sure she'll have an awful time. But on her very first day there, Christina meets a sad, mysterious little ghost boy who seems to need her help. Soon Christina discovers the house contains a mystery that was never solved ... and that the ghost boy has something to do with it all. But how can she make Uncle Ralph help her solve the puzzle? What is the evil, chilling presence that lurks in the attic? And why is it trying so hard to frighten her away?" Many, many spooky books by this author are in the Bookshare collection. including Ghosts Beneath Our Feet, and A Ghost in the House.
Wait Till Helen Comes
by Mary Downing HahnTwelve-year-old Molly and her ten-year-old brother, Michael, have never liked their seven-year-old stepsister, Heather. Ever since their parents got married, she's made Molly and Michael's life miserable. Now their parents have moved them all to the country to live in a house that used to be a church, with a cemetery in the backyard. If that's not bad enough, Heather starts talking to a ghost named Helen and warning Molly and Michael that Helen is coming for them. Molly feels certain Heather is in some kind of danger, but every time she tries to help, Heather twists things around to get her into trouble. It seems as if things can't get any worse.
But they do—when Helen comes.
Winner of Pacific Northwest Library Association’s Young Reader’s Choice Award
There's A Boy in the Girl's Bathroom
by Louis SacharBradley Chalkers IS the oldest kid in the fifth grade. He tells enormous lies. He picks fights with girls. No one likes him--except Carla, the new school counselor. She thinks Bradley is sensitive and generous, and knows that Bradley could change, if only he weren't afraid to try. But when you feel like the most-hated kid in the whole school, believing in yourself can be the hardest thing in the world. . . .Winner of 19 Children's Choice AwardsFrom the Trade Paperback edition.
Aliens for Breakfast
by Stephanie Spinner and Steve Bjorkman and Jonathan EtraIt's been ten years since Richard Bickerstaff sat down to breakfast and an alien climbed out of his cereal bowl! Join Richard and Aric, a tiny, wisecracking creature from the planet Ganoob, as they battle to save the world from evil aliens in Aliens for Breakfast, Aliens for Lunch, and Aliens for Dinner. We're reissuing the trilogy with brand-new covers sporting a space age 10th Anniversary logo. Now a new generation of readers can experience the fun and adventure that won these books rave reviews and loyal fans! From the Hardcover edition.
Snot Stew
by Bill WallaceThe game of Snot Stew that Kikki the kitten's young owners play is setting a bad example for Kikki's brother, Toby. He's turning into a bully -- and that spells danger when he starts taunting Butch, the nasty dog on the other side of the fence. Can Kikki keep Toby from getting into big trouble? And will she have the courage to rescue him if he does?
The Houdini Box
by Brian SelznickVictor is forever trying to escape from locked trunks, walk through walls, and perform any number of Houdini's astonishing magic tricks. . . without success. Then -- amazingly -- he actually meets his idol, and begs Houdini to explain himself. A mysterious locked box is the magician's only answer, and Victor is left to wonder: Does the box contain the secrets to the most famous magic tricks ever performed?
Shiloh
by Phyllis Reynolds NaylorMarty will do anything to save his new friend Shiloh in this Newbery Medal–winning novel from Phillis Reynolds Naylor.When Marty Preston comes across a young beagle in the hills behind his home, it's love at first sight—and also big trouble. It turns out the dog, which Marty names Shiloh, belongs to Judd Travers, who drinks too much and has a gun—and abuses his dogs. So when Shiloh runs away from Judd to Marty, Marty just has to hide him and protect him from Judd. But Marty's secret becomes too big for him to keep to himself, and it exposes his entire family to Judd's anger. How far will Marty have to go to make Shiloh his?
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
by Lane Smith and Jon ScieszkaA revisionist storyteller provides his mad, hilarious versions of children's favorite tales in this collection that includes Little Red Running Shorts, The Princess and the Bowling Ball, Cinderumpelstilskin, and others.
Time for Andrew
by Mary Downing HahnWhen he goes to spend the summer with his great-aunt in the family's old house, 11-year-old Drew is drawn eighty years into the past to trade places with his great-great uncle who is dying of diphtheria.
Math Curse
by Jon Scieszka and Lane SmithWhen the teacher tells her class that they can think of almost everything as a math problem, one student acquired a math anxiety which becomes a real curse.
Tornado
by Betsy ByarsA tornado is coming, and once Pete the farmhand gathers the family safely in the storm cellar, he distracts them with a favorite tale about a tornado from his childhood--and the surprise it brought: Among the debris left by this twister was a doghouse, complete with a dog inside! Pete goes on to tell more stories about this hole-digging, cardtrick-playing dog, aptly named Tornado; and it isn't hard to see how Tornado, and the stories about him, soon become a part of both past and present families.
The Ghost of Fossil Glen
by Cynthia DefeliceAllie Nichols is being pursued by a ghost. Her friend Karen calls Allie a liar and doesn't want to hear "stuff like that". But her old pal, Dub, listens eagerly as Allie tells him about the voice that guides her down a steep cliff side, the girl she imagines who begs, "Help me", and a terrible nightmare in which that girl falls to her death. Who is that girl? Is she the ghost? And what does the ghost want from Allie?
Cook-a-Doodle-Doo!
by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens CrummelBig Brown Rooster is sick of chicken feed. So along with his friends--Turtle, Iguana, and Potbellied Pig--he sets out to make the most magnificent strawberry shortcake in the whole wide world. But there's one problem: none of his friends knows how to cook! The team bravely forges ahead, and with Rooster's help, they learn how to measure flour (not with a ruler) and how to beat an egg (not with a baseball bat). But can they keep Pig from gobbling up all the ingredients?
Because of Winn-Dixie
by Kate DiCamilloRecalling the fiction of Harper Lee and Carson McCullers, here is a funny, poignant, and utterly genuine first novel from a major new talent.
The summer Opal and her father, the preacher, move to Naomi, Florida, Opal goes into the Winn-Dixie supermarket--and comes out with a dog. A big, ugly, suffering dog with a sterling sense of humor. A dog she dubs Winn-Dixie. Because of Winn-Dixie, the preacher tells Opal ten things about her absent mother, one for each year Opal has been alive. Winn-Dixie is better at making friends than anyone Opal has ever known, and together they meet the local librarian, Miss Franny Block, who once fought off a bear with a copy of WAR AND PEACE. They meet Gloria Dump, who is nearly blind but sees with her heart, and Otis, an ex-con who sets the animals in his pet shop loose after hours, then lulls them with his guitar.Opal spends all that sweet summer collecting stories about her new friends and thinking about her mother. But because of Winn-Dixie or perhaps because she has grown, Opal learns to let go, just a little, and that friendship--and forgiveness--can sneak up on you like a sudden summer storm.
Newbery Medal Honor book
The Golden Mare, The Firebird, And The Magic Ring
by Ruth SandersonBased on Russian folklore, this is the tale of Alexi, who saves the Golden Mare's life in return for her eternal loyalty. With her help he becomes the Tzar's best huntsman, only to be sent on impossible tasks by the jealous Tzar. Will the Golden Mare be able to help him win Yelena the Fair?
Shoeless Joe And Black Betsy
by Phil BildnerNo one knew better than Shoeless Joe Jackson what was needed to become the best baseball player ever: a good bat. And no one knew more about bats than Ol' Charlie Ferguson of South Carolina, a good friend of Joe's. With love, nurture, and a lot of hard work, the two friends created Black Betsy -- the finest bat in all the land. And with a bat the likes of her by his side, you can bet Joe went all the way to the major leagues!
Togo
by Robert J. BlakeTogo wasn't meant to be a sled dog. He was too feisty and independent to make a good team member, let alone a leader. But Togo is determined, and when his trainer, Leonhard Seppala, gives him a chance, he soon becomes one of the fastest sled dogs in history! His skills are put to the ultimate test, though, when Seppala and his team are called on to make the now-famous run across the frozen Arctic to deliver the serum that will save Alaska from a life-threatening outbreak of diphtheria. In the style of Akiak, winner of the Irma S. and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, along with five state awards, Robert J. Blake's detailed, carefully researched oil paintings complete the story of the adventure that inspired the internationally famous Iditarod race.
Ghost Fever
by Joe HayesIn his classic bilingual style, Joe tells the story of a haunted house in a poor little town in Arizona. Nobody will rent that house because they know a ghost lives there. So the landlord tries to rents it out for free. Still nobody will rent it. That is, until Elena's father rents it. He doesn't believe in ghosts. Lucky for Elena that her grandmother knows all about the ways of ghosts. Elena, with the help of her grandmother, resolves the mystery of "ghost fever"--and learns a lesson about life.Joe Hayes, who lives in Santa Fe, is an award-winning storyteller renowned especially for his stories in Spanish and English.