Winner of the 1999 Scott O'Dell Award

A Notable Children's Book in the Field of Social Studies

Maybe nobody gave freedom, and nobody could take it away like they could take away a family farm. Maybe freedom was something you claimed for yourself.

Like other ex-slaves, Pascal and his older brother Gideon have been promised forty acres and maybe a mule. With the family of friends they have built along the way, they claim a place of their own. Green Gloryland is the most wonderful place on earth, their own family farm with a healthy cotton crop and plenty to eat. But the notorious night riders have plans to take it away, threatening to tear the beautiful freedom that the two boys are enjoying for the first time in their young lives. Coming alive in plain, vibrant language is this story of the Reconstruction, after the Civil War.

I walked on the moon. This is my journey. But it didn't begin when I stepped on board Apollo 11 on July 1, 1969. It began the day I was born. Becoming an astronaut took more than education, discipline, and physical strength. It took years of determination and believing that any goal is possible-from riding a bike alone across the George Washington Bridge at age ten to making a footprint on the Moon. I always knew the Moon was within my reach-and that I was ready to be on the team that would achieve the first landing. But it was still hard to believe when I took my first step onto the Moon's surface. We all have our own dreams. This is the story of how mine came true.

A lively, rhythmic Halloween read aloud that follows a group of zombie pumpkins as they celebrate the season. It's Halloween and the Zombie Pumpkin Parade is drawing near. Join Zipper-Toothed Zlumpkin, Drizzle-Mouthed Dumpkin, and the rest of their ghostly crew as the spooky-silly zombie pumpkins dance through the darkness, in celebration of the most bewitching night of the year! With jaunty, rhyming verse and atmospheric watercolor paintings, this seasonal offering is just spooky enough to delight young children as well as just funny enough to send them into giggles.

With simple, rhyming text and adorable illustrations, this a perfect read-aloud for teachers and parents to share with young children as they imagine what life as a penguin is like-now available as a board book! The short text by Florence Minor pairs perfectly with the gorgeous, detailed illustrations by acclaimed illustrator Wendell Minor. Fun facts about penguins are featured at the back of the book. As Booklist said, "Whether it's the comical waddle, the formal appearance of their plumage, or their well-documented devotion to their young, penguins hold an unending appeal for young children." Their review called If You Were a Penguin "dazzling," "vibrant," and "breathtaking"!

Buzz Aldrin takes readers on a journey through the history of space exploration.
As one of a handful of astronauts to have walked on the moon, Buzz Aldrin has a unique perspective of space. And he serves as an amazing guide as he introduces us to the pioneers of space. From Copernicus to the Wright brothers, from the Apollo program to dreams of future travel, he reminds us that mankind has always looked to the stars.
Buzz's informative, kid-friendly text is paired with beautifully detailed illustrations by renowned illustrator Wendell Minor, and offers the perfect introduction to everything space related, including the development of the first rockets, America's space race with Russia, details of all the Apollo missions, and the space station.
Aldrin and Minor collaborated on the bestselling "Reaching for the Moon" and now they reach beyond that book to give young readers a concise look at the whole history of space exploration. Each spread provides a wonderful jumping-off point for young readers, and will no doubt inspire them to look to the stars themselves.

The buffalo, an American icon once nearly extinct, has made a comeback. This stirring picture book tells the dramatic story, following bison from the Plains Indians to the cowboys, Teddy Roosevelt to the Dust Bowl, and from the brink of extinction to the majestic herds that now roam our national parks. Paired with gorgeous paintings by landscape artist Wendell Minor, Jean Craighead George's engaging text will inspire a new generation to understand and protect nature's delicate balance.

Every year, giant pumpkin contests take place at fairs across the country--the 2012 record-holder weighed over a "ton " The latest craze is to carve the most enormous pumpkins into racing boats. But what's next? Why not think "really" big? Award-winning artist Wendell Minor does just that as he imagines larger-than-life pumpkins decorating some of America's favorite places--as immense as the Capitol dome, Mount Rushmore, the Brooklyn Bridge, even the Grand Canyon This celebration of famous landmarks and landscapes plays with concepts of size and scale and is full of fun facts.

"I had lain in my bed thinking of our visitor out in the bunk in the barn. It scarce seemed possible that he was the same man I had first seen, stern and chilling in his dark solitude, riding up our road. Something in father, something not of words or of actions but of the essential substance of the human spirit, had reached out and spoken to him and he had replied to it and had unlocked a part of himself to us. He was far off and unapproachable at times even when he was right there with you." The Starrett family's life forever changes when a man named Shane rides out of the great glowing West and up to their farm in 1889. Young Bob Starrett is entranced by this stoic stranger who brings a new energy to his family. Shane stays on as a farmhand, but his past remains a mystery. Many folks in their small Wyoming valley are suspicious of Shane, and make it known that he is not welcome. But dangerous as Shane may seem, he is a staunch friend to the Starretts--and when a powerful neighboring rancher tries to drive them out of their homestead, Shane becomes entangled in the deadly feud. This classic Western, originally published in 1949, is a profoundly moving story of the influence of a singular character on one boy's life.

History comes alive in this gripping account of a young boy caught up in the start of the Revolutionary War. Based on an episode in National Book Award-winning author Nathaniel Philbrick's New York Times bestseller Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution, this engrossing story allows readers to experience history from a child's perspective, and Wendell Minor's stunning paintings will transport readers back to the early days of the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Russell is in school on the morning of April 19th, 1775, when his teacher announces, "The war's begun, and you may run!" Ben knew this day was coming; after all, tensions had been mounting between the colonists and the British troops ever since the Boston Tea Party. And now they have finally reached the breaking point. Ben and his friends excitedly rush out of their classroom to bear witness, and follow the throngs of redcoats marching out of Boston toward Concord. Much to Ben's surprise, Boston is sealed off later that day-leaving the boys stuck outside the city, in the middle of a war, with no way to reach their families. But Ben isn't worried-he's eager to help the Patriots! He soon becomes a clerk to the jovial Israel Putnam, a general in the provincial army. For months he watches the militia grow into an organized army, and when the Battle of Bunker Hill erupts, Ben is awed by the bravery of the Patriots, although saddened by the toll war takes. He later goes on to become an apprentice at a Revolutionary newspaper, and it's a happy day when they get to report on the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Praise for Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution "Philbrick guides us beautifully through Revolutionary Boston, with the Battle of Bunker Hill as his story's grand climax."-The New York Times Book Review "Masterly narrative . . . Philbrick tells the complex story superbly . . . gripping book."-The Wall Street Journal "A masterpiece of narrative and perspective. . . . This is not only . . . the greatest American story. It is also the American story."-The Boston Globe "You will delight in the story and the multitude of details Philbrick offers up."-USA Today

"In this celebration of the American landscape, Siebert's measured verses convey the majesty of the mountain personified, Sierra herself. Minor's stunning acrylic paintings evoke the breathtaking beauty of his subject. There is a siren's-song quality to this lovely book [and] readers might well feel how tragically possible it is for us to love our wilderness to death." -- SLJ.

1992 Teachers' Choices (IRA)
Notable 1991 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)
Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children 1991 (NSTA/CBC)
John and Patricia Beatty Award (California Library Association)

This book is a playful tribute to all the playfulness and activity that comes with being a penguin. Bright, bold illustrations are paired with rhyming verse for a first introduction to penguins for the preschool set.

New York Times bestselling collaborators Mary Higgins Clark and Wendell Minor tell a touching Christmas story of a heartwarming family celebration and the meaning of Christmas. Johnny's wish had come true. His family would be visiting his grandparents for Christmas. His grandparents lived in an old house in New England where his father had been born. The family together, the smells of the cookies baking, the snowy Christmas tree farm with trees of so many shapes and sizes, and most of all the wooden horse he had told his brother Liam about would make this the best Christmas ever. In his grandparents' attic Johnny finds many treasures, but the wooden horse he remembered so well is missing. How can Johnny make his brother's Christmas wish come true? Beloved and internationally bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark's loving story together with Wendell Minor's captivating paintings make The Magical Christmas Horse a book that captures the true heart of Christmas and one that families will make part of their Christmas tradition year after year.

Young readers learn how they can create a greener, healthier world in this powerful nonfiction picture book from authors Diane Z. Shore and Jessica Alexander, with art by award-winning illustrator Wendell Minor.This Is the Earth explores hundreds of years of changing landscapes and the positive and negative impacts humans have had on the environment. Even the smallest actions can help save the world, and this lyrical, rhyming read-aloud text shows how smart and simple everyday habits can protect the planet.

A read-aloud picture book for young children that celebrates the heartland of our great country. Every country has a heart and America’s is in those places where golden wheat waves in the breeze, where great rivers flow, and cornfields stretch across the plains in glorious patchwork quilts of greens and yellows and browns. In this heartland, cattle graze in lush green pastures, horses and sheep fill the barns, and a newborn calf stands damp and warm in the sun. This picture book reflects all the great qualities of rural life.