Webster Bible Church and Webster Christian School Library Blog

Relates the story of Wangari Maathai, a native Kenyan who taught the people living in the highlands how to plant trees and care for the land. An inspiring book that would pair nicely with Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. Highly recommended for grades 2-4. Awards/Lists:  Jane Addams Book Award 2009; Notable Books for a Global [...]

A biography of the fifteen-year-old Iowa teenager who helped avert a train disaster in 1881 and became a national heroine. This is a nice story which should inspire duty and responsibility, but I think it will not hold a lot of shelf appeal for the intended audience.  The oil painting pictures are beautiful but often dark.  [...]

Oy (a.k.a. Olivia) wants to be invited into the circle of popular girls in her new fourth-grade class, but the group leader is demanding a chance to try on Oy’s beautiful dress from Thailand as a condition of admitting her to their special club.  What should Olivia do? As a writer, elementary teacher, and parent [...]

Ruby Bridges recounts her experience when, as a six-year-old, she became the first and only black student to attend her local elementary school in New Orleans in 1960. This autobiography chronicles Ruby’s extremely brave part in  integrating one Louisiana school. The accompanying photographs and excerpts from articles and interviews  powerfully convey the unbelievable prejudice and violence that surrounded [...]

A fictionalized re-telling of on an episode from Richard Wright’s autobiography, Black Boy, this picture book tells about Richard’s impoverished youth growing up in the segregated south in the early 20th century where he had little opportunity for schooling, no money to buy books, and was banned from borrowing books from the library because he was black.  Then [...]

This picture-book biography tells about the childhood and youth of Art Tatum, one of the greatest Jazz artists of all time. Art is considered a genius for his amazing piano technique and ability to improvise.  He not only played jazz, but also enjoyed performing other popular music and concert pieces. In his lifetime, Art Tatum was revered by [...]