Books like Gittel's Journey: An Ellis Island Story
By Leslea Newman
For the child who feels the weight of a scary new place, this book sits with a girl facing the biggest journey of her life without the one person she counted on. Tender, quietly suspenseful, historical.
A young girl leaves her grandmother's house in Mexico to join her parents and brother in New York, facing a new language, unfair accusations, and the slow work of calling a new place home.
A timid squirrel afraid of thunder, hawks, and dark forest paths must carry soup through Buckthorn Forest to her sick Granny Oak, facing creatures who want to help — and some who want the soup.
A young boy travels before dawn with his family to Granny's farm for their annual reunion, where every child must find their own way to honor the family's history — but Lil Alan isn't sure what he'll bring.
A little girl flies with her family all the way to Holland to visit her grandparents, but somewhere along the journey, her beloved Knuffle Bunny goes missing again.
A young girl, her waitress mother, and her grandma save every spare coin in a big jar, hoping to finally buy a comfortable chair after a fire destroyed their old furniture.
A boy afraid to go to school rides his grandfather's 1952 Ford time machine back through Big Papa's own frightening moments, hearing the same lesson each time: that's called being brave.
A young boy rides the bus across town with his grandmother every Sunday, grumbling about the rain and the wait, until she helps him see the beauty and music hiding in their ordinary route.
A young girl emigrates from Taiwan to America with her family, leaving behind her beloved popo, and stays connected across the ocean through visits, calls, and memories as she grows up.
A champion Italian cyclist who won the 1938 Tour de France secretly uses his bicycle and racing fame to help save Jewish lives during World War II, risking everything without ever telling a soul.
A bricklayer works hard every day building the city, while his son works hard at school and plays at molding tiny clay bricks, until one Saturday his father surprises him with something built just for their family.
An aspiring young musician hauls his double bass through busy city streets on the long walk home from school, weaving between crowds while music fills his heart the whole way.
An enslaved man endures separation from his family in Virginia, then hits on a desperate plan: mailing himself in a wooden crate to freedom in the North.
