This Goodly Land

A Year of Alabama Books

Expanded List for Children and Younger Teens

January

• Children: When Winter Comes, Nancy Van Laan (winter)
• Teens: I Have a Dream: The Life and Words of Martin Luther King, Jr., Jim Haskins (Martin Luther King, Jr., Day)

Other Suggestions for January

• Teens: A Cool Moonlight, Angela Johnson (Lunar New Year)

February

• Children: I Am Rosa Parks, Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins (Black History Month)
• Teens: John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement, Jim Haskins and Kathleen Benson (Black History Month)

Other Suggestions for February

• Children: Wind Flyers, Angela Johnson (Black History Month)
• Children: If You Were My Valentine, Charles Ghigna (Valentines's Day)
• Teens: One More River to Cross: The Story of Twelve Black Americans, Jim Haskins (Black History Month)

March

• Children: Seven Brave Women, Betsy Hearne (Women's History Month)
• Teens: Find Where the Wind Goes: Moments from My Life, Mae Jemison (Women's History Month)

Other Suggestions for March

• Children: The Jolly Mon, Jimmy Buffett (Music in Our Schools Month)
• Children: Violet's Music, Angela Johnson (Music in Our Schools Month)
• Teens: Hard Times for Jake Smith, Aileen Kilgore Henderson (Women's History Month)
• Teens: Lizard, Dennis Covington (World Theater Day)

April

• Children: Animal Tracks: Wild Poems to Read Aloud, Charles Ghigna (National Poetry Month)
• Teens: The Other Side: Shorter Poems, Angela Johnson (National Poetry Month)

Other Suggestions for April

• Children: Animal Trunks: Silly Poems to Read Aloud, Charles Ghigna (National Poetry Month)

May

• Children: Richard Wright and the Library Card, William Miller (Children's Book Week)
• Teens: Dancing on the Edge, Han Nolan (National Dance Week)

Other Suggestions for May

• Children: Full Steam Ahead, Faye Gibbons (National Train Day)
• Children: I Dream of Trains, Angela Johnson (National Train Day)
• Teens: Horace King: Bridges to Freedom, Faye Gibbons (anniversary of Horace King's death)

June

• Children: Mountain Wedding, Faye Gibbons (weddings)
• Teens: The First Part Last, Angela Johnson (Father's Day)

Other Suggestions for June

• Children: Just Like Josh Gibson, Angela Johnson (summer/baseball)
• Teens: Summer of the Bonepile Monster, Aileen Kilgore Henderson (summer)

July

• Children: Trosclair and the Alligator, Peter Huggins (summer)
• Teens: An Abundance of Katherines, John Green (summer)

Other Suggestions for July

• Children: Joshua and Bigtooth, Mark Childress (summer)
• Teens: The Incredible Deborah: A Story Based on the Life of Deborah Sampson, Cora Cheney (Independence Day)

August

• Children: Going North, Janice N. Harrington (summer)
• Teens: Outward Dreams: Black Inventors and Their Inventions, James Haskins (National Inventors Month)

Other Suggestions for August

• Children: The Real McCoy: Life of an African-American Inventor, Wendy Towle (National Inventors Month)

September

• Children: When I Am Old with You, Angela Johnson (National Grandparents Day)
• Teens: Love, Ruby Lavender, Deborah Wiles (National Grandparents Day)

Other Suggestions for September

• Teens: Mighty Close to Heaven, Faye Gibbons (National Grandparents Day)
• Teens: Toning the Sweep, Angela Johnson (National Grandparents Day)

October

• Children: 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey, Kathryn Tucker Windham and Margaret Gillis Figh (Halloween)
• Teens: Hauntings: And Other Tales of Danger, Love, and Sometimes Loss, Betsy Hearne (Halloween)

Other Suggestions for October

• Children: Night in the Barn, Faye Gibbons (Halloween)
• Children: Halloween Night: Twenty-one Spooktacular Poems, Charles Ghigna (Halloween)
• Teens: Rocket Boys, Homer Hickam (anniversary of Sputnick launch)

November

• Children: Wolf Dog of the Woodland Indians, Margaret Zehmer Searcy (Native American Heritage Month)
• Teens: World of the Southern Indians, Virginia Pounds Brown and Laurella Owens (Native American Heritage Month)

Other Suggestions for November

• Children: Tiny Bat and the Ball Game, Margaret Searcy (Native American Heritage Month)
• Teens: Southern Indian Myths and Legends, Virginia Pounds Brown and Laurella Owens (Native American Heritage Month)
• Teens: The Thanksgiving Visitor, Truman Capote (Thanksgiving)

December

• Children: Christmas Is Coming!, Charles Ghigna and Deborah Ghigna (Christmas)
• Teens: A Christmas Memory, Truman Capote (Christmas)

Other Suggestions for December

• Teens: It's Christmas!, Kathryn Tucker Windham (Christmas)

Last updated on 2008-09-04.