Younger Readers (K-2nd) | Intermediate Readers (3rd-4th) | Older Readers (5th & Up)
| Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain A fun rhyme tells how Ki-pat brought rain to the drought-stricken Kapiti Plain. |
Aardema, Verna | Kenya |
| Madeline (series) Madeline, smallest and naughtiest of the twelve little charges of Miss Clavel, wakes up one night with an attack of appendicitis. |
Bemelmans, Ludwig | France |
| The Great Kapok Tree The many different animals that live in a great kapok tree in the Brazilian rain forest try to show a man with an ax why he shouldn’t cut down their home. |
Cherry, Lynne | Brazil |
| Hans Brinker: Inspired By the Novel A Dutch brother and sister work to find a doctor who can restore their father's memory, while they also try to win the competition for the silver skates. |
Coville, Bruce | Holland |
| For You are a Kenyan Child A little Kenyan boy is so busy with all there is to see and do, he forgets what his mama asked him to do! |
Cunnane, Kelly | Kenya |
| I Lost My Tooth in Africa While visiting her father's family in Mali, a young girl loses a tooth, places it under a calabash, and receives a hen and a rooster from the African Tooth Fairy. |
Diakite, Penda | Mali |
| Clever Ali Seven-year-old Ali's father is the keeper of the pigeons for the wicked Sultan. When Ali’s bird steals the Sultan’s cherries and his father is thrown in jail, Ali finds a way to save them all. |
Farmer, Nancy | Egypt |
| Boxes for Katje A young Dutch girl writes to her new American friend thanking her for the care package sent after World War II, and soon the entire town benefits from their friendship. |
Fleming, Candace | Holland |
| The Day of Ahmed’s Secret Ahmed rides his donkey cart throughout the modern-day city of Cairo, hurrying to finish his work, so he can return home and share his secret with his family. |
Heide, Florence P | Egypt |
| House of Wisdom Ishaq is the son of the chief translator to the Caliph of ancient Baghdad. He travels the world searching for precious books and manuscripts and brings them back to the great library known as the House of Wisdom. |
Heide, Florence P | Persia |
| Can You Say Peace? Every September 21 on the International Day of Peace, children around the world wish in many different languages for peace. |
Katz, Karen | Around the World |
| Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo When Ernie leaves the city and goes to live in the Aboriginal reserve of Arnhem Land, he sends letters to his old classmates describing the activities of his new friends. |
Lester, Alison | Australia |
| Erandi’s Braids In a poor Mexican village, Erandi surprises her mother by offering to sell her long, beautiful hair in order to raise enough money to buy a new fishing net. |
Madrigal, Antonio Hernandez | Mexico |
| Beatrice’s Goat A young girl dreams of attending school in her small Ugandan village. Her dream comes true once her family is given a goat that helps them make money. Based on a true story. |
McBrier, Page | Uganda |
| A Country Far Away Parallel pictures reveal the essential similarities between the lives of two boys, one in a western country, one in a rural African village. |
Ray, Nigel | Africa |
| Silent Music: A Story of Baghdad As bombs and missiles fall on Baghdad in 2003, a young boy uses the art of calligraphy to escape from the horror of war. |
Rumford, James | Iraq |
| My Dadima Wears a Sari Two young sisters raised in America learn about the beauty and art of wearing a sari from their wise Indian grandmother. |
Sheth, Kashmira | India |
| Martha The author relates how he and his Moscow family rescued Martha, a crow with a broken wing, and how she joined their household. |
Spirin, Gennadii | Russia |
| World Team All over the world, children in places as different as Germany, Kenya, Japan, Australia, and India are practicing and playing soccer, all dreaming of winning the World Cup. |
Vyner, Tim | Around the World |
| The Little Stone Lion The Little Stone Lion guards the village and keeps the memories of all who lived there. |
Xiong, Kim | China |
Intermediate Readers (3rd-4th)
| Anni’s India Diary A ten-year-old girl writes in her diary about the magical sights and sounds she finds with her family as they explore India. |
Axworthy, Ann | India |
| A Little Princess Sara Crewe is the richest girl at Miss Minchin’s London School until her father dies and leaves her with no money. She is forced to become a maid, but will she ever be rich again? |
Burnett, Frances Hodgson | England |
| Colibri Kidnapped when she was very young by an unscrupulous man, a twelve-year-old Mayan girl endures an abusive life, always wishing she could return to the parents she can hardly remember. |
Cameron, Ann | Guatemala |
| The Most Beautiful Place in the World Growing up with his grandmother in a small Central American town, seven year-old Juan finds out about the most beautiful place in the world. | Cameron, Ann | Guatemala |
| Nicholas Funny stories about the French schoolboy, Nicholas. |
Goscinny, Rene | France |
| Akimbo and the Lions When Akimbo and his park ranger father unintentionally capture a lion cub near an African game park, Akimbo wants to keep the cub. |
McCall Smith, Alexander | Africa |
| Secret Letters From 0 to 10 Ten-year-old Ernest lives a boring existence in Paris with his grandmother until a lively girl named Victoria enters his class at school. |
Morgenstern, Susie | France |
| Journey to Jo’Burg Separated from their mother by the difficult conditions for blacks in South Africa, Naledi and her younger brother travel over 300 kilometers to find her in Johannesburg. |
Naidoo, Beverley | South Africa |
| A Single Shard Tree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters' village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself. |
Park, Linda Sue | Korea |
| Year of the Panda A Chinese boy rescues a starving baby panda and learns why pandas are endangered. Can he help with the government’s program to rescue pandas before it’s too late? |
Schlein, Miriam | China |
| The Shadows of Ghadames In 19th century Libya, eleven-year-old Malika enjoys but also feels constricted by the narrow world of women, until an injured stranger enters her home and disrupts the traditional order of things. |
Stolz, Joëlle | Libya |
| Homeless Bird When thirteen-year-old Koly enters into an ill-fated arranged marriage, she must either suffer a destiny dictated by India's tradition or find the courage to oppose it. |
Whelan, Gloria | India |
| Listening for Lions Left an orphan after the influenza epidemic in British East Africa in 1918, thirteen-year-old Rachel is tricked into assuming a deceased neighbor's identity to travel to England, where her only dream is to return to Africa and rebuild her parents' mission hospital. |
Whelan, Gloria | East Africa/England |
| The Lottie Project Charlie finds her "easy-peasy, simple-pimple" school year changing when her strict teacher assigns a tough school project and her mother loses her job. |
Wilson, Jacqueline | England |
| The Friends Curious about death, three sixth-grade boys decide to spy on an old man waiting for him to die, but they end up becoming his friends. |
Yumoto, Kazumi | Japan |
| Crispin: The Cross of Lead An orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century England is unjustly accused of theft and murder, so he runs away and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret. |
Avi | England |
| Pankration: The Ultimate Game 12-year-old Nic has been kidnapped in 430 B.C., but he is determined to escape and keep his promise to meet his friend at the Olympic games. |
Blacklock, Dyan | Greece |
| Tusk and Stone After armed robbers attack his caravan and he loses his identity as a Brahmin, Arjun resigns himself to his new life, becomes an elephant driver, and searches for his kidnapped sister. |
Bosse, Malcolm J. | India |
| Samir and Yonatan Samir, a Palestinian boy, is sent for surgery to an Israeli hospital where he and an Israeli boy, Yonatan, play a computer game together about a trip to Mars, during which Samir finds peace about his brother's death in the war. |
Carmi, Daniella | Palestine/Israel |
| Catherine, Called Birdy The daughter of an English country knight must figure out a way not to be married against her will, and writes about the other, often funny events of her medieval world. |
Cushman, Karen | England |
| Breadwinner The Taliban rulers of Kabul, Afghanistan impose strict limits on women's freedom and behavior, so in order to help her family survive after her father’s arrest, eleven-year-old Parvana must disguise herself as a boy. |
Ellis, Deborah | Afghanistan |
| A Girl Named Disaster While journeying to Zimbabwe, eleven-year-old Nhamo struggles to escape drowning and starvation and in so doing comes close to the luminous world of the African spirits. |
Farmer, Nancy | Zimbabwe |
| Shadow Spinner In ancient Persia the beautiful queen Shahrazad must tell stories every night to the Sultan in order to save her life. When she can’t think of one more story, Marjan, a thirteen-year-old crippled girl, might be the only one who can help her—but time is running out. |
Fletcher, Susan | Persia/Iran |
| The Thief Lord Two brothers, having run away from the aunt who plans to adopt the younger one, are sought by a detective hired by their aunt, but they have found shelter with--and protection from--Venice's "Thief Lord." |
Funke, Cornelia | Italy |
| Emil and Karl In Vienna, Austria, in 1940, two nine-year-old boys, one Jewish and one Aryan, are classmates and best friends when events of the Nazi occupation draw them even closer together as they fight to survive and escape together. |
Glatstein, Jacob | Austria |
| Journey to the River Sea Sent with her governess to live with the dreadful Carter family in exotic Brazil in 1910, Maia endures many hardships before fulfilling her dream of exploring the Amazon River. |
Ibbotson, Eva | Brazil |
| Number the Stars When the Nazis take over Denmark in 1943 and begin to persecute Danish Jews, non-Jewish Annemarie must overcame her fears in order to save her Jewish friend. |
Lowry, Lois | Denmark |
| Saffy's Angel After learning that she was adopted, thirteen-year-old Saffron's family helps her go back to Italy where she was born to find a memento of her past. |
McKay, Hilary | England/Italy |
| Bound In a novel based on Chinese Cinderella tales, 14-year-old stepchild Xing-Xing endures a life of servitude, as her stepmother cruelly mutilates her own child's feet so that she alone might marry well. |
Napoli, Donna Jo | China |
| Shabanu (series) 11-year-old Shabanu, the daughter of a nomad in the Cholistan Desert of present-day Pakistan, is pledged in marriage to an older man whose money will bring prestige to the family. Will she accept the decision or defy her father's wishes? |
Staples, Suzanne | Pakistan |