Distinguished books that best promote awareness of California and its people.
My Papi Has a Motorcycle
Grades 1 - 3: A heartfelt and beautiful picture book. Zeke Peña’s vibrant watercolors capture a special relationship between a father and daughter who bond over their love of motorcycles and their Mexican-American community in Corona, CA. An author’s note by Quintero explains more about the history of her hometown.
It Ain't So Awful, Falafel
Zomorod Yousefzadeh is determined to make a fresh start at her junior high in Newport Beach. Her first move? Picking out a “normal” American name (Cindy) and setting her sights on new friends. But fitting in becomes near impossible when the Iranian Revolution and the American hostage crisis start making headlines. Set in the late 1970s, readers can take a lot from this perspective on the immigrant experience.
Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting With the Great Whites of California's Farallon Islands
The coast of California is home to many sharks, like the Great Whites of the Farallon Islands. Katherine Roy’s illustrations are so beautiful you won’t notice that there aren’t any actual photographs, and this fact-filled book shows why scientists and readers alike find these creatures so frightening and fascinating!
The Tree Lady
A charming picture book biography about the life and times of Katherine Olivia Sessions, the first woman to graduate from the University of California with a degree in science and who became known as the "Mother of Balboa Park" for her dedication to gardening and planting trees in San Diego. Colorful and encouraging. Grades K-3.
The Camping Trip That Changed America: Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and Our National Parks
(Grades 1-4) Rosenstock’s accessible text and Gerstein’s vibrant illustrations pair well to tell the story of a little-known historical camping trip that spurred the creation of national parks and protected public wilderness. Gerstein’s illustrations admirably capture Roosevelt’s exuberance, Muir’s passion, and Yosemite’s awe-inspiring beauty.
One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street
The last remaining orange tree on a Southern California street brings together neighbors of all ages as they face their problems and anxieties, including the possibility that a mysterious stranger is a threat to their tree.
Al Capone Does My Shirts
A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.
Hurry Freedom: African Americans in Gold Rush California
Recounts the history of African Americans in California during the Gold Rush while focusing on the life and work of Mifflin Gibbs.
Bandit's moon
The ballad of Lucy Whipple
Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp
The great American gold rush
People came from all over the world to pursue the dream of discovering gold in California in the mid 19 th -century, and this book tells the story using primary sources such as letters, diaries, newspapers, posters, cartoons and advertisements.