Hi. I've been searching through picture books. Here are some suggestions:
Picture Books for Older Readers
Most of these books are available at your local public library. The main library and some of its branches are shelving these books under the label, “skinny fiction.”
Bartone, Elissa. Peppe the Lamplighter. Young Italian immigrant works hard igniting the street lamps in old New York at night and goes to school during the day.
Bunting, Eve. Gleam and Glow. Set in Bosnia during the recent conflict, a young boy’s father gives him two fish to care when he goes away to fight in the Resistance.
Bunting, Eve. How Many Days to America? Modern Thanksgiving story with immigrants from some unknown Latin American country.
Bunting, Eve. The Memory String. A young girl comes to terms with her mother’s death.
Bunting, Eve. Smoky Nights. Caldecott winner. Story takes place in the aftermath of the LA riots after the Rodney King trial.
Cherry, Lynne. River Ran Wild. Ecological story of the pollution of a New England river.
Coerr, Eleanor. Sadako and the Paper Cranes. Picture book version of the novel about the young Japanese girl who died from leukemia.
Cohen, Barbara. Molly’s Pilgrim. Picture book version of the story of a recent Russian immigrant girl who learns the real meaning of the American holiday, Thanksgiving.
Cooper, Ilene. The Golden Rule. BookLinks calls this book an “understated story . . .about the Golden Rule.”
Dooley, Norah. Everybody Bakes Bread; Everyone Cooks Rice; Everybody Serves Soup; Everybody Eats Noodles. Highlights different cultures by describing different foods.
Figueredo, D.H. The Road to Santiago. Fleeing from Communist regime in Cuba of the 50s.
Fleischman, Paul. Weslandia. A boy creates his own world in his backyard.
Heide, Florence Parry. Sami and the Time of Trouble. Young boy living in war torn Middle East.
Hesse, Karen. Cats in Krasinski Square. Warsaw ghetto, WWII.
Ricnard Wright and The Library Card.
Hobbs, Will. Bear Dream. Native American character
Hopkinson, Deborah. Under the Quilt of Night. Underground Railroad.
Khan, Rukhsana. The Roses in My Carpets. Refugees from Afghanistan.
LaMarche. The Raft. A young boy learns to appreciate nature on a raft ride down the river.
Levine, Ellen. Henry’s Freedom Box. Based on the true story of an escaped slave who ships himself to Philadelphia in a wooden box.
McBrier, Page. Beatrice’s Goat. Project Heifer. Ugandan girl receives a goat and also sustenance for her poor village.Ant
McCully, Emily. The Bobbin Girl. Turn of the century factory girl.
McKe experiences the prejudices of her small town until she reaches her destination, the public library.
Mochizuki, Ken. Baseball Saved Us & Heroes. Japanese internment camps.
Napoli, Donna Jo.Albert. An agrophobic young man becomes the fledgling of a mother bird.
Nelson, Marilyn. Miss Crandall’s School for Young Ladies and Little Misses of Color. Story of Prudence Crandall, who admitted African American girls into her Connecticut boarding school.
Polacco, Patricia. The Butterfly. Holocaust story.
Polacco, Patricia. I Can Hear the Sun. Homelessness fable.
Polacco, Patricia. Pink and Say. Civil War story of a white boy and a former slave.
Pryor, Bonnie. The Dream Jar. A young immigrant girl yearns to be able to go to school.
Rosen, Michael. Michael Rosen’s Sad Book. Illustrated by Quentin Blake. The main character’s son has died and the father must now cope with this sadness.
Say, Allen. Grandfather’s Journey. Born in America the main character returns after growing up in Japan.
Sis, Peter. The Wall. An autobiographical picture book about the author’s life behind the Berlin Wall. This author/illustrator usually writes books with sophisticated themes.
Steig, William. Amos and Boris. Friendship between a whale and a mouse.
Other Steig titles are also more sophisticated.
Stewart, Sarah. The Gardener. Set in letter form, a young girl grows a rooftop garden during the depression in Chicago.
Thomas, Joyce Carol. I Have Heard of a Land. a young African American woman expresses her joy and hope at becoming a homesteader.
Van Allsburg, Chris. The Sweetest Fig. Pompous, selfish man mistreats his dog, then eats a magical fig that reverses their roles.
Van Allsburg, Chris. The Witch’s Broom. A magical witch’s broom
Wells, Rosemary. Streets of Gold. True immigrant story of Mary Antin.
Yen. Coolies. Two Chinese brothers cross the Pacific to become railroad workers in California.
Yolen, Jane. Encounter. Viewing the arrival of Columbus through the eyes of a Taino boy.
