Life Skills For Kids

When Corook is hit with hate on the internet, they and Olivia grab a guitar and dive into the comforting world of what it would be like to be a fish instead. Swimming away from all the negativity out there, together they make the best of a very bad day. Humans and fish alike are welcome to sing (or kazoo) along!

Stacy Friedman is getting ready for one of the most important events of her young life—her bat mitzvah. All she wants is the perfect dress to wear, her friends by her side, and her biggest crush ever, Andy Goldfarb, to dance with her (and maybe even make out with her on the dance floor). But Stacy's well-laid plans quickly start to fall apart... Her stressed-out mother forces her to buy a hideous sequined dress that makes her look like the bride of Frankenstein. Her mitzvahs are not going well at all. And then the worst thing in the entire world happens.

When her grandmother comes off the airplane in Houston from Pakistan, Mahnoor knows that having Dadi move in is going to disrupt everything about her life. She doesn’t have time to be Dadi’s unofficial babysitter—her journalism teacher has announced that their big assignment will be to film a documentary, which feels more like storytelling than what Maha would call “journalism.”

The kids from All Are Welcome are heading back to school and eager to see old friends, make new friends, and learn to be readers, writers, listeners, and leaders. Three things they keep in mind: Always try. Have fun. Be kind.

Meet Whisper, Frannie, Sophie, Gemma, and Zuzu, five friends who tell eerie tales by night and navigate middle school drama by day. In Misery Falls, Oregon, it is the 100th anniversary of the electrocution of the town’s most infamous killer, Silas Hoke, and the town is abuzz. When a mysterious text message leads the girls to the cemetery—where Silas Hoke is buried!—life can’t get any creepier. Except, yes, it can, thanks to the surprise storyteller who meets them at the cemetery.

Leonie ist schon ganz gespannt, denn bald ist Ostern. In der Kita tollt sie durch die Blumenwiese und hält neugierig Ausschau, ob die Ostereier vielleicht schon früher versteckt wurden. Mit Mama malt sie Eierschalen bunt und schenkt Oma ein hübsches Osterei. Beim Picknick im Park macht sich Leonie mit ihrer besten Freundin auf die Suche nach dem Osterhasen. Und schließlich ist der Ostermorgen da! Leonie findet viele kleine Osternester, Papa spielt mit ihr und Malte Eierlaufen und dann lassen sich alle das gemeinsame Osterfrühstück in der Sonne schmecken.

The gym is where Claire shines and she’s on her way to qualifying for the state championships. But at school, she’s known as a troublemaker—which is fine with her since it helps her hide her reading problem. Claire has never been able to make sense of the wobbling jumble of letters on a page. When a sympathetic principal wonders if she’s acting out because she may have dyslexia, she’s stunned. Claire has always assumed she’s dumb, so she’s eager to get evaluated. But her mother balks.

This unique book of affirmations for kids relates to their world, and the skills they develop at a young age. For example, “I am capable. I can do things by myself” and “I am imaginative. I can pretend.”

Benjamin Banneker STEM Academy is the top middle school in Denver. Let’s just say the kids are . . . competitive. When Principal Yee announces the start of an epic Team Competition for the school, Frederick Douglass Zezzmer knows that trophy’s got his name on it. That’ll show his sports-obsessed Dad that he’s worthy, right? Only problem is, it’s a TEAM competition … and Doug isn’t so great working in a team environment (except with his best friend Huey, of course).

Opal Lee grew up as a Black girl in Texas at a time when Black and white people were kept separate and Black people had fewer opportunities than white people did. She knew that this wasn’t right, and she grew up to be a teacher and a community leader, determined to help create a better future for all people. A big part of her work and life was making Juneteenth a national holiday to mark the end of enslavement for Black Americans. She loved this day as both a celebration and as a way of teaching about the past.

Mihi, Reese, and Savannah thought their fairy tale realm adventures were over. But just as they were getting ready to go home, they learn that their first friend in the realm, Princess Pat, has disappeared on a quest of her own. Pat is traveling around the fairy world trying to gather enough magic to save the Rainbow Realm, but the journey is too dangerous, and Mihi, Reese, and Savannah are the only ones that can save her.

"I know big sisters. Zora, the boss, she's mine," explains Lee as he and Zora head to the library, where Mrs. C is teaching the children how to sew. Though Zora sews a beautiful flower on her cloth square, little Lee makes a mess out of the half-moon he is trying to stitch. That night, when he can't sleep, he gives sewing another try...and succeeds, even mending the hole in his pants pocket! The next morning, he sneaks into Zora's room and sews the ear back on Bess, her stuffed bear.

In expansive vignettes, we meet sandpipers, tannin-soaked lakes, the feeling of a small waterfall on one’s shoulders. Artist and author Jack Wong has delivered an empowering, poetic modern classic that fills listeners with the wonder and confidence needed to overcome their fears of the water. When You Can Swim invites children into the warmth and wonder of the natural world and its watery splendors. At the same time, children will experience the joyousness that nature’s lessons teach us through its beauty.

Ever since Stanley Lambchop was flattened by a bulletin board, each day brings new adventures! According to Stanley’s second grade teacher, Ms. Root, everyone in classroom 2E is a scientist. That’s good news for Stanley because he has a problem in need of solving! Both his classmate, Josie, and his little brother, Arthur, think he’s been using his flatness to cheat during playground games. But Stanley can’t help being flat! It’s time to test how flatness affects Stanley on the playground. Will science be on his side?

A Message in the Moon was inspired by Downey’s own story of losing her mother when she was just ten years old and the comfort her father brought her. Years later, when Downey left home for college, her father pointed to the full moon and told her, "Whenever you feel alone, always look into the night sky, and you’ll be reminded of how much I love you. I’ll leave a message for you in the moon.” That simple comfort remains with Downey today, and now she is passing it on to parents and children alike.

Sunny the seahorse loves his friends that share the ocean with him. When one of them is sad, Sunny wants to help. However, when Shrimp is angry, Sunny doesn't know what to do. Can anyone convince Shrimp it is okay to get help from his friends?

Second-grader Keena Ford loves writing in her journal. One day, Keena accidentally leaves her journal in the apartment of her mean classmate Tiffany Harris. The next day, Tiffany informs Keena that she's read the journal and is going to tell all of Keena's secrets! Well, unless Keena does everything Tiffany says, of course. With a little help from her brother, some classic fables, and a visiting author, Keena discovers what she must do to stand up to Tiffany and apologize to her friends.

Keena Ford is so excited to go on a field trip to the United States Capitol with her second-grade class! At school, she is running for a spot on the student council, and on the field trip she's going to meet a real live U.S. representative. The only trouble is, mean Tiffany Harris keeps teasing Keena and taking the best place in line. Keena doesn't mean to get into trouble, but trouble seems to find her anyway!

Isamu Noguchi is one of the most important sculptors of all time. His Akari lamps changed the way modern buildings light their space. But before he was important, he was a kid. This is his story. Noguchi was a Japanese American artist who gave the world light. The world, however, was not always so giving in return. Growing up mixed-race, born in the United States but raised in Japan, Noguchi found himself perceived as an outsider who did not belong in either country

Wiz Kids is a collection of 10 empowering stories for children, such as friendship, love, and confidence, told through fables. The stories are designed to be listened to by an adult and discussed.