Story Time with Avant-garde Books, LLC

Eat Your Peas, Louise! actively engages young readers, encourages language development, builds fluency, and promotes independent reading. By targeting a skill, like learning about rhymes, young readers are building fundamental reading skills with the help of fun, lively, colorfully illustrated stories.

Imagine learning to read at the age of 116! Discover the true story of Mary Walker, the nation's oldest student who did just that, in this picture book from a Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator and a rising star author. In 1848, Mary Walker was born into slavery. At age 15, she was freed, and by age 20, she was married and had her first child. By age 68, she had worked numerous jobs, includin...

Discover this middle grade masterpiece about a young black boy whose quiet rural live in the Appalachian Mountains begins to change—winner of the Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award. Mayo Cornelius Higgins sits on his gleaming, forty-foot steel pole, towering over his home on Sarah’s Mountain. Stretched before him are rolling hills and shady valleys. But be...

The Tale of Peter Rabbit is the original classic by Beatrix Potter. First published by Frederick Warne in 1902, the story endures as Beatrix Potter's most popular and well-loved tale. It tells the story of a very mischievous rabbit and the trouble he encounters in Mr. McGregor's vegetable garden! Re-originated in 2002 to mark the centenary of publication bringing it closer to the original...

"This is a perfect choice for very young children, and extra-large print makes it even more accessible." —Publisher's Weekly One of Tomie's most popular young picture books, this charming story about Cookie the cat makes a perfect read along. With its bright watercolor illustrations and one sentence of text per page, toddlers will love following Cookie through the days of the wee...

This stunning picture book looks into the life of Georgia Gilmore, a hidden figure of history who played a critical role in the civil rights movement and used her passion for baking to help the Montgomery Bus Boycott achieve its goal. Georgia decided to help the best way she knew how. She worked together with a group of women and together they purchased the supplies they needed-bread, lettuce, and...

Introduces young wildlife enthusiasts to an array of creatures in their natural habitats on the African Savannah. Safari day dawns on the savanna. The African light gives the sky colors seen nowhere else on Earth. Soon, an amazing array of wild animals are yawning, screeching, and growling to life. Meet the elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras, hippos, and the laughing hyenas of the wilderness and f...

As the sun sets, a little bird is urged to fly home from the seashore, through the city, and back to its nest.

James Van Der Zee was just a young boy when he saved enough money to buy his first camera. He took photos of his family, classmates, and anyone who would sit still for a portrait. By the fifth grade, James was the school photographer and unofficial town photographer. Eventually he outgrew his small town and moved to the exciting, fast-paced world of New York City. After being told by his boss that...

(pp 27 -34) M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton Discover this middle grade masterpiece about a young black boy whose quiet rural live in the Appalachian Mountains begins to change—winner of the Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award. Mayo Cornelius Higgins sits on his gleaming, forty-foot steel pole, towering over his home on Sarah’s Mountain. Stretc...

With bold paintings and a simple, rhyming text, Caldecott Medalists Leo & Diane Dillon bring young readers a rap a tap tap celebration of dance that will have readers clapping and tapping along. "There once was a man who danced in the street / He brought pleasure and joy to the people he'd greet / He didn't just dance, he made art with his feet / Rap a tap tap--think of that!&quot...

This classic story of The Three Bears is a vintage version that was printed in 1965 by Western Publishing Company, Inc. The book cost $0.49!

Mazie is ready to celebrate liberty. She is ready to celebrate freedom. She is ready to celebrate a great day in American history. The day her ancestors were no longer slaves. Mazie remembers the struggles and the triumph, as she gets ready to celebrate Juneteenth.

Nancy's class is going on a trip to the museum, and Nancy wants to be extra fancy for the occasion. After a bumpy bus ride, she doesn't feel very well. Luckily for Nancy, her teacher, Ms. Glass, has a few fancy tricks of her own. Nothing can keep Nancy from making this trip magnifique ! (That's a fancy French word for great!) Fancy Nancy at the Museum is a Level One I Can Read book, which means it...

An award-winning celebration of an American hero Dave was an extraordinary artist, poet, and potter living in South Carolina in the 1800s. He combined his superb artistry with deeply observant poetry, carved onto his pots, transcending the limitations he faced as a slave. In this inspiring and lyrical portrayal, National Book Award nominee Laban Carrick Hill's elegantly simple text and award-winni...

(pp. 20-26) M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton Discover this middle grade masterpiece about a young black boy whose quiet rural live in the Appalachian Mountains begins to change—winner of the Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award. Mayo Cornelius Higgins sits on his gleaming, forty-foot steel pole, towering over his home on Sarah’s Mountain. Stretc...

Exuberant rhymes and wild illustrations celebrate self-acceptance and self-love, from the New York Times bestselling creators of I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! High on energy and imagination, this ode to self-esteem encourages kids to appreciate everything about themselves—inside and out. Messy hair? Beaver breath? So what! Here's a little girl who knows what really matters. At once silly and seriou...

After the short passage about the Olmecs, children will be asked comprehension questions. 

"The Guardian of the Pool" retold by Diana Pitcher and pictures by Tamsin Hinrichsen from Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales A cause for celebration, and a landmark work that gathers in one volume many of Africa's most cherished folktales. In these beloved stories we meet a Kenyan lion named Simba, a snake with seven heads, and tricksters from Zulu folklore; we hear the voices of the sche...

Discover this middle grade masterpiece about a young black boy whose quiet rural live in the Appalachian Mountains begins to change—winner of the Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award. Mayo Cornelius Higgins sits on his gleaming, forty-foot steel pole, towering over his home on Sarah’s Mountain. Stretched before him are rolling hills and shady valleys. But be...

Learn about the abolitionist Frederick Douglass and his fight for freedom in this Step 3 Biography Reader! Frederick Douglass was a keystone figure in the abolitionist movement, and his story has impacted generations of people fighting for civil rights in America. He was born to an enslaved mother and grew up with the horrors of slavery. In the course of his childhood, he was able to learn to read...

Based on Walt Disney's animated classic, this vintage Little Golden Book from 1951 retells the story of Alice’s wild adventures in Wonderland.

DW’s birthday is coming up and she has a long list of what she wants, but she does not know about money or how to earn it. She sets out to learn from her parents, important details about money and financial security. Go on this journey with DW to improve your financial literacy and learn all you should know about money as a kid.

Experience the joy of Juneteenth in this celebration of freedom from the award-winning team of Angela Johnson and E.B. Lewis. Through the eyes of one little girl, All Different Now tells the story of the first Juneteenth, the day freedom finally came to the last of the slaves in the South. Since then, the observance of June 19 as African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United State...

Discover this middle grade masterpiece about a young black boy whose quiet rural live in the Appalachian Mountains begins to change—winner of the Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award. Mayo Cornelius Higgins sits on his gleaming, forty-foot steel pole, towering over his home on Sarah’s Mountain. Stretched before him are rolling hills and shady valleys. But be...