“Misery loves company,” Mama says to James Otis. It’s been a rough couple of months for them, but Mama says as long as they have their health and strength, they’re blessed. One Sunday before Valentine’s Day, Reverend Dennis makes an announcement during the service—the Temples have lost everything in a fire, and the church is collecting anything that might be useful to them. James thinks hard about what he can add to the Temple’s “love box,” but what does he have worth giving?
2020-2021 Gallery Award
Reading Level: 3.6
Published by Schwartz & Wade
Copyright January 8, 2019
ISBN# 978-0375836152 (HB)
As a boy, Alan wanted to fly planes. As a young navy pilot, Alan wished he could paint the view from the cockpit. So he took an art class to learn patterns and forms. But no class could prepare him for the beauty of the lunar surface some 240,000 miles from Earth. In 1969, Alan became the fourth man and first artist on the moon. He took dozens of pictures, but none compared to what he saw through his artistic eyes. When he returned to Earth, he began to paint what he saw. Alan’s paintings allowed humanity to experience what it truly felt like to walk on the moon.
2020-2021 Gallery Award
Reading Level: 3.4
Published by Orchard Books
Copyright May 28, 2019
ISBN# 978-1338259537 (HB)
1920s cotton buyer Earle Dickson worked for Johnson & Johnson and had a klutzy wife who often cut herself. The son of a doctor, Earle set out to create an easier way for her to bandage her injuries. Band-Aids were born, but Earle’s bosses at the pharmaceutical giant weren’t convinced, and it wasn’t until the Boy Scouts of America tested Earle’s prototype that this ubiquitous household staple was made available to the public. Soon Band-Aids were selling like hotcakes, and the rest is boo-boo history.
2020-2021 Gallery Award
Reading Level: 3.9
Published by Charlesbridge
Copyright February 13, 2018
ISBN# 978-1580897457 (HB)
Do you ever talk before you think? Mess up? Let others down? That’s what Peter did, again and again and again, and it led him to abandoning his best friend, Jesus. Peter loved Jesus. He felt terrible when he pretended not to know him. He thought all was lost when Jesus died. But Jesus is not like our other friends. He wants to forgive us when we are really sorry, even when we mess up again and again and again. And because Jesus died and rose again he can. Jesus’ death took the punishment for all of Peter’s mistakes and all our mistakes, and his resurrection showed the penalty was lifted. After he rose from the dead, Jesus went and found Peter and forgave him, and he can do the same for us. Peter spent the rest of his life telling people that if they put their trust in Jesus, they could be forgiven too again and again and again. Children know all about failing, but they don’t always experience true forgiveness. This book points them to Jesus, the one who will forgive them again and again and again.
2020-2021 Gallery Award
Reading Level: 0.0
Published by The Good Book Company
Copyright November 1, 2018
ISBN# 978-1784983024 (HB)
When Tanisha spills grape juice all over her new dress, her classmate wants to make her feel better, wondering: What does it mean to be kind?
From asking the new girl to play to standing up for someone being bullied, this moving story explores what kindness is, and how any act, big or small, can make a difference―or at least help a friend.
2019-2020 Gallery Award
Reading Level: 2.2
Published by Roaring Brook Press
Copyright February 6, 2017
ISBN# 978-1626723214 (HB)
Hiking in the great outdoors, catching fish, watching the stars come out at night—camping is fun. Until it’s time to sleep. Then, Lucy wonders, what kinds of creatures lurk in the dark? With only her brother and grandpa as tent-mates, will Lucy be able to face her camping fears?
2019-2020 Gallery Award
Reading Level: 3.0
Published by HMH Books for Young Readers
Copyright March 28, 2017
ISBN# 978-0544638730 (HB)
I Can Only Imagine asks questions a child might ask and invites families to wonder together: What is heaven like? What does God do? What would it be like to spend a day with Jesus? Children will see that although experiencing the glory of heaven may be far off, we can enjoy a friendship with Jesus every day - right here on earth. Whimsical, playful illustrations and thought-provoking questions make this a book that families will cherish.
2019-2020 Gallery Award
Reading Level: 0.0
Published by Thomas Nelson
Copyright July 3, 2018
ISBN# 978-1400321339 (HB)
John Ronald loved dragons. He liked to imagine dragons when he was alone, and with his friends, and especially when life got hard or sad. After his mother died and he had to live with a cold-hearted aunt, he looked for dragons. He searched for them at his boarding school. And when he fought in a Great War, he felt as if terrible, destructive dragons were everywhere. But he never actually found one, until one day, when he was a grown man but still very much a boy at heart, when he decided to create one of his own.
2019-2020 Gallery Award
Reading Level: 4.0
Published by Roaring Brook Press
Copyright March 21, 2017
ISBN# 978-1626720923 (HB)
