Summary: Children relate early to respect for animals. In this story a little girl saves a caterpillar from a hungry jaybird, and with her grandfather’s instruction, makes a house to keep it safe.

Summary: Respect for tradition and the people who keep it alive are at the heart of this elegant story about Gullah basket weaving. The basket, and the art of making it, symbolize the unbroken history, ancestry and cultural legacy as represented to a young African American girl learning the art.

Summary: Children and teachers at Jackson Elementary School in Everett, Washington commit to clean up a nearby stream and preserve it as a spawning place for salmon.

Summary: John Henry and Joe grow up together sharing respect, friendship, and love. They grieve when, rather than allow black children to swim in the town pool; officials choose to fill the pool with asphalt.

Summary: Patrick demonstrates his respect for thirteen inspiring Black Americans by honoring their courage and human struggle.

Summary: Every evening, just around sunset, neighbors gather on Miss Ida's porch--the "telling place"--to hear wonderful stories from the past about pivotal events and people in African American history. Tales of famous figures like Duke Ellington and Marian Anderson, as well as hardworking regular folk are included.

Summary: A girl’s discovery of her rich biracial heritage will help all children see themselves with pride and self-respect. This heartening story demonstrates the value of faith, the strength of family, and the power of respect for elders.

Summary: Michael's great-great-aunt Dew keeps a special box of one hundred pennies--one for each of her 100 years. She also has a vivid memory to go along with each coin. As he hears more of Aunt Dew's stories, Michael realizes how precious the box of pennies is.

Summary: When the island waters become over-fished and the traditional fishing methods outdated, Grandpa saves his livelihood--and respects the environment--by starting a sea moss farm.

Summary: Frannie makes a new friend when her mother invites an elderly neighbor to play the villain in the Purim Play, a story of courage and triumph from the Jewish tradition.

Summary: Jenny loves spending the summer in the country with her grandfather, but she sometimes feels lonely without her friends. On especially slow days, she observes elderly, mysterious Sally Arnold, a woman who walks along the fields and the creek banks collecting all kinds of odds and ends from cattails to old bottles. But before long Jenny discovers that Sally isn't so odd and the two become fast friends.

Summary: An African American nun, Sister Anne, encounters racism in the 1960s when she comes to teach at seven-year-old Anna's parocial school. As she deals with the prejudice she also generates respect from her students, especially Anna.

Summary: The extreme behavior observed in senseless mob violence and the need for neighbors to become neighborly is deftly woven into a message that respect, justice, and peace begin at home.

Summary: Young Obadiah makes a friend for life when he helps a seagull that has been slightly injured.

Summary: Little Osa learns from her Gran’ma the legend of why men live in square houses and women and children live in round houses. This unique tale of an African culture will help children appreciate the customs of others.