PBS Teachers™
Health & Fitness
recommended books archive
Published: September 2005
Pasta can be a quick and easy meal to prepare, but it shouldn't taste like fast food. This paean to pasta is part memoir and mostly recipes for pasta main courses, pastas in soup, and baked pasta. Make sure to read the first chapter on the basic principles of pasta cooking. And never, ever check your pasta by throwing it against a wall.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2004
There have been only fourteen perfect games pitched in modern baseball in 150,000 games. Some of the pitchers are well known like Cy Young, Sandy Koufax, and Catfish Hunter, but others like Charlie Robertson are not. This books looks at the careers of the fourteen men who belong to one of the world’s most exclusive clubs.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2002
The master chef Alexia Soyer was flamboyant, inventive, and compassionate. After seeing the poor beg for food in London streets, he decided to cook for them as well as his rich patrons. During the Crimean War, he did the same for soldiers in the field. He taught classes in cooking well on a large scale. This picture book includes cooking tips, some of Soyer’s many inventions, and a glimpse at some of his contemporaries, like Florence Nightingale.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2006
Wilmut and his team of scientists cloned the sheep Dolly. In this examination of the science of cloning, Wilmut describes the technology that produced Dolly, how it can be used in stem cell research, research scandals, and ethical arguments. Wilmut supports regulated cloning and warns against abandoning its promise.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2001
The author and a climbing buddy traveled to Borneo in 1999 to find and climb a mountain that was only rumored to exist. They had only a description from a book and a map labeled "all elevations unknown." The book they carried was written by a British soldier who had parachuted into the jungle in 1945 to unite the headhunting tribes against the Japanese. This exciting adventure combines recent military history and the search for Batu Lawi. And as if the climbing weren't hard enough, they faced leeches, vipers, and sweat bees.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2007
This collection of baseball puzzles requires solid knowledge of the gameÂ’s rules. Morse presents a hypothetical play, provides a historical illustration, and makes the call. ItÂ’s perfect for future umpires or hardball fans during the off season.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 1999
This book for middle schoolers and up is a collection of short pieces relating the travels of an irredeemable skier and snowboarder. Finkel describes surviving an avalanche in Montana, watching the sunrise on Kilimanjaro, riding a yak in the mountains of central Asia, skiing down a runaway truck ramp in Colorado, and other adventures on six continents.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2003
This exercise program springs from the many disciplines taught at The Ailey School. Its 52 exercises are grouped in six chapters: warm-up, posture and alignment, stretch, strength, balance and coordination, and relaxation and rejuvenation. The complete workout lasts 60-90 minutes, but a shortcut program of 20-30 minutes and an essentials program of 7-10 minutes are described. Best of all, most of the exercises require little or no equipment and can be done at home. Many photos make all the movements clear.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2006
Fantastic full-color action sports photographs are collected by seasons. Each photo includes a description, factoids, and trivia questions.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 1998
Paula Danziger continues the adventures of Amber Brown in this account of Amber's struggle to keep everything together in the wake of her parents' divorce. Readers age 9-12 will identify with Amber's daily ups and downs, which include skunks, a new stepfather, and a haircut that's simply unbelievable.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2000
When Gertrude Ederle grew up in New York, women could not vote, and when she decided to swim the English Channel in 1925, the London Daily News printed an editorial saying women would "remain forever the weaker sex." It took two attempts, but Gertrude not only swam the Channel but beat the record set by a man. Widener's paintings of Ederle's stormy crossing help make this is an exciting book for children 4-8.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2003
Today the relationship between mosquitoes and disease is recognized, but in 1793 the cause of Philadelphia's nightmare was unknown. Murphy tells a dramatic story while examining the medicine of the age; the efforts of politicians, religious leaders, and doctors; and the role played by Philadelphia's free African Americans. The book features many illustrations.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 1999
Ninety to 95 percent of the more than 8 million Americans suffering from eating disorders are female, though the number of males is increasing. This book for 9-12 year olds talks about what anorexia is; its effects on the body; our cultural quest for thinness; and lists warning signals, tips for prevention, and tips for confronting someone you suspect has an eating disorder.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2006
Anthony’s cool. He has a bucket and a shovel, but the girls don’t seem to notice him. Anthony just wants to be included. When a mad and frustrated Anthony cries, the girls let him join the play. Then along comes Luke. Adults who think playing well with others is easy will learn otherwise. Kids know better.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2002
Plant the seeds from a single apple and chances are you will get trees bearing different apples. That is why apple growers graft scions to root stock. This photographic essay examines grafting, pruning, harvesting, and other aspects of apple growing and eating. A final section provides additional facts and a gallery of popular apple varieties.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2004
For beginning archers, Engh presents the basics for recurve and compound bows. Separate chapters cover bows; arrows; grips, anchors, and releases; aiming and grouping; scoring; accessories; and tuning and repair. A final chapter looks at competition. Plenty of photos show gear and illustrate technique.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2003
If you are looking for a book to read before falling asleep, this isn't it. Plimpton compiled tales covering the continents and oceans and providing excitement as varied as cheetah hunting, rowing across oceans, discovering the coelacanth, and hang-gliding on K-2, accounts written by the likes of Charles Lindbergh, Stefansson Mervyn Cowie, and Roald Amundsen. A final chapter examines exploration and explorers.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2006
Books don’t gossip, so if you have personal questions about boys and boy friends and want them to remain secret, read this book. Nine chapters cover aspects of falling in and out of love and friendship.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 1999
This biography for baseball fans 9-12 tells of Sosa's struggles as a young boy in the Dominican Republic, his exciting homerun race with Mark McGwire during the 1998 season, and his efforts to help his native country following Hurricane Georges.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2002
Babar presents fifteen yoga positions and stretches as well as breathing exercises with step-by-step instructions and illustrations. Young and old students will enjoy the humor of Brunhoff's narrative and pictures. He mirrors landmark buildings and natural formations with elephants in yoga postures. They will benefit from the exercise too.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 1999
This book is a love affair with baseball, New York, and a good introduction to life during the Great Depression. When the story's narrator discovers that his father has lost his job and is selling apples for a living, he decides to help out by getting a job as a newspaper boy. While selling papers outside Yankee Stadium, he meets Babe Ruth and is drawn into the world of baseball. An engaging book for readers age 4-8, as well as their parents and caregivers!
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 1999
Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1911-1956) was an All-American basketball player, an Olympic gold medallist in track and field, and a championship golfer. She also excelled in tennis, baseball, diving, and bowling. This biography of a woman athlete who defied convention is for readers aged 9-12.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2003
Denison interviewed 21 runners who have run sub-four-minute miles, runners like John Landy, Peter Snell, Jim Ryun, Sebastian Coe, and Noah Ngeng. Some have run one sub-four, but others have run more than 100. The book includes commentary and appendices with brief biographies and statistics.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 1998
Readers age 4-8 will love the colorful illustrations that accompany the story of Reginald, a little boy who loves the violin. Reginald's father is the manager of the last-place team in the Negro Leagues until Reginald becomes the team's bat boy and his fiddling inspires a team winning streak. A great story about fathers and sons, winning and losing, and doing what you love.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2003
Beegu is a young alien who has crashed on Earth. She resembles a yellow rabbit. Lonely, Beegu tries to find a friend, but most beings she encounters are too big, busy, or unfriendly. Only the small ones: puppies and children accept her. This sensitively illustrated story will recall ET. It could be used to start a discussion on what it is like to be different.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: 2006
If a river runs through your leisure time, Casada delivers the basics on the gear, the art, and the quarry. Don’t think fly fishing is just about trout. Panfish, bass, pike, muskies, catfish, and carp can boost your heart rate. And don’t forget saltwater.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2001
Winter’s done it again! This time he has highlighted Latino baseball greats. Each entry resembles a baseball card with a portrait, statistics, and life. Meet Jose Mendez, Dolf Luque, Bobby Avila, Minnie Minoso, Roberto Clemente, and others.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2002
This colorful introduction to berries covers edible and inedible fruits, focusing on varieties found in North America. A natural history of the strawberry explains pollination by insects and wind. Directions are given for growing strawberries, making blueberry pie, strawberry jam, and raspberry ice cream. The final page is a collection of berry facts.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2004
This collection of twenty-six articles was culled from newspapers, magazines, and the Web. The sports covered range from baseball to the 2003 World Taxidermy Championships. If this seems a trifle slow and stuffy, you’ll also find air racing. The contestants range from pros to high school students.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2007
This collection of essays outlines two decades of breakthroughs in brain science. Three sections examine consciousness and creativity; the senses, psychological disorder, and addiction; and brain-machine interaction and treatment.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2004
It was supposed to be a relaxing outing, a break from his strenuous solo climbs of Colorado peaks, but 27 year old Ralston became trapped when an 800 pound boulder pinned his right hand. After enduring cold and dehydration for six days, he realized that he had one chance to save his life. He had to cut off his hand. Ralston continues to climb.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 2004
This is a comprehensive history of the development of the bicycle and its component parts. Filled with photographs and illustrations it covers two hundred years and explores the technological and social impact of the two-wheeler. Along the way it introduces plenty of colorful characters from proponents like 19th century bike racer James Moore who thought the bicycle would become as common as the umbrella and skeptical wags like Mark Twain who said “get a bicycle. You will not regret it—if you live.”
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2005
If you ride a bike, you’ve probably wished you could repair it yourself. This 5th edition of a classic guide to maintaining bicycles will help you do that. Down covers road, mountain, tandem, and recumbent bikes built in the last thirty years. He shows you what tools you’ll need, provides gear charts, glossary, and phone numbers and URLs for bike resources. Repair steps are illustrated with hundreds of photos.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2002
Big Al and Shrimpy become pals when they are asked by the other fish to leave their game of tag. When Big Al is trapped by a rock in the dark deep, Shrimpy rallies the others to help him. This tale of friendship and a small fish with big ideas is beautifully illustrated by Yoshi using a combination of painting and batik on silk with embroidery.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2005
The rules for more than 300 indoor and outdoor games make this book a winner for anyone with a rainy day or lazy afternoon to fill. You’ll find games for the home and travel, games for groups and solo players, and games that use equipment and those that don’t. This is a perfect resource for families and classrooms.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2006
Why a left tackle is so important and well paid is made clear when Lewis describes the 1985 career-ending sack of Joe Theismann. His main subject is Michael Oher, an up-and-coming left tackle. Oher's story is mythic' poor kid with an addicted mother and no known father who is miraculously recognized as having great football potential even before he's played football and who is adopted by a loving family and sent to school for his first formal education. Lewis is convinced Oher will be a big player. Count on it.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2002
If you have ever moped away a Sunday because Monday meant school, you’ll sympathize with Steve. His parents suggest activities to take his mind off Monday, but Steve keeps remembering. When Monday arrives, Steve enters the schoolyard, sees his friends, and decides maybe school isn’t so bad after all.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2003
This striking and diverse picture book introduces the bones of the human body. Kids will find rhymes, songs, jokes, a dance, picture search, fun quiz, information and activities for the Day of the Dead, and even a recipe for doggie biscotti.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2007
The author has Asperger’s syndrome and savant syndrome. He sees numbers as shapes, colors, and textures. He’s able to solve complicated math problems by seeing shapes rather than by calculating. He can also become fluent in new languages in a week. He runs a web based business for language tutorials. Tammet’s memoir describes his development from a boy who had tantrums and couldn’t make friends to an adult who is productive and independent.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2003
First published in 1996 for the Marathon’s centennial, this new edition is filled with photos, facts, maps, trivia, and even a 1970 recipe for the traditional race end beef stew to feed 2000 runners. Appendices list all male and female winners. The book will appeal to runners and sitters.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2005
The USSR had dominated Olympic hockey for twenty years when they met Herb Brooks’s American team in 1980. This exciting account of that contest places the event in its political context and examines the coach and the players who went on to win the Gold medal by defeating the Czechoslovakians.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2008
Do you tout your ability to multitask? Fagetaboutit. The author explains that our brains can pay attention to only one thing at a time. The brain focuses on concepts separately and sequentially, so that what seems to us to be multitasking is really attention shifting. So what? Studies show that interruptions, shifting from one task to another, increase a taskÂ’s completion time and error rates by 50%. In twelve chapters, Medina describes brain rules such as every brain is wired differently, sleep and exercise boost brain power, and vision trumps all of the other senses; offers ideas for implementation and contemplation; and ends with a summary page. The book includes a DVD tour of the 12 brain rules.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 1999
A rebellious but intellectually gifted young man develops a friendship and love affair with a popular and beautiful honors student, but their romance is thwarted by rigid social hierarchies.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2007
Allergy medications are a five billion dollar industry. The author examines the history and business of allergies, tracing hay fever from the 19th century, when it was believed to be an affliction of the rich, to the present, showing how our search for seasonal relief has shaped how we live.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2007
Hallie isnÂ’t afraid of much, except storms. When her father decides to move the family to Oregon on a wagon train, she leaves everything she knows behind, especially her grandmother who has helped her brave storms. On the journey west, she sees a buffalo stampede, the biggest "storm" sheÂ’s ever seen and suddenly regular storms donÂ’t seem as frightening.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2001
Mickey and Jack used to be friends, but now Jack is making Mickey’s life miserable. Dad suggests he use his brave words. Mom says give him more cookies. Mickey tries everything, and in the end, discovers his own solution. This book offers more than one way to deal with a bully. It should make a good discussion starter.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 2002
Did you know that Abraham Lincoln was at least a competent swordsman? He was challenged three times, twice with swords, once with cow dung at twenty paces. Lincoln never actually exchanged blows in either sword duel, but he demonstrated great cunning in establishing terms. If swordplay in movies brings you to the edge of your seat, you will find this epic of the sword in history, entertainment, and sport a fascinating read.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2007
Roy Campanella was the first African American catcher to integrate the major leagues. With the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was the leagueÂ’s All-Star catcher eight years in a row and MVP three times. In 1958, he was paralyzed in a car accident but remained a champ as a coach and in radio and TV.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2004
Frustrated that favorite candy bars like the Goo Goo Cluster, Idaho Spud, and Kit Kat Dark had gone the way of the Dodo, Steve Almond set out to learn why. This idiosyncratic account of chocomania is part nostalgia and part tirade against conglomerates that have gobbled up regional candy makers. For the sweetest teeth, he includes a list of websites.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2004
Minds can be changed, argues Howard Gardner, not overnight but gradually, in ways that can be influenced. He identifies seven factors: reason, research, resonance, redescription, resources, and rewards, real world events, and resistances. He illustrates his thesis with examples form politics, business, science, the arts, and daily life.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: July 2004
Who can imagine football without cheerleaders? This pictorial paean to rah provides a short history of cheerleading, a look at changing fashions, an assessment of what it takes to cheer, and describes related activities like the drill team, kick squad, majorettes, marching band, and dance troupe. Cheering fans will find plenty of period photos, ads, and art, including a patent blueprint of Laurence Herkimer’s first pom-pon.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2006
In 1970, Americans sent 6 billion dollars on fast food. In 2005, we spent 134 Billion. When you make a strawberry shake at home, the flavor comes from strawberries. When you buy a strawberry shake at a fast food joint, the flavor comes from 47 chemicals. Read this book and make sure you understand what you’re eating.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 1998
Young Adults will find various viewpoints about issues related to child abuse, such as what causes it and how it may be prosecuted in a court of law.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2003
Eat your way across three continents. This small book contains twenty-nine recipes from Europe, Asia, and North America, as well as step-by-step instructions for making eight decorative breads. The harvest wheat shock would be a Thanksgiving hit. An introductory section covers fundamentals from equipment to baking secrets. Full color photos make some of the unfamiliar steps clear and provide benchmarks for judging your results. Be generous now.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2003
If you want to serve more than air tea at your next tea party, this is the book to pore over. After a chapter describing the classic tea party, instructions for theme parties like a Mad Hatter’s party, Teddy Bears Picnic, literary, and others follow. Recipes, decorations, crafts, games, activities, and lots of fun accompany each chapter.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: July 2004
At nearly 1200 pages, this is the reference for settling that argument about who won the gold in the Super Heavyweight class for Greco-Roman wrestling in the 1912 Stockholm games. In addition, fans will find a short history of the Games, issues of concern, a guide to using the book, and sections for every sport, individual and team. Appendices cover discontinued sports, national medal totals, and summer Olympic records.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2004
The kid market is a 15 billion dollar industry. The success of advertising is irrefutable. The ethics of pitching to a market that doesn’t even understand the difference between statement and persuasion are questionable. This powerful and frank argument against advertising to children describes the pervasiveness of children’s advertising and suggests ways to combat it. An appendix lists organizations and resources for kids and adults.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2003
Food is a pleasure many of us take for granted, but for kids with diabetes, the fun can be lost. The authors have set out to remedy this cookbook for kids and their parents. The first section gives grownups dietary information and kids general kitchen guidance. The second section has recipes for meals, snacks, and desserts. It includes an alphabetical index and a subject index. Recipes are rated for difficulty.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2004
The Core Performance program promises to deliver strength and muscle mass, endurance and a lean body, balance and flexibility, athletic quickness and power in less than an hour a day. Four sections introduce the program, describe the exercises, outline the nutrition plan, and answer FAQs. The author has trained Nomar Garciaparra, Mia Hamm, Roberto Alomar, and Mary Pierce.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2004
The author, a former Clinton speech writer, decided to pursue his childhood dream of building a boat out of wine corks. With 165,321 corks and 15,000 rubber bands to hold them together he sailed his cork boat down the Douro River in Portugal. Pollack’s account includes fascinating side trips up tributaries like the Cork Wars (Can you imagine a plastic stopper or screw cap boat?), the history of rubber bands, and Antarctica.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2002
There are different kinds of courage - the extraordinary kind displayed by trapeze artists and firemen and the every day kind demonstrated by anyone who starts over, tries again, or sets out to discover what made the bump in the night. Courage isn't just for superheroes.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2004
Each morning, Suzette makes and sells crepes from her cart which she pushes through the streets of Paris. Wellington’s illustrations are collages built from photographs, artifacts, and drawings. Many of her characters are based on famous paintings which are identified at the end on page that also identifies locations, defines French words and phrases, and provides a recipe for crepes. Bon Appetit!
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2004
We pride ourselves for having first rate health care, but a WHO global ranking of health care placed the U.S. at 37, between Costa Rica and Slovenia. How can this be when we spend two and three times what other countries spend? The authors argue that the world-class, high tech surgery and space age medical procedures benefit 2 to 3% of Americans—that Americans pay for a Hummer but get a Ford Escort.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2006
Cycling is an excellent way to combine fitness and fun. This brief guide outlines the basics in equipment and maintenance, eating and hydration, and injuries and safety. It tells you what a fitness program should include and how to design your own. Stretches and exercises are well illustrated.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2004
Violet, Rose, and Daffodil are triplets and no one, not even Mom, can tell them apart, except Violet, Rose, and Daffodil. Mom decides to color code her kids by making special dresses. Daffodil’s sisters are content, but she thinks her yellow dress looks like pee. Daffodil’s rebellion eventually uncovers her sisters’ discontent. This entertaining book speaks to the individual in us all.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2000
Focusing on two young dancers, Jenny and Devin, this book for 9-12 year olds tells the story of Dancing Wheels, a troupe founded by a dancer born with spina bifida and whose members are both standing and sitdown dancers, on legs and in wheel chairs. Godt's photos capture the dancers' hard work and joy.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 1999
Readers who remember No, David! will be relieved to find out that this relentless mischief maker is giving his mother a break by going to school. David's misadventures at school will keep elementary-aged children rolling with laughter . . . and help them learn good social skills.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2001
One winter morning as he walks to school, David sees a beautiful tree. In school, he draws a picture of it, and suddenly, his classmates are suggesting additions. He happily adds details, and when he's done, hangs the picture on the bulletin board, labeling it "Our Class Picture." At home, he draws another version and labels it "My Drawing." Although the book jacket stresses the theme of overcoming shyness, David's shyness is never explicitly stated and only subtly suggested in the opening illustrations. Older companions can make this theme clearer or address the themes of cooperation and individual artistic vision.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 1999
Like Dilly's Big Sister Diary, this book will delight readers ages 7-9 with lots of laughs, crazy captions, and silly situations. When Dilly goes to camp, it's a rough road at first, but by the end of her trip, she's ready to stay through next spring!
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2006
The homerun gets its own history. Keating follows the cycles of rising and falling numbers of season homeruns from baseball’s beginnings to recent Congressional investigations into the use of anabolic steroids. Filled with sidebars, stats, and photos, this book will be a hit with baseball fans.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2005
By the age of 15, depressed girls outnumber depressed boys two to one. Eating disorders, cutting, and risky acting-out are all signs of girls’ depression. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds. Machoian examines the causes, signs, and strategies for helping. She provides case histories.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2004
The young narrator of this story is unhappy when her parents announce they are going out after dinner. She doesn’t want a baby sitter and threatens to go the South Pole. Sarah, her babysitter, asks if she can go too and suddenly disaster turns into a fun evening.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2002
The children in this picture book are all different. A boy wears glasses. A girl wears braces. One is the last picked. Another is the last to raise a hand. Don't laugh at me is about common courtesy and respect. Based on a song written by Seskin and Shamblin, this book includes the sheet music, lyrics, and a CD with vocal and instrumental versions.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 1999
Readers age 4-8 who love their pets will be interested in pet-assisted therapy, which is introduced in this warm story about a dog who visits sick patients at a hospital in London. The dog, "Dr. White," is banned from the hospital by its administrator, but he has a change of heart when his own daughter becomes seriously ill and asks for the dog.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 1999
Eleven-year-old Tim can't accept that his grandfather has Alzheimer's disease. To prove to his family that his grandfather is still able to take care of himself, Tim plans a secret fishing trip, but the trip quickly turns into a disaster. This novel is for readers 9-12.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 1999
What would an alien make of the human body? This is the question that engages the alien Danoid in his first encounter with Pete, an Earth human. Readers learn about the human body through comparisons, humorous asides, alien reports to the commander, and simple suggestions for at-home experiments they can try themselves.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 1999
Young adult readers will be captivated by this fictional suspense story: Zach's father is shot during a robbery and he swears he'll seek justice himself. A haunting account of street violence and family loss.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2002
Asperger’s Syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism, is characterized by social awkwardness, literal-mindedness, and fixation on particular subjects and interests. The author relates her coming to terms with her son’s neurological disorder and, in the process, examines mental disability from the perspective of civil rights, history, and the arts. She speculates that Andy Warhol, Albert Einstein, and Andy Kaufman had Asperger’s Syndrome.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 1999
This collection of poems about different athletic events in the summer and winter Elympics, or elephant games, is for 4-8 year olds. Regular meter and humorous rhymes will make the poems fun to read aloud and to memorize, and the pictures of unusually graceful elephants are sure to amuse.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2006
It’s not every book that opens with a page telling you why you should bother to read it. Browning has outlined a way to discover your own strengths and talents as well as those of others. Emergentics uses four thinking attributes - analytical thinking, structural thinking, social thinking and conceptual thinking and three behavioral attributes - expressiveness, assertiveness, and flexibility. Browning explains how to use Emergenetics and supplies a tool box.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2002
A feature of this kids’ first cookbook is the extensive introduction providing general safety tips, an illustrated field guide to 33 kitchen tools, and tips on techniques from peeling to greasing pans. Recipes are provided for breakfasts, salads, pizzas and pastas, lunches, entrees, vegetables, and desserts. This big format book will stay open as you cook.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: July 2006
About 300,000 American children under the age of fourteen have epilepsy, a neurological condition that makes them susceptible to seizures. This volume in the Special Educational Needs (SEN) series aims to inform parents and teachers about epilepsy and how it affects families and schools. After discussing epilepsy in general, two sections focus on serving students with epilepsy and dealing with seizures in schools.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2005
The author argues that popular culture is not only fun but good for you too. Rather than making us dumber than dirt, video games raise IQ scores and develop cognitive skills that books cannot. And TV too, especially reality TV! He calls the observation that we don’t yet recognize pop culture is good for us – the Sleeper Curve, after Woody Allen’s movie Sleeper. This entertaining argument draws on research in neuroscience, economics, and media theory. He includes suggestions for further reading.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: December 2004
This collection of soup recipes opens with a brief history of soup cookery. The description of heating stones to 1300 degrees Fahrenheit will make you appreciate your pot or crockpot. You’ll find more than 100 recipes from many cultures for holidays, celebrations, and general well being. Sidebars provide history, literature, and tips.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2001
Nancy Aulenbach, an elementary school teacher, has been crawling in caves since she was a young girl. Her caving philosophy boils down to this: “If my head fits, so will the rest of me.” Her caving partner, Hazel Barton, is a microbiologist, award-winning cave mapper, and investigator of deep ecosystems. In this book, Nancy and Hazel explore ice caves, dry caves, and underwater caves. The photos are breathtaking. The authors stress safety, ending with a warning to never enter a cave without an experienced adult caver.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2000
How do you talk to someone who has special needs? Is it OK to ask questions? This picture book for children 4-8 introduces three pairs of friends who show that caring bridges differences.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2003
It is the dream of every Masaii warrior, writes the author, to face and kill a lion with a spear, but Lekuton’s first encounter with a lion when he was fourteen brought only shame. Torn between the nomadic tribal ways of his family and the Western ways of his teachers, he learns to use skills gained in both to face lions of a different sort. This is a fascinating and frank account of growing up.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2000
Baseball management's actions in 1993 provoked the strike of 1994, so argues NBC's award-winning broadcaster and baseball fan. In this book for middle schoolers and older, Costas tells why he thinks Major League Baseball has lost its appeal and suggests changes that can help it become fun again.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2006
Like snowflakes and fingerprints, no two families are alike. Children from fifteen diverse families describe their lives and families. Kuklin provides plenty of family portraits.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2001
With her new baby coming, Mama tells her daughter Marcia that she needs to hire a mother's helper. Marcia doesn't want a new baby, and she hopes the new helper, Fannie Farmer, can't cook. This picture book is part biography, part cooking tips, and part fun. Look for Marcia's face reflected in the glassware. The book ends with a recipe for Fanny Farmer's Famous Griddle Cakes.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2001
Are you thinking about starting your own vegetable garden? Read this book and meet two families, the Kornders and the Thaos, who farm and sell their produce at a farmer’s market. The book will take you from planting to harvest to sale. It includes instructions for starting your own vegetable garden.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2003
The Andrea Doria lies in 225 feet of cold water off Nantucket. Inside the wreck are piles of china plates and tea cups considered great prizes by the divers who risk their lives descending to a depth where ordinary air becomes toxic to breathe. This book looks at the summers of 1998 and 1999 during which three divers died.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2002
What things make you feel good? This is the question that concludes Parr's tribute to little kindnesses. Parr's illustrations are big and eye-rubbingly bright. It would make a fine starter for a class project.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2004
According to the authors, three of every four teenagers confess to feeling ugly. If you are one of the three or know someone who is, this three stage guide could help. Phases one and two examine the hows and whys of poor body image, and the third provides a path to improving it.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2000
Being thankful is something we should all practice more often. This picture book for 4-8 year olds illustrates thankfulness, progressing from the material and personal to the more abstract and encompassing. It should inspire much reflection and discussion.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2001
Felix has stayed up too late and eaten too many chocolate blimpies. He doesn't feel well, and nothing his mother suggests helps him to feel better. When she makes an appointment with the doctor, Felix is nervous, but his mother stays with him and the doctor is friendly. Two spoonfuls of Happy Tummy and a nap and Felix is well enough to make plans for tomorrow.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2001
The year Tiger Stadium was to close, the author set out to attend all 81 home games. As well as the games, he examines family, heroes, dreams, and baseball. Sit on the beach with AL Kaline. Watch Mark McGwire close up. Eat popcorn with detective storywriter and baseball fan Elmore Leonard. And meet some unusual fans.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2008
Little Frog is an only frog and happy, so when his mother asks if he’d like a brother or sister, he says we’re fine as we are. Then he notices the tadpoles in the pond, lots of them. Suddenly his quiet life becomes a madhouse. “They only want to be like you,” says his mother, but it takes more than an explanation for Little Frog to accept the change in his life.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2002
His father didn’t like to fish, but whenever the author fishes, his father is with him in spirit, usually pleading, “Ohhhh-Let it go.” This collection of essays introduces characters like the owner of a tackle shop on East 44th Street in New York City and takes you fishing in cement-lined city ponds with White Castle french fries for bait.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2006
The five senses are introduced as a young rabbit explores the world of smells, sounds, sights, tastes, and textures.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 1999
The Flu of 1918 killed 40 million people, and no spot on Earth was remote enough to be free of disease. Entire villages of Eskimos disappeared. This exciting medical detective story for high schoolers and older follows scientists as they search for the 1918 flu virus and actually find bits of it in human remains frozen in the Arctic and in tissue samples preserved in a government warehouse.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 2004
From Dale “Moose” Alexander to Carl Yastrzemski, this picture book celebrates baseball, especially great Red Sox past and present. Rhyming quatrains, factoids, and Anderson’s caricatures make for a winning combination.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2006
A math error in the 1924 Winter Olympics resulted in the Bronze medal being awarded to the wrong ski jumper. In 1974, 85 year old Anders Haugen finally got his medal. He is the only U.S. athlete to ever win an Olympic Ski jumping medal. Macy’s history of the Winter Games is filled with fascinating stories and fantastic photographs. An appendix, the Olympic Almanac, has maps, statistics, and descriptions of all the Winter Games.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2004
Annabelle Bernadette Clementine Dodd’s parents are too busy to spend time with their independent child, but not the housekeeper Bea. Annabelle and Bea do everything together, daily chores and daily excursions to the beach, until the day Annabelle goes out alone and chases her ball into the sea. Small’s illustrations capture the humor and pathos of a loving reationship.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2002
Froggy is happy not to go to school until he remembers his appointment with the doctor. In the waiting room, he meets another young frog and forgets his fears. Froggy is active and Dr. Mugwort is relieved to find him healthy and send him on his way. The book manages to entertain as well as outline the routine of an annual physical.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 2002
The village of Les Arques in southwest France has a year-round population of thirty. If you include the surrounding farmland, the inhabitants number 169. Just the same, Les Arques has its own dead artist and respected restaurant. Spend a year with Jacques and Noelle Ratier as they prepare and serve food at La Recreation. This personable account explores the restaurant business and rural living.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2004
This is the story of the little horse who could and the people who gave him the chance. Follow the career of an apparently unpromising foal to his Derby win, marred by accusations of jockey cheating; his Preakness domination; and finally his honorable defeat at Belmont.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2001
This collection of photographs highlights women athletes in sports as familiar as soccer and swimming and as unusual as biathlon and bodybuilding. Some of the faces are well known, others not. Some of the subjects are professional athletes; others are kids on the block. A section titled Snapshots from Women’s Sports History features individual athletes from 1827 - 2000.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2003
Angell is considered one of the best writers on baseball. This collection of essays -- organized into sections called spring, summer, and fall -- samples his 40 year career celebrating the men behind the legends.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2004
Sports have been an important aspect of many lives. Kilmeade has collected more than seventy personal reflections on sports from media celebrities to politicians. Read Condoleezza Rice on figure skating, Donald Trump on baseball, Geraldo Rivera on football, John Irving on wrestling, and more.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2006
Woodrow Wilson golfed, Calvin Coolidge fished, Franklin Roosevelt swam, and Harry Truman played poker. From George Washington to George W. Bush, the author looks at American Presidents and the games they enjoyed. The book features photos of Presidents pursuing their favorite pastimes.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2005
What do you do with all the vegetables when your garden thrives? This cookbook organizes recipes in four sections from Spring to Winter, from asparagus to winter squash and pumpkins. An introduction explains the basics. An appendix tells you how to safely preserve what you don’t eat immediately. Beginner and experts will find much additional information throughout the book.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2006
Nancy Wexler has spent thirty years investigating Huntington’s Disease. Woody Guthrie suffered from HD, as did members of Wexler’s family. Her life’s quest has been to uncover the causes and find a cure for HD. This book looks at the nature of the disease and the science employed to study. The book features photos, sidebars explaining scientific points, a glossary, timeline, and a list of resources.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2006
George Crum, as the story is told, was half Native American and half African American and resented being thought inferior because of his skin color. After becoming a respected chef in a restaurant, he still had to cope with superior customers. Once, to have some fun at the expense of a diner who complained about his French fries, Crum invented what we now call potato chips. They were an immediate hit. Crum eventually opened his own restaurant where every customer was treated equally. Morrison’s illustrations add much humor.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2003
Our first president had trouble with his teeth all his life. At twenty-two, Washington had already lost two and the rest were rotten. This tale of George's diminishing teeth is set in verse and amusingly pictured by Cole. You find yourself stuck between a grin and a grimace. The book concludes with a timeline of important toothly events gleaned from Washington's letters, diaries, and accounts. This is the perfect book to read to young children before brushing.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2005
If you are sick of getting sick, this guide to defeating germs will give you plenty to think about. Some of the suggestions are common sense, but as we know, common sense isn’t so common. Some of the suggestions, even the authors admit, are over the top, such as waiting for someone else to open a public bathroom door. If you fear becoming obsessive/compulsive, the authors include a self assessment tool.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2001
This fitness program by the man behind Body by Jake is designed for teenage guys. Steinfeld’s book is not just about muscles, either, it’s about getting your whole life in shape. Steinfeld knows what he’s talking about. He describes his own overweight, under trained youth and how he changed his life. It includes sections on evaluating fitness and building strength with a minimum of equipment. It shows you how to set goals and how to reach them. So, as the man says, “Get off your buttissimo.”
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2000
No one likes to be sick or hurt. This picture book for patients 4-8 shows that ailments and injuries come in different ways to different folks and serves up some healthy advice in a humorous way.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2005
Ruben is the most popular kid in class and a clown. When he wants to go to David’s house to do his homework, David worries what Ruben will think of Grandma Rosie. Grandma is confused and talks to her dead husband. She likes to waltz. When she asks Ruben to dance, David learns there is more to Ruben than clowning.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2006
The London cholera outbreak of 1854 spread quickly and killed quickly. Some victims died within 12 hours. Seventy died in twenty-four hours, most within five city blocks. Dr. John Snow believed the disease was spread in water, and his map provided evidence that the source was the contaminated Broad Street public water pump. He was proved right when closing the pump ended the crisis. This day-by-day account relates the course of the epidemic and the birth of modern epidemiology.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2003
A young girl grieves for her mother and keeps looking for the giant her mother said would take care of her. The giant always seems to be just out of sight, except for readers who will find traces in the clouds and shadows. As she helps her father work their farm, she begins to grasp who her giant really is.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2006
After a night of drinking, Zupan was thrown from the bed of the pickup into a canal. When he was finally pulled from the frigid water, he was suffering from hypothermia and had a broken neck. Zupan, once a university soccer player, was confined to a wheel chair. Zupan, the star of the film Murderball, presents a frank account of his recovery and determination to remain active despite his injuries.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2003
Alta Weiss was born to play baseball, and she pursued her passion all the way to the Vermilion Independents, an Ohio semi-pro team. This book in nine innings focuses on her baseball career, but Alta ultimately became a doctor. A timeline highlights women’s contributions to baseball.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 2004
Pinkett-Smith’s poem celebrates the strength of women. Kennedy-McCullough’s photographs capture women of different ages, races, and cultures in a variety of activities.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2003
Do you play baseball? When is the last time you cleaned your mitt or tightened the lacing? This attractively illustrated essay on the baseball glove is for players and fans. It has plenty of advice and plenty of lore. Chapters cover the evolution of the mitt, famous mitts, how to buy a kid the right one, how to break it in and care for it, glove collecting, and more.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2003
Stella wakes her little brother Sam and asks if he needs help getting dressed. “I can do it myself,” he answers, but soon he does need help, and prodding, and reminding. Young children will respond to the gentle humor of Gay’s illustrations (keep your eyes on the dog) and her story. In the end, Sam even surprises Stella.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2005
Do you have trouble sleeping? Does your son or daughter? Children and parents can benefit from reading this brief guide to a good night’s sleep. Chapters cover the basics, pre-bed rituals, and sleep for infants to middle schoolers and beyond.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2001
The young boy in this story resists getting dressed, eating lunch and brushing teeth, as most young boys and girls do at one time or another. But what if he were an octopus? He’d have eight legs instead of two to put into pants. And what if he were a shark? He’d have hundreds of teeth to brush. Read this book and help out a little one - glad Pollyanna.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2006
If you still think baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday and that the first pitch was thrown in Cooperstown, New York, it’s time to read this concise, anecdote-filled history of the origins of the Baseball hall of Fame. Recently discovered records suggest that some form of baseball was probably being played in Massachusetts in the late 1700s.The book features period photographs.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2004
If you love grilled cheese sandwiches but you’re tired of just white bread and American cheese, Werlin will show you how think outside the box. Experiment with different kinds of bread, cheese, cooking methods, vegetables, meats, and fish. The book includes a grilled cheese history, bread lexicon, sandwich making tips, and a guide to cheese types.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2004
Evidence strongly suggests that the 1918 Flu originated in Haskell County, Kansas with the first outbreaks in January and February. Once carried to a nearby Army camp, it quickly followed troop movements to Europe, the U.S. civilian population, and eventually the world. Today’s estimates of 50-100 million deaths make the 1918 Flu the world’s deadliest plague. This chilling account has plenty of heroes and relevance.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2006
Ryan lives for hockey. He plays on the rink his father built in the backyard every chance he gets. He wants to play on a select team, but he’s small. So was Wayne Gretsky, he says. And look where he is. This story of determination and hard work alternates between Ryan’s quest for a spot on the team and Wayne Gretsky’s career.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2003
What could be more American than a barbeque? Browne opens with grilling basics and then devotes chapters to appetizers; beef; fish and shellfish; lamb; pork; poultry; side dishes; sauces, marinades, and dry rubs; and desserts. Vegetarians will find a chapter on vegetarian BBQ. He even tells how to recognize a good BBQ joint. You have to believe a guy who wears a shirt that looks like a tablecloth.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2006
Since 1970, American consumption of high-fructose corn syrup has increased by 4,000%, fats and oils by 38%, and sodium by 100%. We all know this isn’t healthy, but what can we do to change our habits? The authors set out a seven step program to improve your eating and life. No self-denying, twigs and bark dogma, just sensible advice about creating healthier food habits.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 1999
Here are 25 girls age 14-24 who skydive, sail the oceans, build houses, hunt fossils, explore Antarctica, and more. Meet Nahara Rodriguez who remains active after a car accident left her paralyzed from the waist down. In this book for young adults, a second section includes a timeline of other girls and women who have made history and tells how you can be gutsy too by getting your mind and body in shape.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2001
Nico had seizures that did not respond to medication so at the age of three years and seven months surgeons removed the entire right hemisphere of his brain. Remarkably, he never lost his speech and started to walk within a few days. Today, he is a healthy boy and a good student. In telling Nico's story, this book examines how half a brain can sustain a whole mind.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2005
Hamburgers are not just ground beef patties fried in a pan. They are one of “America’s iconic foods,” according to the author. Edge traces the origin of the burger and even includes some of its mythology before presenting fifteen classic recipes gathered from his travels around the country. Some of the recipes are complex, calling for different grinds of beef, unusual spices, and various cooking methods. He includes appendices listing some of the best burger and fry joints in the United States.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2002
Sam Pettigrew is a senior in high school with plans for college when he decides to raise his infant son alone rather than give him up for adoption. Don’t expect a happy ending. The pressures are great and Sam’s decisions realistic.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2001
Defying a flood of hate mail and death threats, Hank Aaron hit his 715th homerun on April 8, 1974, breaking Babe Ruth's longstanding record. This picture book traces Aaron's life from his childhood in Depression era Alabama to the Major Leagues.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 1998
This text for educators is the product of a collaboration by more than 70 national health and education organizations, including NEA's Health Information Network. Educators using the guide will find practical ways to link school health programs to overall educational achievement, guidance counseling, community and family life, and overall school environment.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 2000
At a time when no respectable woman became a nurse, Florence Nightingale left her privileged position to aid wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War. A demanding woman who was outraged by the suffering around her, Nightingale forever changed how we care for the sick and injured. This biography is generously illustrated with photographs and art.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 1998
Young adult readers will enjoy Johnson's book, which received the prestigious Coretta Scott King Award for African-American Literature from the American Library Association in 1998. Heaven tells the story of a 14 year old girl growing up in a small town in Ohio who discovers that her mother and father are really her uncle and aunt. In coping with this revelation, the girl discovers all types of families around her in her small community, expressing love in many ways.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2007
In the early days of baseball, it was acceptable to hit an off base runner with the ball to put him out. The practice was called “soaking.” Some rule changes are good. This book is filled with baseball trivia, slang, and Ross MacDonald’s wonderful retro illustrations.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2003
During a nine-inning game, an estimated thousand signals are exchanged between catchers and pitchers, coaches and batters and base runners, fielders, and umpires. This look at baseball's other game reveals techniques and celebrates practitioners. One chapter provides a primer on how to really watch a game. You'll find a glossary of signs, signals, and tip-offs and a generous bibliography.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 1998
This 32 page biography of "The Babe" relates Ruth's accomplishments through poetry for readers age 4-8 and features Wimmer's richly detailed, oil-on-canvas illustrations.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 1999
The author of the Moosewood Cookbook tells young cooks how to prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner foods as well as desserts, snacks, and special drinks. This cookbook book lets you know what you need, how much time is required, and when you to ask for adult help. And it will actually lie open on the table so you can refer to a recipe without having to continually search for it.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2001
Follow WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes as she practices the fundamental moves that make a great basketball player. Colorful action photos and words that bounce, dribble, and woosh across the page make this energetic book fun to read aloud.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2002
Food is scarce, right? Yes and no. In the U.S., we turn sixteen pounds of grain and soy into one pound of meat. That would be enough to provide a bowl of food every day for every person in the world for a year. Suddenly vegetarianism seems as practical as it is healthy. Part polemic, part cultural examination, part cookbook, this is necessary reading for the 21st century.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 1999
Horris, Morris and Delores are three mice who do everything together. Everything, that is, except joining an exclusive all-boys club. When Horace and Morris leave Delores behind, she strikes out on her own and meets some new girl-mouse friends; Horace and Morris, however, quickly discover that they miss Delores, and work to find things they can all enjoy together. A treat to read out loud for ages 4-8!
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2004
Food, glorious food….This anthology of 18 food poems praises pastry, disparages spinach, and approves of beautiful soup. Bad cooks and obtuse parents add spice. Kids will find fun poems by Edward Lear, John Ciardi, Christina Rossetti, Spike Mulligan, Lewis Carroll, and others.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 1999
The authors of Play With Your Food bring you another delightful read. On each page, young readers will enjoy fanciful food sculptures that display various emotions and are meant to serve as discussion starters for adults and children. A great way to encourage kids to talk about their feelings.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2005
If you want to know more about basketball than the ball goes in the hoop, this book delivers. Chapters cover the ball, court, clothes, training, techniques, player size, and offense and defense. You’ll learn how the game has evolved over the last one hundred years. Each chapter includes a player highlight. Appendices provide the rules, regulations, and specialized vocabulary. You’ll find plenty of color photos.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2004
Sharing a house can seem like mission impossible, but the advice in this book can help make it easier. Teens and parents will find suggestions for basic harmony, dinner time, fighting, sleepovers, sharing a room, and more. The ideas are sound and often funny. When you finish this book, don’t forget the School Manners for Teens and Friendship & Dating Manners for Teens.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2003
Can we safely eat beef? Despite the early hype, French molecular biologist Schwartz argues that transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or Mad Cow Disease as it is sensationally termed will continue to be a minor cause of human death. The author follows the trail of a disease that was first identified in English sheep in the eighteenth century and examines the progress of science that has enabled a better, though still incomplete, understanding of its biology.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2002
Parsons, food editor of the Los Angeles Times, combines science, recipes, and entertainment in this exploration of food and cooking. Each of six sections opens with an essay on the nature of certain foods and the processes of cooking: chopping, mixing, frying, roasting, boiling, and baking. Recipes follow utilizing the techniques discussed in the essay. Interspersed with the recipes are pages of additional cooking tips. This is the perfect cookbook for the left-brained chef who needs to know how things happen.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2005
What foods does your family eat in a week? This book features full page photos of thirty families from around the world and everything they eat in a week. The book provides nutritional data and translates the food cost into U.S. dollars. Essays and photo galleries look at different kinds of food and show you what the rest of the world eats.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: December 2003
After death and taxes, we can all be certain of embarrassment. Can embarrassment shape our lives? If you can remember an embarrassing moment, chances are it already has. The author illustrates the effect of embarrassment on relationships, and he provides exercises to change spirals of shame into spirals of success. Best used as a teacher resource with younger classes. The discussion of intimacy is frank.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2001
Deborah Tannen has been analyzing the ways we talk to each other since the 1980s. In this book, she examines the way family members communicate through messages, words, and “metamessage,” the unstated but powerful meanings rooted in our relationships as parents, children, and siblings.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 1999
For young adults who live in a "blended family"—and for their parents—this book offers illuminating first person accounts of life with stepparents and stepsiblings.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2004
In his Preface, lower Manhattan resident Spiegelman admits to being easily unhinged, so how did he deal with the attacks on the World Trade Center? One way was to create a book in the broadsheet comic book style. This is a big book with the loud color and boisterous action to match the events of 9/11. Spiegelman has borrowed characters from comic history as well as his own Maus to create a personal vision full of grief and anger and harsh language.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 1998
Farrell details with great clarity, humanity's struggle with seven world-altering infectious diseases. This account includes not only science but also delves into the sociology, politics and history related to these diseases. Filled with fascinating facts, this book is a great addition to any school's library.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2005
From embryonic heart to diseased heart, this visual guide presents the circulatory system and the latest surgical and medical treatments. Follow the development of the cardiovascular system and see how it works. Learn about hypertension and other risk factors and how to stay healthy. Tsiaras’s illustrations make this look inside a fantastic voyage. A glossary is included.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 1998
You just can't get a good bowl of earthworm soup anymore... Solheim and Brace take readers age 4-8 on a culinary odyssey through countries and times gone by. Besides dishing up entertaining entrees, the authors provide poems, recipes, graphs, cartoons, and more.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2004
It is possible to play games and have fun. Chastain, World Cup soccer champ, relates stories from her own experience and from that of her teammates and sporting world colleagues in celebration of sport, sportsmanship, and good sense.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2001
His mother is calling, but Bobby insists he’s not Bobby. He’s a lion, an airplane, a dinosaur, anything but Bobby. Feiffer’s energetic story and pictures portrays a young boy’s struggle to be independent, even when his stomach tells him he should be Bobby.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: December 2003
If your days are packed and finding time to eat healthy food is a challenge, consider making fruit smoothies. Even Mom and Dad will approve. Perron outlines a twenty-one day plan for revitalizing your body. He discusses power foods, provides smoothie and fresh-squeezed multi-juice recipes, and offers Jambaisms, guiding advice for achieving a good life.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: December 2006
Hitler was convinced Germany would dominate the 1936 Olympics. Jesse Owens disillusioned him by winning four gold medals. This account of OwensÂ’s accomplishment is woven with the underlying political tension that became World War II.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2002
Jet Li is to Wu Shu as Bruce Lee was to Kung Fu. Li was born Li Lian-jie in Beijing and began studying wushu (martial arts) at age eight and was winning major competitions by the age of 12. By 17, Li was making movies. This biography traces his career from Hong Kong actor to Hollywood superstar. The book includes 30 color and black-and-white photographs.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: July 2006
In the 1912 Olympics, Jim Thorpe won the Pentathlon and Decathlon. Considered by some the greatest athlete of the age, Thorpe was later stripped of his Olympic medals and trophies because he had been paid to play ball, an unpopular decision at the time and a short-sighted decision in light of today’s scholarships and endorsements. Thorpe went on to play professional football and baseball. Bruchac’s biography is told from Thorpe’s point of view and includes contemporary photographs.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2006
Madden provides an overview of football's greats from a footballer's point of view. Decade by decade, he describes the team dynasties, notable players, winning plays, and season finals. He furnishes a glossary and photos.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: July 2005
Jose Limon was the son of a musician who demonstrated musical and artistic talent at an early age, but it wasn’t until he was 21 that he found his artistic niche after he saw a dance performance. Six weeks after starting to study dance, Limon had his first performance. After WW II, Limon started his own dance company. The book includes a historical note.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2002
If you run screaming from the kitchen whenever your parents carve the roast beast, try some of the recipes in this meatless cookbook for kids. Recipes are grouped in eleven sections from breakfast to dessert. An introductory chapter provides information about vegetarianism, nutrition, safety tips, cooking terms, and utensils. The index highlights vegan recipes.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2002
Junie is going to help Mrs. Gutzman in the lunchroom. She is thrilled with her gloves and her hairnet but not with some of the smells in the kitchen. Mrs. Gutzman isn’t thrilled either. Those smells are lunch.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2006
Vince makes fun of D.J., and then says he's just joking when D.J. gets angry. D.J. doesn't want to be a tattletale, but he wants Vince to stop. D.J.'s father and teacher have some ideas. The author includes discussion questions and suggests print resources and websites on bullying.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2004
In the 1940s girls didn’t play baseball. They watched, even the ones who could play well. A grandmother tells her granddaughter about the day she took her injured brother’s place on a baseball team and hit the ball just like Josh Gibson. What baseball greats have remained undiscovered because of race and gender bias? This is the question Johnson asks. The author includes a final note on Josh Gibson’s career.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2004
This book is intended to make growing up a little easier. In three sections, the author addresses body changes and health, personality types and self, and relationships with everybody else. Straight talk and humor are used to take on important questions.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2003
Filled with facts and lore, this ABC will be a kick for young soccer fans. Rose-Popp's illustrations are packed with action.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2004
Have you thought about taking up karate? This introduction provides some histrocial background and philosophy and teaches some basic moves. It discusses testing and tournaments, as well as the physical and emotional benefits of karate practice. Sidebars define terms and give tips. Illustrations clarify blocks, thrusts, strikes, and kicks.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 2004
Dynamic illustrations and punchy rhyming couplets describe a karate workout. Thomson’s perspective heightens the interest and energy. The book concludes with information about the sport, the gear, and the philosophy.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2006
First published in 1951, this poem’s message for girls is as relevant today as it was a half century ago. When a girl climbs high in a tree, Miss Nettie tells, cajoles, threatens, and ridicules in an effort to get her down. But Miss Nettie hasn’t “reckoned with the wisdom of little girls.” Or their sense of adventure either.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2003
Cooking in a wok is already fast, but in this book, Chef Hom promises to make wok cooking the "fastest food in the East." Recipes reflecting Indian, Thai, and Chinese cuisine are illustrated with color photographs and are easy to follow. To help in mealtime planning, recipes state preparation and cooking time. Surprise mom and dad and cook dinner. Woks rock.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2006
After discussing measurement, ingredients, equipment, and basic cooking terminology, the author provides easy to follow recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and desserts, each requiring only three ingredients. She stresses safety and indicates when adult supervision is advised.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 1998
Kids age 9-12 in any classroom will enjoy discussing and debating the thought-provoking questions Stock includes in the kid-focused version of his adult bestseller. Among the questions he asks are "Would you like to have an identical twin? What would be best and worst about this?"; "Are you in a hurry to grow up? What does it mean to be 'grown up' and when do you think it will happen to you?" and "If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?" These are great for introductions to other activities, as writing prompts, or to get kids thinking about goals and priorities.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2003
An introductory chapter provides the basics in equipment, ingredients, cooking terms, and safety. The rest of the book collects recipes in chapters devoted to different holidays. The large format makes it easy to keep the book open, and most recipes are presented on a single page or two-page spread to minimize flipping back and forth. Equipment and ingredients needed for each recipe are highlighted.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2003
Still in diapers, Ty Murray used to ride his mother’s sewing machine. Now he jumps and rides elk from his snowmobile. Murray won seven all-around rodeo championships before retiring in 2001. He provides an insider’s look at a truly American pastime.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2004
Lynn Takeshima taught her sister Katie her first word, kira-kira, which in Japanese means glittering. For Lynn, the world is a glittering place until she is diagnosed with lymphoma, then it is Katie’s turn to look for the beauty, for her sister’s sake and for the rest her family’s.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2002
Today lacrosse is a multimillion dollar industry and has two professional leagues. This comprehensive history of the game traces the game’s origins in the “ball-and-stick” game played by Native Americans of the Northeast to the present. It highlights figures who helped popularize lacrosse and examines the game’s cultural significance.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2003
In 1996, Lance Armstrong learned he had cancer. Three years later he won his first Tour de France. He has now won 5 straight Tours. This brief biography is a testament to determination.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2004
A knee injury ended the author’s dream of a baseball career, but twenty years later a trip to cape Cod and a Chatham A’s game rekindled his passion. The next summer he moved to the Cape with his family to watch the Cape Cod Baseball League, the best amateur league in the world. Focusing on the Chatham A’s, Collins followed the fortunes of talented players trying to realize their baseball dreams.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2005
When eighth grader Steven Thomas wins a sports writing contest and a press pass to the Final Four in New Orleans, he never imagines he will get the sports scoop of a lifetime. Exploring the Astrodome with his co-winner Susan Carol, they over hear a man threaten a star player—throw the last game or else. College basketball, investigative reporting, and an insider’s look at sports media makes this novel a winner.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2004
First published in 1994, Sports Illustrated named Last Shot one of the top 100 sports books of all time. This new edition concludes with an afterword updating the careers of the four Abraham Lincoln High School (Coney Island, Brooklyn) basketball players featured in the book. Basketball was a ticket to college and a way out of poverty, for some. Frey provides an honest look at inner-city life and the big business of college ball that often promises more than it can deliver.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 1998
Readers grades 9-12 will find much food for thought and feeling in this anthology of sixteen short stories by acclaimed international authors like Toni Morrison, Amy Tan, Gary Soto, Norma Fox Mazer, and Sandra Cisneros. Each story touches on the theme of leaving one's parents and home, and the journey from adolescence to adulthood.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 1998
Cherie Bennett's novel about an overweight adolescent girl has prompted a deluge of e-mail, and letters from young readers to Bennett in appreciation for this moving work. The novel focuses on a 16 year old beauty queen who, due to a sudden metabolic disorder, gains weight and finds herself mentally, physically, and socially changed.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2001
One of the world's most influential psychoanalysts, Jung could astonish patients by answering questions they hadn't asked and yet could empty his chamber pot without checking if anyone was under his window. Inspiring fondness in others, he rarely returned it. Hayman has written a clear-sighted biography of a great thinker.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2006
Two documentary film makers followed five families for six years as they coped with the successes and failures of a child’s cancer treatment. This is the companion volume to the award-winning film. Chapters cover the families, medical caregivers, the making of the film, and how to get and give help. The book has many black and white photographs.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 1999
Little Bunny does everything with his pacifier in his mouth, from talking to dreaming to dancing. But his dentist thinks it's time to put the pacifier away. In this story for children ages 3-5, Boelts and Parkinson provide gentle, friendly reassurance.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March-97
Krull profiles twenty famous athletes in this entertaining biographical anthology. Readers grades 4-7 will enjoy reading about Jim Thorpe, Babe Ruth, Sonja Henie, Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Bruce Lee, Johnny Weissmuller, and others.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2006
If biking long distance appeals to you, this book will get you started thinking about what you need and how to prepare yourself. Three sections cover the bike and accessories; health, nutrition, navigation, and safety; and training and events. The well-illustrated book has a glossary. Appendices cover technical information.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2005
Gehrig was at the height of his career when he was diagnosed with ALS, a disease with no known cause and no cure. Eig had access to previously unavailable resources, including Gehrig’s letters and presents a rounded portrait of one of baseball’s greatest.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2002
The Gustin’s aren’t bad. They just don’t make time to care for their small dog, Boy. They feed and water him and leave him in the backyard. The small yard doesn’t offer a dog much. Boase has a wonderful drawing of Boy staring at the shadow of a bird. Boy’s luck turns for the better, however, when he digs under the fence into a lonely neighbor’s garden.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2002
How we treat the insane is determined by how we define insanity. Demonic possession, divine punishment, humoral imbalance, nature, and nurture have all had their day. This illustrated overview examines our changing perceptions of the origins of madness and our adapting treatment of its sufferers from 5000 BC to the present. An appendix lists books for further study.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2004
Marshall Taylor won his first race at thirteen. He turned professional at eighteen and retired at thirty. In an era when blacks were not permitted to race on many tracks, Taylor could compete anywhere and was the only African American granted membership in the League of American Wheelmen. The Ransomes tell of Taylor’s rise to World Champion at the height of the bicycle craze at the turn of the twentieth century.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2008
During the bicycle craze at the turn of the 20th century, track racing was a stadium filling attraction. Balf, a bike racing journalist, focuses on Major Taylor, an African American in a sport dominated by whites, and his quest to become the world’s fastest man. The saga ends with his greatest race against rival Floyd McFarland, “The Human Engine” held in Australia in 1904. This book is a tale of a triumphant underdog who became our first African American sports celebrity.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 1998
When Bubbe and Eleanor prepare the family's Passover meal, each family member sneaks a matzo ball until there are too few left for the dinner. Greenstein's gouache illustrations add a lively accompaniment to a tender intergenerational tale.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: July 2006
Mia lives between Santiago, Chile and the Andes in the city dump. The houses in her village and the school are made of odds and ends. Her father collects and sells scrap in the city and dreams of making a house of brick. When Mia’s dog Poco disappears, she travels far in an unsuccessful search for him. What she finds are the flowers that will change her life and her father’s.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2001
Rosa Maria spends all week preparing for her granddaughter’s birthday party. As she works, she notices things are missing but doesn’t notice the mice taking a napkin, feather, candle, and every mousetrap she sets. Never mind, she can manage. Rosa Maria prepares enchiladas and beans and rice, buys a cake, and hangs a piñata, but the mice remember to fill the piñata with candy. Included is a glossary for the many Spanish words and recipes for Rosa Maria’s rice and beans.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2004
Kwan has received more perfect scores in competition than any other figure skater in history. This biography traces her career from her first lessons at five to her first place performance in the 2004 Nationals. The book includes her career statistics and a glossary of skating terms.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2005
Why can Mickey hear and remember almost everything but what his mother says? He sets off on a fantastic journey into his own ear to learn how he hears and where all those messages from Mom go. Mickey is dismayed to discover that his brain is as cluttered as his bedroom. Gilpin’s illustrations are great fun.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2004
This is the true story of a seventeen year old woman who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in a 1931 exhibition baseball game. She was immediately banned from major and minor league play by a commissioner who said the game was too tough for women. Payne’s illustrations capture the shock and awe of the doubters.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2003
Malaria weakened the Roman Empire, felled troops from both the North and South during the American Civil War, and halted the construction of the Panama Canal. Malaria still kills every thirty seconds despite modern medicine. This history spans four hundred years recounting the search for its cure.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2003
The one hundred meals included in this cookbook are variations on eighteen basic recipes. Beginning cooks learn that necessity, the lack of specific ingredients, can be the mother of culinary invention. The book is large format and spiral-bound. Each recipe is clearly presented and includes plenty of tips and a photo of the finished dish to give cooks an idea of what it should look like.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2004
Though penicillin saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in WWII alone, the three men credited for its discovery and development made no fortune. Lax relates how penicillin was developed over a 12 year period from the mold’s discovery by Alexander Fleming in 1928 to the isolation of its active ingredient by Howard Florey and Ernst Chain. He argues that the credit for penicillin’s development has been misplaced and explains why Florey and Chain are little known today.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2002
Mole finds a baby bird that has fallen from its nest, and when no adult bird comes to help, he takes it home. Mom says it is hard to raise a bird. Dad says most die. Mole and his friends work hard to feed it and the baby thrives. Though Mole finds raising the bird hard, he finds letting it go even harder. His grandfather helps him understand why he should. Newman and Benson have made a big-hearted book.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2006
Ricci's Mom's House, Dad's House has been a respected guide for parents for 25 years. This version will help older kids cope with the changes that family breakups bring. The author provides tips, answers, and ideas dealing with separation and divorce, step families, and kids taking care of themselves. A final section lists print and web resources and provides reproducible problem solvers and worksheets.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2003
The Moosewood collective has gathered meatless recipes for every season from many cultures. Two tables of contents list recipes by season and by celebration. Appendices list vegan dishes and half-hour hands-on dishes.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2003
Marty has stopped eating. Breakfast is a diet soda and a cigarette. Lunch and dinner ate pills and coffee. When Marty is sent to a treatment center for eating disorders, she rebels until a caring nurse and a younger patient make contact.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2005
Mosquitoes are the deadliest animals in the world. Each year the malaria they spread kills two million people, mostly children in Africa. Follow two games of hide-and-seek: one with children and one with a mosquito. The children’s game is photographed in black and white while the mosquito and its world are shown in color enhanced photomicrographs. A glossary is included.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2000
When told their 19 month-old son was autistic, the author and her scientist husband researched the disease and formulated a dietary program to treat him. In two parts, this book for high school students and older tells Miles's story and describes a gluten-free approach to treatment. Appendices provide resources and addresses.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2004
The authors, mother and daughter, hope their guide will foster discussion between mothers and daughters about difficult issues. They have grouped 101 movies spanning 50 years under twelve headings from problem mothers and daughters to girl power. Plot summaries are given as well as ratings for bonding potential, hunk factor, hanky factor, and squirming in your seat watching a sex scene with your mother/daughter factor. Movies only suitable for older teens are listed separately.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2006
Sometimes the obvious blinds us to subtle beauty. Ms. Rubinstein has beautiful eyes, a wonderful nose, pretty hands, and graceful feet, but no one notices because Ms. Rubinstein is the bearded Lady of Circus Balius. No one notices, that is, except Mr. Pavlov, the Elephant Man of Circus Guston.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2005
In 1903, Andy Oyler was the shortest player in the league. He was not a heavy hitter. Despite the odds, Oyler overcame his height, torrential rains and a muddy field, and the heckling of fans in a game against the Saint Paul Saints to hit a homerun with the bases loaded. He won the game for the Minneapolis Millers with the shortest homerun, two feet, in baseball history. Did it really happen? Oyler denied it, but Tavares’s storytelling and illustrations make it real enough.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2003
What is it like to have a big sister? This photo essay explores that question from a younger sibling’s perspective. Young readers can try to guess the age of the narrator before the final frame.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2006
One person’s favorite place is another’s nightmare. For example, Tommy Caldwell’s favorite pace is Yosemite. He and Beth Rodden, Tommy’s wife and climbing partner, free climb El Capitan. One of Corey Rich’s photos captures the two relaxing in mid climb, stretched out on a porta-ledge hundreds of feet above the valley floor. Beth is reading. Tommy peers over the edge. Meet fourteen outdoor freaks who surf, bike, paddle, climb, paraglide, run, ski, hike, and jump in some beautiful country.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2000 and September 2000
Gibbons explains the object, rules, and play of two of our most popular team sports in two books for children 4-8. Diagrams and illustrations help clarify the rules while a play-by-play description of an imaginary game supplies the excitement. This book is perfect for introducing the games to students. Each book has a glossary.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2004
What do you do when your best friend begins to bully you? Katie has been Monica’s friend forever, but now she cuts Monica out of games, talks about her behind her back, and acts as if nothing is wrong. This is an insightful look at a problem that plagues many 5-11 year olds.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2005
No one had ever traveled the length of the Blue Nile and Nile before. Some had tried. Many had died. In 2004, Pasquale Scaturro and Gordon Brown led the first successful expedition. In 114 days, they endured heat, sandstorms, and disease to cover 3000 miles of rapids, waterfalls, crocs, hippos, and bandits.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2000
For readers 9-12, this National Geographic biography of Mallory outlines his career from youthful climbing of church roofs to his disappearance on Everest in 1924. An afterward describes the discovery of his body in 1999. Many photographs document Mallory's climbing in Europe and the Himalayas. A chronology and list of resources are also provided.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2006
Sometimes it is as hard making friends with a new kid in class as it is being the new kid. Mia is a quiet girl who wonders how to make Shakeeta, the new girl in class, feel at home. When Mia and Shakeeta are left out of a soccer game, they share a bench and slowly warm to each other while talking about Shakeeta’s pet iguana, Igabelle.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2003
No one can be a perfect environmentalist. As the author says in her introduction, perfection isn’t a goal. A good life is. Newman presents many simple ideas that will protect the environment while promoting a good life. Chapters cover food; transportation; energy and water; communications; money, credit, and investing; shopping; pet-care; cleaning and household pests; gardening; and generosity. A resource directory is included.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 1998
David Shannon's Caldecott Honor Book hits home with an irrepressible, larger-than-life main character and energetic, vivid drawings. Based upon a book Shannon wrote about himself at age five, the book chronicles the misadventures of its mischevious main character, who can't help but get into trouble. After each episode, children will be able to chime in, "No, David!" with the boy's beleaguered mother.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2006
Noise can increase your risk of heart attack and raise your blood pressure. It causes hearing loss, stress, and sleeplessness. On the other hand, small amounts can be beneficial. In preparing audio for CDs, for example, low level noise or "dither" is added. Without it, distortion would make the sound quality unacceptable. He claims the ability to concentrate with background noise can strengthen the brain. Kosko examines the pros and cons of noise. The last chapter looks at a new field that investigates the benefits of noise in non-linear systems—stochastic resonance.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2006
Hilary was having another tea party. Her tea set was out. Her toys were there. Her mother had baked fresh cookies. But no one comes. Hilary is bossy, so bossy that even her stuffed bear can’t bear her. Can she learn?
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2005
Bob helped his grandson Bobby learn how to walk. They are best friends and spend a lot of time together. When Bob has a stroke, Bobby is frightened by his grandfather’s strange noises and inability to walk. When he discovers that Bob knows who he is and responds as best he can, Bobby realizes that it is his turn to help. This is a sensitive presentation of friendship and recovery. This is a new edition of a book published in 1981.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2002
Bullying is as much a problem among girls as it is among boys, although it is harder to recognize because girls are not encouraged to express anger. Simmons examines bullying and provides advice on how to deal with it for parents and teachers.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2002
Before he became a fan, the author once described bicycle racing as men riding bikes in their underwear. It only took one race to change his mind. Abt covered racing for 25 years for the International Herald Tribune and became one of the racing world’s most respected writers. This collection covers the winners, the pack, and the races and the places. There is more to racing than the Tour de France. Graham Watson’s color photos are a bonus.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2006
Rats can squeeze through a pipe the diameter of a quarter. They can scale a brick wall. And yes, they can survive being flushed away. They were the hosts for the fleas that spread the Black Plague. This picture book examines our uneasy and often unhealthy relationship with this pest, lab assistant, and even food.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2004
Oliver Hall loved baseball, and he loved helping out in his grandfather’s store that specialized in baseball memorabilia. One day while searching for a 1945 World Series program, Oliver discovers a Cubs uniform and his grandfather’s secret. Tavares pencil and watercolor illustrations are filled with baseball details.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: DK Publishing
This generously illustrated history of the Olympic Games covers summer and winter games from 1896-2002. It includes previews for 2004, 2006, and 2008. A final section of more than 100 pages provides statistics for 1896-2002.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 2003
The author discusses the origins of the Games, the myth and ritual, their re-establishment in 1896, and the present Olympics. Chapters are devoted to the art of winning wisely and a vision for future games, which calls for a revival of the Ancient Greek ideals.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2004
This guide to yoga practice is designed to fit busy days as well as easy days. After discussing the basics, the author describes five exercise sessions from five minutes to 90 minutes. Each posture is illustrated with a line drawing. Each session is tabbed for easy reference.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2001
Emily’s grandmother has lived most of her life in the same house on Maple Street so when she leaves to stay at the Forest View Retirement Home, nothing is right. No one can make strudel and everyone is a nincompoop. When Emily and her mother sort through grandmother’s things, Emily suggests they make a quilt from scraps of old clothing. Now when Grandmother is lonely, she wraps herself in the quilt.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2006
Unlike the koala and the panda, humans can eat a variety of foods, but choosing wisely is not always easy. Pollan traces food from the field to the table as he describes four different meals: fast food, international organic, local organic, and hunter-gather. In the last, his perfect meal, the Pollan hunted, grew, and gathered all the ingredients.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: July 2002
When the author was ten, he discovered while studying a map that it would be possible to circumnavigate the eastern United States in a boat using rivers, canals, lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean. In April 1999, he set out in a seventeen-foot scull to do it. Rowing the proverbial slow-boat, Stone had ample time to meet the local characters.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2000
Children 4-8 will learn about their teeth as they follow Dr. Floss and his class of thirty-two teeth through a day of tooth school. This book presents information about types of teeth and their functions, anatomy, tooth decay and which foods promote it most, and tooth care in a bright, energetic, and comic fashion. Two quizzes are included at the end of the book.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 1999
Shandler's collection of essays, articles, and poems began as aresearch project while Shandler was herself a teen; she mass-mailed 7,000 letters to high schools across the U.S., urging teen girls to submit their work. Inspired by the recent bestseller Reviving Ophelia.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2000
The US has 44 foodstuffs, twelve corn, seven canola, six tomato, five cotton, for potato, three soya bean, two sugar beat, two squash, and one each of radish, papaya, and linseed flax. So why is there no public debate? This book for high school students and older examines the technology and potential risks of genetically modifying food. As McHughen says in his introduction, "Don't take another bite until you read this book."
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2004
If you have ever tried to recreate a dish from a description in a book, you will appreciate Segan’s interpretations from the Ancient Greeks and Romans. She includes the sometimes sketchy originals as well as her meticulous recipes for appetizers, soups and stews, salads and vegetables, seafood, poultry, meat, bread, and desserts. Turner’s photographs of prepared foods are sure to get you in the kitchen.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: c. 2002
Picabo Street believes in Karma. She believes every high point is balanced by a low point. To illustrate her philosophy, she opens her autobiography with two descriptions: the first of her gold medal performance in the Super G in the 1998 Winter Games, the second of her terrible crash in the downhill finals in Switzerland a month later. This excruciating account will raise the hair on your head. Everything about Street’s book is intense, including the language. It is an honest self-assessment by a talented and determined athlete.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: July 2003
From Florida to California to Hawaii to Australia and beyond, six-time world champion Kelly Slater tells how he survived his father’s alcoholism to become the world’s best. Along the way, surfing fans will meet Tom Curren, Tom Carroll, Gary Elkerton, Mark Occhilupo, Rob Machado, and Shane Dorian.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2003
Katie Casey was not very good at doing “girl” things. Baseball was her love. Every year she showed up for her high school tryouts, and every year she was not even given a chance. World War II gave Katie a chance to tryout for a professional league in Chicago. All the women there proved they were ready to play, but they still had to convince the skeptical fans. An author’s note describes the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. You will also find the lyrics for two contemporary songs.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2003
Bridget wants to play soccer, but she is a princess and her duties, she thinks, make that impossible. In a castle tower she secretly plays soccer with the paperboy. What she doesn’t know is that the king watches. Can he help Bridget learn to balance soccer and her duties, her energy and discipline? He has a plan.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2000
Sarah remembers when her mother had hair and could run a race in the park. Now her mother is bald, and a walk around the block exhausts her. For children 4-8, this picture book shows how Sarah, with help from her father and mother, struggles to cope with the changes resulting from cancer treatment.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 2002
When Kermit Washington punched Rudy Tomjanovich during a game between the Rockets and the Lakers, he nearly killed him. This is a disturbing look at a violent act and its consequences.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 2000
The flu of 1918 killed more than a half million people in the United States in a few months, then stopped. Scientists estimate it killed 20-40 million worldwide. This history for readers 9-12 investigates the outbreak and subsequent searches for reasons why it was so deadly.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2006
Think of this as a field guide to parents, teachers, and other adults who interact with children for the parents, teachers, and other adults who interact with children. The kids might benefit from reading the book too. Although some of the advice may seem obvious, case studies, humor, and common sense make this worthwhile reading.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2002
Wiseman, cofounder of the Empower program, which helps girls and boys stop violence, has examined the world of girls’ friendships. It’s a pretty scary place. Each chapter describes and analyzes an aspect of Girl World. A section called “Checking Your Baggage” lets adults answer questions about their own adolescent experiences. Each chapter concludes with specific strategies to help. Aimed at parents, this book can help teachers better understand what is not part of the official curriculum. Appendices list useful movies, fiction, nonfiction, and organizations and their Websites.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2006
To extend the shelf life of processed food, industry has removed fats that science now understands our bodies require for good health. Inflammatory disease and metabolic disorders have been traced to the lack of omega-3 fats. Allport provides a readable history and guidelines for reversing the imbalance of fats in out diet.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2001
Are antioxidants help or hype? The authors, leading researchers in the fields of aging and biodemography, examine the science and pseudoscience in the multi-billion-dollar longevity industry. Along the way, they remind us that it's not just living long but living well we desire. A disconcerting appendix, The Life Table, provides estimates of the remaining years of life for males and females from age 0-110.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2004
Just because you haven’t seen a rat lately doesn’t mean there isn’t one nearby. The author stalked New York City alleys with a notebook and night vision monocular. He didn’t have to hunt long. This is an enthralling and appalling look at a creature that lives on what we throw out. You’ll find plenty of rat facts, history, and grotesque anecdotes.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2003
Life has enough mystery. This book is for girls who want to understand the changes they will or are experiencing during puberty. Frank discussions and illustrations might offend some.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2000
This book tells about the training and choosing of nine ambitious female rowers from 36 hopefuls to race at the 1975 World Championships in Nottingham, England and preparing for the 1976 Olympic Games. An exciting story about determined women in a demanding sport for middle school students and older.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2005
This joint biography examines the careers of two of tennis’s greatest players and a personal friendship the survived fierce professional competition. They played against each other 80 times over 16 years. The book includes a center photo section.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2005
Clemente started playing baseball with a bat and glove he made from a guava tree branch and a coffee bean sack. When he died trying to bring aid to earthquake victims in Central America, he had a .317 lifetime batting average, 3000 hits, 12 Gold Glove Awards, 14 All-Star game appearances, and more. Winter celebrates Clemente’s determination and generosity and doesn’t gloss over the prejudice he struggled against and ultimately overcame. Colon’s illustrations capture Clemente’s full-throttle play.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2005
Rosie has been plagued by bad dreams for a week and has decided to do something about them. When she visits a dream doctor, he recommends reading a book to overcome her fear of monsters. To test her new inner strength, she visits a carnival and frightens the monsters in the tunnel of fear.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2004
If you’re bored, can think of nothing to do, and have already cleaned you room, this book has enough activities for two summers of fun. You’ll find basketball, dodge ball, hopscotch, jump rope, marbles, and sprinkler games; relay races; and games that just fit the usual categories. Each activity is briefly and clearly explained. This is a great resource for classroom teachers who need to augment physical education requirements.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2005
What did Finnish distance champion Paavo Nurmi carry in his hand when he ran? A stop watch. If you’re a runner and like trivia, this is a gold mine of footsore obscurities. Questions are rated bronze to gold for difficulty and grouped in categories such as cross-country, mile, marathon, coaches, races, and others. The answers follow each section.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2005
Katzen believes there is more to cooking than the meal at the end, especially for young children. She makes this clear in the opening of her new cookbook when she lists what kids learn by cooking. The book is aimed at the youngest chefs and covers kitchen safety before serving twenty recipes from salad to dessert. Each recipe includes many helpful illustrations. The reading obviously needs to be done by an older helper, but then adult companionship is one of the intended benefits.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2004
It has been raining for days, and Sally, a black Lab, has been stuck inside with nothing to do. When good weather returns and she gets to play outside, she hurts her head in a fall and is taken to a vet. Young readers learn what vets do to help animals. It will seem much like what their own doctors do for them. Hunecks’s woodcut prints provide a dog’s eye view. Huneck describes his print technique in a brief introduction.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 2000
Frustrated by a bigger opponent, young Michael Jordan is convinced height will make him a better basketball player. His mother, sure her son will grow, tells him to put salt in his shoes and wait, but months pass and he doesn't grow. His father suggests that height alone doesn't make a great player and that Michael already has what he needs. Basketball fans 4-8, and older, will enjoy this book. Nelson's illustrations capture Jordan's speed and energy.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2006
Sam is the only kid who isn't afraid to go down the slide head first. He pokes fun at his friend Max who is afraid to stand on the swings. But Sam is afraid of some things: the dark and big spiders. Sam discovers that Max can help him in more than one way.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2000
In 1948, when Satchel Paige was drafted to pitch for the Cleveland Indians in the White major leagues, he was forty-two and had been thrilling fans in the Negro leagues for nearly twenty-five years. Baseball fans 9-12 will enjoy this biography of the first African American to pitch in a World Series and to be inducted in the Hall of Fame.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2000
At 25, Savion Glover has won countless awards and has created his own tap company. If you remember watching Savion dance on Sesame Street, you'll want to learn what he has been doing in the years since. This book, for tap fans 9-12, combines biography, tap history, and energetic graphics.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2003
After a discussion of sports and the human body, readers will find well-illustrated explanations of competition in track and field, cycling, gymnastics, aquatics, boating, riding, precision and accuracy, ice and snow, ball, racket, combat, wheeled, water, and multi sports.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 2005
Schott’s continuum of sport runs from Asleep to Olympian. Where do you fall? You find yourself somewhere in this treasury of thought on leisure activity, or inactivity. The entry on Pooh Sticks includes a diagram showing the optimal line for floating a winning stick. You might think this is taking competition too far, but wait. There’s more!
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 1999
Part of the Current Controversies series, this anthology of thirty-one recent articles tackes the tough questions surrounding sexual harassment in the workplace. The book includes a bibliography and a list of organizations to contact for more information.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 2005
When Clarence “Bevo” Francis played basketball at Rio Grande College in Ohio, he twice scored over 100 points in a game: 116 in 1952-53 and 113 in 1953-54. The 6’9’’ star toured two years with the Boston Whirlwinds, a touring team that played the Harlem Globetrotters. He was drafted by the NBA champion Philadelphia Warriors in 1956 but never signed. Players only made $10,000 in those days. Instead he went to work in an Ohio steel mill. This is a compelling story of triumph and what might have been.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2001
Violet is shy. Whenever her classmates, especially Irwin, stare, she itches and scratches and twirls her hair. When her teacher announces that the class will put on a play about the solar system, Violet is nervous, but her ingenious and sensitive teacher has the perfect part for her. Violet triumphs and even helps Irwin.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2001
Emily has a stomachache in her head and a headache in her throat so her father puts her to bed, comforts her, and spends the rest of the day searching for a thermometer and Emily's favorite stuffed animal, Moosie. Next morning it's dad's turn to be sick, and Emily's turn to nurse. She finally finds the thermometer and Moosie under her bed.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2003
Most of the games in this fun collection are suitable for school time physical activity. A few, like the coin toss games, might raise administrative eyebrows. Running, jumping, ball, and team games are designed to entertain one to a class full of students. Some of the games are recorded in literature and art. Sidebars provide this information.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2001
When it's time to learn to swim, Sidney says swimming is boring, swimming is dumb, but really Sidney is afraid. This picture book for children 4-8 shows how good friends can help a child overcome fears.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2004
After illustrating the alphabet and numbers from 1 to 100, this clearly photographed guide groups of common signs under 17 headings such as school, senses, and linking words. A final chapter explains the syntax, or word order, of signed sentences in American Sign Language.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2003
Doctor Katy Thatcher recalls a childhood friend, Jacob Stoltz. Jacob was different. What the townsfolk of 1908 called “touched,” but he had a gift with animals. His gift proved inadequate, however, when he tried to help an unwanted baby.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2000
The next time you have a sleepover and your friends are hungry, open this book. Besides providing clearly written instructions for preparing snacks, dinners, breakfasts, lunches, and birthday treats, this cookbook for 9-12 year olds identifies kitchen equipment, rates recipes for difficulty, and presents complete recipes on facing pages so you don't have to turn pages while cooking. Don't forget to read the page headed "Read this Or Die!"
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 1998
Smack is a harrowing, award-winning account of two teenage runaways who descend into a life of poverty and heroin addiction on the streets. Told through the words of ten different narrators, this book is as much about deft literary narrative as it is about the deeply troubling world of addiction.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2002
Soccer had its origins more than two thousand years ago in games played by the Chinese, Japanese, Greeks, and Romans, but not until the 1800s was it organized with rules. This guide to the sport provides plenty of digital illustrations and facts, clearly describes necessary skills and effective tactics, and highlights great games and players. A reference section supplies statistics, glossary, and URLs for Websites.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2002
Katie is usually polite and patient, even when her baby brother knocks down her castle and she knows she’ll never build another one as good. But sometimes Katie is bombaloo. She gets red in the face. She shows her teeth and makes fierce noises. She uses her feet and her hands instead of her words, and things land on the floor, including her baby brother. Time, love and returning sense of humor help Katie become herself again. Katie’s transformation is perfectly captured in Heo’s illustrations. Anyone who has ever been bombaloo will recognize himself or herself in this book.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2004
Hamilton was thirteen when a fifteen foot Tiger shark bit off her left arm. Her own clear thinking helped save her life. After surgery, her first question was “When can I surf again?” Her memoir traces her recovery and subsequent competition. It displays the courage of a champion.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 1999
30 essays cover topics ranging from college admissions and scholarships to Title IX to opportunities for minority coaches. Thought-provoking essays are supplemented by discussion questions, a bibliography, and a list of related organizations.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: December 2004
Fans will find the stats for their favorite sports in this almanac. Sections cover football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, action sports, golf, motor sports, tennis, swimming, track and field, as well as the summer and winter Olympics. A color photo section is included.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: December 2003
Since 1954, Sports Illustrated has been celebrating all permutations of sport. This collection of 52 articles features the work of some great sports writers and some great writers: John Underwood on Tim Rossovich of the Philadephia Eagles and William Faulkner on the Kentucky Derby. You’ll find games as expected as baseball and as weird as the Rattlesnake Derby.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2000
Anyone interested in sports will find something of interest in this illustrated encyclopedia of sports. The book covers 127 sports in 20 categories. Each entry describes and pictures special equipment and playing fields, provides statistics for record performances, and examines changing styles and gear.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2001
Molly Lou Melon is the shortest girl in first grade. Her teeth stick out so far she can stack pennies on them. She sings like a bullfrog being squeezed by a boa constrictor. When she moves and enters a new school, she follows her grandmother’s advice and stands tall, impressing even the class bully, Ronald Durkin. This is a humorous and unsentimental story about a small girl with a tall self-image.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2000
When Stargirl Caraway first shows up at Mica High she creates a sensation. She's different. The students think she's cool, at first. Then she's shunned. In desperation, Leo, the boy who loves her, tries to help by suggesting she change. This book for young adults is about being different, about fitting in, about the cost of being like everyone else.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2002
The three Kang brothers try to help their mother prepare dumplings for the annual cooking contest, but they break the table and tear her dough into strips. When life gives torn dough, make noodles, and that is just what the Kangs do. This humorous tale describes different noodle-eating techniques (mothers are sure to love these) and includes a recipe for Life-Long Noodles.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: December 2000
This collection of short pieces chronicles the 2000 World Series. Contributors include the editor Hamill, David Halberstam, Yogi Berra, George Will, Frank McCourt and twenty-four other writers and cover subjects as diverse as DiMaggio and the theology of the NY Mets. If you're a baseball fan, middle school or older, this is a dream mix of highlights from the past and present.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2004
This illustrated introduction to the Summer Olympics explains the competition in track and field, water, precision, strength, combat, cycling, equestrian, ball, and racket. Chapters provide a brief history of the Olympics and notable achievements.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2001
When winter comes, color and warmth depart. The Baker misses the sun so he sets out to bake a sunny feast, a bright golden loaf of bread. His bread is so good everyone stops grumbling and eventually even the real sun reappears. The story, perfect for a class baking project at the end of a long winter, is told in rhyming verse and includes the recipe for sun bread.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 1999
Trumbauer's tome includes a smorgasbord of sites devoted to sports for kids ages 7-12. A panel of kid surfers selected sites that were timely, full of information, flashy, and easy to download. Dive in!
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2000
Susan laughs, sings rides, and swings. She gets mad, sad, and frightened. She is good. She can be bad. The only difference between Susan and other boys and girls is that Susan needs a wheelchair, a need that is revealed only in the last illustration.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2005
Stewart has a sweet tooth, a very loud sweet tooth that keeps demanding gooey candy and chocolate chip cookies. Instead of accepting responsibility, Stewart blames the tooth. When a colossal belly ache convinces him to change his diet, Stewart concentrates on veggies and remains strong, but it take s a carrot to finally defeat his sweet tooth.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 2002
The author, grandson of a toffee maker and son of a dentist, is not unaware of the toothly danger lurking in candy. In fact, he includes a discussion of the science of dental caries, tooth decay, but this is more than a book about candy. Richardson examines the biology of sweetness; the psychology of candy; the history of sweets, including myth and folklore; the diversity of candy; and the strange figures and stranger practices of the candy industry. If you thought Willy Wonka was odd, just wait.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2004
Cox swims in 32 degree water without a wet suit. She swam the Cook Strait, Strait of Magellan, Bering Strait, and the Cape of Good Hope. Her most recent accomplishment was a one-mile swim to Antarctica. As if the water isn’t enough to contend with, there are sharks, orcas, and leopard seals. Why? She explains what drives her in this fascinating memoir.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 1998
Thomson provides readers grades K-6 with an entertaining, trivia-filled tour of a bat and baseball factory. Along the way, kids learn about the nuts and bolts of production, baseball history, player trivia, and much more.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2003
Do you put your dirty clothes in the hamper or do you throw them in a pile on your bedroom floor? Clutter can influence your life more than you think. Feng Shui, the Chinese art of placement, teaches that to stay healthy we have to live and sleep in a balanced environment. This introduction to Feng Shui is organized in three sections: a historical and cultural overview, the basic principles, and the application of the principles to aspects of your life such as designing your bedroom. The book is clearly written and provides plenty of tools for users.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2001
This anthology compiles teen writing on teen concerns about family, friends, challenges, love, imagination, school, fitting in, milestones, and memories. The book’s nearly 150 contributors are all profiled at the end of the book. An appendix on how to submit writing and art to Teen Ink is included.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 2004
Lia has a lot going for her, but when she dares to like the same boy as Kaylie, the “teen queen,” she becomes the center of a hate campaign and begins to question her values and her friends.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 1999
If you know an adolescent who's anti-meat, this is the perfect beginning cookbook. Krizmanic begins with a nutritional introduction, then serves up a series of meal ideas for parties, college cuisine, family functions, and more.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2001
Kachler is a fitness trainer who has worked with Julia Roberts, Michelle Pfeiffer, Drew Barrymore, Cindy Crawford, and other Hollywood stars. She reflects on her own teenage eating problems and lays out an approach to lifetime fitness specifically directed to girls. She addresses nutrition as well as exercise. Exercises are illustrated with photos. Five and twenty minute workouts are outlined.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: July 2004
Here is a cook book for teens written by teens. Megan and Jill serve up recipes for snacks, soups and salads, dinners for one or for families, and desserts. Sidebars give tips and tell culinary anecdotes. Some are very funny. It’s nice to know pros can make mistakes too. They also provide necessary kitchen vocabulary, math, and chemistry.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2000
Horace keeps a toy truck he finds on the playground even after he learns it belongs to his classmate, Walter. Guilt keeps Horace awake and lack of sleep makes him feel sick, so he stays home from school. A get-well letter from Walter helps Horace decide what he needs to do. This book is for children 4-8.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: July 1998
Kranz's journal is a great way to get teens writing about what's going on in their lives and their heads. The graphic presentation of the journal is fresh and young, and her questions range from whimsical to thought-provoking; Kranz asks, "What compliments have you received? How did you feel when you received them?" and "Write about things your parents have done that surprised you." The journal also includes sections dedicated to free writing.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2001
Lupe is fearless. She loves to ride El Diablo, her father's black stallion. She even dares to climb a huge fig tree the villagers believe is haunted. When she falls from the tree, she is paralyzed from the waist down. Angry and full of self-pity, Lupe refuses to believe that she, that anyone who is disabled, can be happy, until she helps another suffering creature.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2004
Frog has a runny nose, and so do his friends. They sniffle and snuffle and disgust their teachers. At the dinner table, Frog’s father is grossed out. Frog’s mother has a solution—a box of tissues. When frog’s nose begins to run at his dance recital, he reaches for a tissue instead of using his sleeve, proving that it is possible to practice good sanitation and manners when sick.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2006
This graphic novel tells of a young girl’s efforts to become a ballerina from her first dance classes in Puerto Rico to her debut on stage with the New York City Ballet. It combines family history, not all of it happy, and an insider’s view of the New York ballet scene in the 70s.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2003
In school, the extremely bright Hawk seldom shone, but when he discovered skateboarding nothing held him back. In thirty-five years, Hawk won 12 skateboarding World Championships and invented more than 80 tricks,like the Madonna, the saran wrap, and his final fantastic 900 in the 1999 X Games. This biography includes a section of black and white photos.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2007
In this humorously anachronistic retelling of Pygmalion, Pyg the sculptor still falls in love with his creation, but she has very different values and ideas. Meanwhile, his assistant Jane is a real friend who watches quietly as Pyg pursues his cold-hearted dream. Sometimes a wish can get in the way of happiness.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2007
If you read the lists of ingredients on processed food packages and wonder what some of them are, so did the author. This analysis of the Twinkie traces each ingredient to its source in a farmer's field, mine, or oil field.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2006
Ugly Fish is a bully. He thinks everything in the tank is his. When other fish are added, he eats them. One day he decides that being the only fish in the tank is boring, so when Shiny Fish, a bigger fish is added, Ugly Fish is happy—at first. Yes, Ugly Fish gets eaten. Anyone who has ever been bullied will relish the grim justice of this not-for-bedtime tale.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2002
O'Hara traces the origins of chili back to Native Americans in the South West who preserved meat by drying it into jerky and seasoning it with chili powder. The chili powder helped to discourage bugs as well as improve the flavor. If you're a chili fan, you'll find a brief history of chili, a chili preparation primer, an ingredient guide, and more than 30 recipes. The first is a Native American pemmican chili. Nash's appetizing photos of bowls of chili will get you into the kitchen faster than you can say "too hot." An appendix covers additional print and Web resources.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2000
Although this book is intended primarily for an older audience, its program of sensible exercise and diet is appropriate for any high schooler and up who is not an athlete but wants to maintain a reasonable level of fitness. Part entertainer, part fitness expert, Bailey covers topics like warming up, aerobic exercise, cross training, wind sprints, weight lifting, measuring fitness by heart rate, and more in his usual brisk and amusing manner.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2003
The fitness industry is a multimillion dollar business. If knowing that doesn't make you skeptical of its claims, this book might. Kolata winnows fact from fiction and entertains at the same time. Kolata, herself, is something of a spinning fanatic, so bear that in mind.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2005
What is an ultra marathon? The author has run many, the longest being 226 miles non-stop. He’s run across Death Valley and the South Pole. He’s eaten a pizza and cheese cake and fallen asleep while running. More than a tale of endurance, this memoir tells how one party animal saved his life by running.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2001
On a ski trip in December 1987, the author and a friend took a wrong turn on a back road and were trapped by a blizzard in sub-zero temperatures for ten days with a cinnamon roll and a six-pack of frozen soda. They survived, and although Goldman lost both lower legs to frostbite, she has become a world-class athlete, Adidas spokesperson, and motivational speaker. She writes candidly of her physical and psychological recovery.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2007
Maurice Hilleman's name may not be familiar to you but his work is. Hilleman developed vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, hepatitis A & B, pneumococcus, meningococcus, and haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). This book uses Hilleman's career to examine 200 years of medical history.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2005
Venus Williams and Serena Williams with Venus and Serena are often asked how they have become so successful. This book is an attempt to answer that question. In alternate chapters, they present ten rules to live by. Each chapter concludes with additional tips for winning behavior.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2006
Before penicillin there was phage therapy. “Phages” are viruses that kill bacteria but don’t harm humans. Today when more bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics, Western medicine is taking a renewed interest in phage therapy. Hausler presents the history of a treatment that might hold promise for the future.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2001
In 1967, Francis Chichester sailed alone around the world, stopping only once in Australia. A year later, nine men set out to better his feat by not stopping at all. The winner reached England on April 22, 1969 without the aid of satellite navigation, onboard computers, cell phones, or fax lines. The competitors' only link to shore was radio, when it worked. This is an amazing story of adventure and endurance.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2002
Sometimes a war doesn’t end when the shooting stops. In this memoir-novel set in the Bronx of the 1950s, Lucy recalls her angry and abusive father and her unconventional, dance instructor mother, and how war made peace unbearable for one and drug use and insanity the only escape for the other. It tells how two resourceful children, Lucy and her brother Nicky, saved themselves.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2002
Knowing what to expect can make visiting a dentist less stressful. This book is intended for children about to visit a dentist for the first time. It asks and answers common questions, such as: What does a dentist do? Why do I have to go? and What are all the tools for? Angus, the answer dog, provides an activity or idea on each page.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 1999
Preschoolers will enjoy this big, colorful pop-up book. Quirky illustrations and fun rhymes depict elephants, pandas, and other animals eating lunch—and making messes!
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 2006
At its peak, Schrafft’s had more than 50 restaurants in New York City and the Northeast and restaurant/motor inns from New England to Florida. The chain flourished from 1898 to the late 1970s. At its height, Schrafft’s sold candy, cocktails, and meals and attracted celebrities, businessmen, and families. This pictorial history describes the origin of the chain and includes many original recipes.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: November 2004
How can teenagers distinguish between a funk and a serious depression? This book looks at teen mood swings and their causes. It describes the transition from childhood to adolescence, suggests how to cope with parents and teachers, and offers strategies for improving self-image. It tells teens where to look for help if they need it. An appendix lists support groups and sources of information.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2001
Imagine an eight-month, 8,000 km bike trip. Now imagine doing it alone, starting in Irkutsk, Russia and ending in Saigon, Vietnam. In this account, the author describes her journey on Greene, her bike, with sections covering her adventures in each country. She was invited by one Mongolian village to stay a while and teach English, which she did. As the title suggests, she avoided major roads.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2000
This book, for high schoolers and older, is about the search for five young Montana climbers who died in an avalanche on Mt. Cleveland in 1969. As he describes the recovery, Jenkins tells how avalanches have played a role in warfare from Hannibal to World War I and how, despite all our technological advances, a long probe is still a rescuer's best tool.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: August 2002
Often the social and psychological aspects of serious illness can be as difficult to contend with as the disease itself. Linus sits in front of Janice in school. At recess, he likes to push her on a swing because she goes higher than anyone else. He discovers she has leukemia when she stops coming to school. Originally published in 1990, this reissue deals with some of the questions raised by family and friends of children with cancer. The story’s positive outcome will limit its suitability.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2004
The third edition of this classic guide includes discussion of the latest research and developments in gear and equipment. You’ll find advice on how to behave if you encounter a grizzly or a mountain lion, how to use GPS, how to leave no trace behind, and what to eat.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: October 2000
Ikarus Jackson can fly. You would think that would be cool, but his teacher says his wings block the board and sends him from the classroom. At recess, the kids say he is a showoff. One student watches as Ikarus's spirit droops until finally she tells Ikarus his flying is beautiful. This picture book celebrates individuality and will give children 4-8, and older, plenty to talk about.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2002
“Deaf people can do everything but hear,” said Gallaudet’s President I. King Jordan. This book proves they can play basketball. To research this chronicle of the 1999-2000 season of Gallaudet University’s Women’s basketball team, the author sat on the bench for every game, rode the bus with the team, attended class, and even lived in the dorms. The book features black and white photos by Brian Morris, a Gallaudet graduate.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: January 2001
By the time she died in 1968 at 87, Helen Keller was an internationally known writer and speaker. This biography relates the life of a young girl from Alabama who triumphed over the loss of sight and hearing, graduated from Radcliffe, lectured around the world, and was admired by figures like Eleanor Roosevelt. This book has black and white photographs.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2007
The author traveled around the world trying foods from hot sauce with a Scoville rating of 15,000,000 (hotter than pepper spray), dog stew, barnacles, beetles, and silkworm pupae. We might find such things revolting, but within their cultural context, they are perfectly everyday.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: February 2000
Yoga practice attempts to link mind, body, and spirit. This book, for high schoolers and older, opens with a survey of different types of yoga and how they are practiced in the West, the benefits of yoga, and breathing exercises. Two series of beginner postures follow with photos and detailed instructions for achieving them and modified versions for different fitness levels. The book ends with sections on relaxation and meditation.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: June 2002
McEnroe won seventy-seven career singles titles and seventy-seven doubles titles, more than any professional to ever play, and yet the mention of his name probably conjures images of flying tennis rackets, kicked TV cameras, and fist waving arguments more than trophies. In this autobiography, the Brat professes to come clean. How can you resist a book that begins: “I hate alarm clocks. That incessant ticking drives me nuts.”
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: May 2005
If you and your doctor had days to chat about your body and all the parts that keep it chugging along for 70+ years, you might get all the information in this book. Start with the body-quotient quiz and determine what you already know, then take on the organ systems. Each gets a chapter. Two final chapters explain cancer and lay out a reasonable diet plan. The many illustrations contain humorous anatomical names, so be sure to check the text for the correct names. Given the frankness of some of the discussion, this book would be best used as a teacher resource.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: March 2006
It’s not always easy being a younger brother. The author, an older sister, understands this and offers some advice for the put-upon. Matt, the narrator, provides eight useful tips. Here’s a ninth, little brother: read this book. Kopelke’s illustrations capture the humor and desperation of sibling relationships.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: September 2002
Set in verse, this hockey ABC sports paintings of rink action, hockey heroes, and equipment. The margins provide additional information on the subject of each letter, such as Gretzky, puck, and Vezina-a special trophy for goalies. A few extra terms are explained on the last page.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness
Published: April 1999
How many bones are in your skull? What muscle in your body never gets tired? What has the texture of jelly and looks like a walnut? In Your Amazing Body kids will learn fascinating facts about the human body as they unfold the layers of a human face through the skin, muscle, and finally to the bone!
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Health & Fitness