Hope+(June)

The theme for June is Hope.

**Hope is an Open Heart** by Lauren Thompson

**Circles of Hope** by Karen Lynn Williams

An incredibly moving story of an older brother who endeavors to plant a tree as a gift for his baby sister. Set in Haiti, this book incorporates vocabulary from Haitian Creole and includes a glossary in the back. This title would also work well for March's topic of diligence.

**Seeds of Change** by Jen Cullerton Johnson

Wangari Maathai became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. In the last two or three years, several picture book biographies of her have been published, but this one is my favorite. The illustrations are beautiful and the text is straightforward. (She passed away in September 2011.)


 * I Can Make A Difference: A Treasury to Inspire Our Children** by Marian Wright Edelman


 * [[image:ryan.jpg width="152" height="197" align="left"]]Ryan and Jimmy And the Well in Africa That Brought Them Together** by Herb Shoveller

An uplifting true story about how even a child can make a huge difference. Ryan, a Canadian boy, became interested in global water accessibility in the first grade. Early on in his campaign, he corresponds with a Ugandan boy named Jimmy through a pen pal program and learns about the difficulties of finding clean water that Jimmy encounters each day. Through fundraising efforts, Ryan is successful in getting a well installed in Jimmy's village. Unfortunately, Uganda is very unstable and Jimmy's life is threatened. Ultimately, he is able to join Ryan's family in Canada and is adopted.