Día Booklist (Grades 3-5) 2024

Created on February 3, 2024, 3:31 pm

Last Updated March 27, 2024, 10:51 am

El día de los niños / El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) is a celebration of children and wonderful books. Día honors the cultures and languages of all children. Día is celebrated yearly on April 30. For more information see dia.ala.org. Each story matters. Every child counts. This DÍA BOOKLIST was created by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). Titles on this list were selected by members of ALSC’s Quicklists Consulting Committee. For printable copies of the lists go to https://www.ala.org/alsc/publications-resources/book-lists/Dia-2024

1) Stories of the islands

Author

Description

"A graphic novel collection of girl-centered fantasy stories, based on Indonesian traditional tales"-- Provided by publisher.

2) Too small Tola gets tough

Author

Series

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

"In ordinary times, Tola lives in an apartment in Lagos, Nigeria, with her clever sister, Moji; her sporty brother, Dapo; and bossy Grandmommy. Tola is so happy! But news of a new virus--and a lockdown, too--sends Moji away in one direction and Dapo in another. Then, when Grandmommy can no longer go out to work, Tola goes instead. She works for the wealthy Diamond family and makes new friends among the household staff. But even the wealthy have problems--and...

Author

Baptist, Kelly J

Description

"In this dual-POV novel in verse, Black seventh graders Ebony "Eb" Wilson and De'Kari "Flow" Flood contemplate the conflict that sees them both suspended from school. A ten-day suspension has tweens De'Kari and Ebony seeing the world with a fresh perspective. Don't miss this poignant novel in verse from the award-winning author of Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero. Two kids. One fight. No one thinks they're wrong."-- Publisher description.

4) Crowned: magical folk and fairy tales from the diaspora

Author

Bethencourt, Kahran

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

A collection of reimagined classic fairy tales, and African and African American folktales that bring to life past, present, and future visions of Black culture.

5) The year the maps changed

Author

Binks, Danielle

Formats:

Book, eBook, eAudiobook

Description

In 1999 Sorrento, Victoria, twelve-year-old Winifred (Fred) grapples with the meaning of home and family amidst a refugee crisis that has divided her town. According to Fred's teacher, maps don't always give the full picture of our history, but more and more it feels like Fred's family is redrawing the line of their story... and Fred is feeling left off the map and as displaced as the Kosovo refugees that will soon enter her town. However when Fred...

6) Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett: the virologist who changed the world

Author

Series

Queens of STEAM

Formats:

Description

"Meet Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, a scientist specializing in virology, whose ground-breaking research and leadership led to the creation of the COVID-19 Moderna vaccine."-- Page 4 of cover.

7) Karthik delivers

Author

Formats:

Book, eBook, eAudiobook

Description

One summer during the Financial Crisis, fourteen-year-old Karthik Raghavan makes deliveries for his father's ailing Indian grocery, but he is secretly cast in a play about the young Leonard Bernstein. Includes author's note.

8) Marshmallow & Jordan

Author

Description

"Jordan's days as star player for her school's basketball team ended when an accident left her paralyzed from the waist down. Now, she's still the team captain, but her competition days seem to be behind her...until an encounter with a mysterious elephant, who she names Marshmallow, helps Jordan discover a brand new sport. Will water polo be the way for Jordan to continue her athletic dreams--or will it just come between Jordan and her best friends...

9) The many fortunes of Maya

Author

Collier, Nicole D

Formats:

Book, eBook, eAudiobook

Description

Always turning to her Wheel of Fortunes, a cardboard circle covered with wisdom she's collected from fortune cookies, for answers and a dose of luck, 12-year-old Maya must find the courage to write her own fortune to answer her deep-down questions.

10) We still belong

Author

Formats:

Book, Playaway, eBook, Kindle, eAudiobook

Description

"Wesley's hopeful plans for Indigenous Peoples' Day (and asking her crush to the dance) go all wrong-until she finds herself surrounded by the love of her Indigenous family and community at the intertribal powwow"-- Provided by publisher.

11) Saving sunshine

Author

Series

Saving Sunshine volume 1

Description

It's hard enough being a kid without being teased for a funny sounding name or wearing a hijab. It's even harder when you're constantly fighting your sibling--and Zara and Zeeshan really can't stand each other. During a family trip to Florida, when the bickering, shoving, and insults reach new heights of chaos, their parents sentence them to the worst possible fate-- each other's company! But when the twins find an ailing turtle, it presents a rare...

12) Search for a giant squid: pick your path

Author

Forrester, Amy Seto

Series

Science explorers (You choose)

Formats:

Description

"A choose your own path style story that guides the reader through the very real job of being a teuthologist"-- Provided by publisher.

Author

Description

"Picture book adaptation of the renowned poem that encourages young readers to reflect on family, nature, and their heritage. In simple and direct language, Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation, urges readers to pay close attention to who they are, the world they were born into, and how all inhabitants on earth are connected. Michaela Goade, drawing from her Tlingit culture, has created vivid illustrations that make the words come alive in an engaging...

14) Battle for the park

Author

Series

Futureland volume 1

Description

Cam Walker, the 12-year-old son of the creators of a traveling theme park called Futureland, must stop an unknown enemy from stealing his parent's cutting-edge technology and using it for sinister purposes.

15) Santiago saw things differently: Santiago Ramón y Cajal, artist, doctor, father of neuroscience

Author

Iverson, Christine

Description

Painting a vivid portrait of the "father of neuroscience," this beautifully illustrated account of how Santiago Ramón y Cajal shaped his scientific fate as an artist, which led to his discovery of the branching connections within the nervous system.

16) The lucky ones

Author

Jackson, Linda Williams

Description

"It's 1967, and eleven-year-old Ellis Earl Brown has big dreams. He's going to grow up to be a teacher or a lawyer--or maybe both--and live in a big brick house in town. There'll always be enough food in the icebox, and his mama won't have to run herself ragged looking for work as a maid in order to support Ellis Earl and his eight siblings and niece, Vera. So Ellis Earl applies himself at school, soaking up the lessons that Mr. Foster teaches his...

17) Make a move, Sunny Park!

Author

Description

This is the story of Sunny Park, a seventh-grade student at Ranchito Mesa Middle who loves the K-pop band Supreme Beat, hanging out with her cool grandma, dancing when no one is watching, snacking on shrimp chips, and being there for Bailey, her best friend since third grade. When Bailey decides that she and Sunny should audition for the school dance team in a ploy to parent-trap Bailey's divorced mom and dad, Sunny agrees even though the thought...

Author

Lloyd, Megan Wagner

Formats:

Graphic Novels & Manga, Kindle, eComic

Description

"Eleven-year-old Avery Lee loves living in Hickory Valley, Maryland delives her neighborhood, school, and the end-of-summer fair she always goes to with her two best friends. But she's tired of feeling squished by her six siblings! They're noisy and chaotic and the younger kids love her a little too much. All Avery wants is her own room -- her own space to be alone and make art. So she's furious when Theo, her grumpy older brother, gets his own room...

Author

Ortega, Claribel A

Description

"Marlene loves three things: books, her cool tía Ruby, and hanging out with her best friend Camila. But according to her mother Paola, the only thing she needs to focus on is school and 'growing up.' That means straightening her hair every weekend so she could have 'presentable good hair.' But Marlene hates being in the salon and doesn't understand why her curls are not considered pretty by those around her. With a few hiccups, a dash of embarrassment,...

20) Rizos

Author

Ortega, Claribel A

Description

"Marlene ama tres cosas: el arte, a su adorada tía Ruby y pasar el tiempo con Camilla, su mejor amiga. Pero su mamá piensa que se debería enfocar solamente en sus estudios y en madurar; y esto último implica alisarse el pelo todos los fines de semana para que se vea "presentable" y "bueno". Pero Marlene odia ir al salón y no entiende por qué nadie a su alrededor piensa que sus rizos naturales son bonitos. Después de algunos desafíos y momentos...