K-4 Books on Immigration: Home

Explores the history of immigration to the United States and explains how each group of immigrants has contributed in its unique way to the rich fabric of American life.

Ellis Island, America's most famous location in its history of immigration, was once a landfill in the upper bay of New York Harbor. Since its opening on January 1, 1892, Ellis Island has come to symbolize the waves of immigrants from a list of countries that seems endless.

From 1892 to 1954, Ellis Island was the gateway to a new life in the United States for millions of immigrants. In later years, the island was deserted, the buildings decaying. Ellis Island was not restored until the 1980s, when Americans from all over the country donated more than $150 million. It opened to the public once again in 1990 as a museum. Learn more about America's history, and perhaps even your own, through the story of one of the most popular landmarks in the country.

A True Book includes lively sidebars, a glossary and index, plus a comprehensive "To Find Out More" section listing books, organizations, and Internet sites.

Photographs and text document the experiences of five individuals who came to live in the Lower East Side of New York City as children or young adults from Belarus, Italy, Lithuania, and Romania at the turn of the twentieth century.

In this eye-opening book that will make the immigration experience real for everyone, award-winning author Janet Bode talks to people whose ancestors were slaves or slave owners, European craftspeople, Irish farmers, and many others.

"A useful overview of a complex issue, attractively designed and clearly written." - SLJ "Clearly tuned into her audience, Maestro offers a neatly distilled overview of US immigration, covering extensive ground without oversimplifying." - PW

Dan Yaccarino tells the story of his family's experiences in the United States since his great-grandfather came to America from Italy through Ellis Island.

Based on the story of the author's grandparents' migration to the United States from late-nineteenth-century Russia, shares how Solomon moved to the United States first, where he worked to save money for Anna to join him.

Tis tale of one man's love for two countries and his constant desire to be in both places captured readers' attention and hearts. Winner of the 1994 Caldecott Medal, it remains as historically relevant and emotionally engaging as ever.

Katie can't stand to look at another plain old potato, so she wishes them away. And soon after, a rot begins to spread across the fields of Ireland. As the potato crops wither and more and more people get sick, Katie believes she's at fault. Even when Grand Da agrees that she and her cousin should join her father in Boston, Katie still feels guilty about having wished the potatoes away.

From a basket of old clothes, Anna's babushka, Uncle Vladimir's shirt, Aunt Havalah's nightdress and an apron of Aunt Natasha's become The Keeping Quilt, passed along from mother to daughter for almost a century. For four generations the quilt is a Sabbath tablecloth, a wedding canopy, and a blanket that welcomes babies warmly into the world.

Benny's family owns a knishery and sells delicious round dumplings. Then the Tisch family opens a store across the street--selling square knishes--and Benny's papa worries. So he lowers his prices! But Mr. Tisch does too. As each knishery tries to outdo the other, Benny helps his papa realize there's room on Rivington Street for more than one knishery.

Follow a girl's perusal of her great-grandfather's collection of matchboxes and small curios that document his poignant immigration journey from Italy to a new country.

In the early 1900s, two cousins leave their Russian shtetl with the rest of their family to come to America, hopeful that they will all pass the dreaded inspection at Ellis Island.

Milly, a spirited little girl, envisions a way to bring a bit of her family's old country festivities to their new home in America. Featuring artwork by the illustrator of the Lemony Snicket books, this heartwarming fictional tale is based on the true history of the first Macy's Parade in 1924 and evokes the pride of what it means to be an American.

Molly's embarrassed when her mother helps with a class Thanksgiving project by making a little doll that looks more like a Russian refugee than a New England Pilgrim. But the tiny modern-day pilgrim just might help Molly to find a place for herself in America.

On a snowy New York City morning, families who have journeyed to the United States from many different countries take the oath of citizenship at a downtown courthouse.

Celebrates United States immigration and the country's diverse immigrant heritage.

A young Jewish girl living on Manhattan's Lower East Side attends her first "package party" where she learns about the traditions of generosity, courage, and community among Jewish immigrants in the early 1900s.

Jessie lives with her grandmother in a poor village in the valleys of eastern Europe. When, to everyone's surprise, young Jessie is chosen by the village rabbi to travel to America, and to leave her grandmother behind, they both feel their hearts will break.

A flying goat, buttons the size of sleds, and a castle on Hester Street are some of the widely imaginative stories Julie's grandpa tells her about his journey from Russia to New York many years ago. But Grandma's no-nonsense memories are far different from Grandpa's tall tales.

Twelve-year-old Zippy, a Jewish immigrant from Russia, keeps a diary account of the first eighteen months of her family's life on the Lower East Side of New York City in 1903-1904.

Hannah's small European village buzzes with tales of life free from persecution in a place called America. Timid cousin Esther has passage for two aboard a ship bound for New York, and Hannah convinces Mama and Papashka to let her use the extra ticket. The voyage is long, but Hannah and Esther find a new friend in Samuel, a young orphan aboard the ship, and together they endure the stormy seas and cramped steerage quarters. Finally, the soaring Statue of Liberty greets them at Ellis Island, but will America really be everything they've dreamed of?

"In letters to her cousin back 'home' in Russia, 12-year-old Rifka tells of her journey to America in 1919, from the dangerous escape over the border through Europe and across the sea to the new country."--"Booklist."

Relates the experiences of two young brothers and their family, immigrants from Sweden, from their arrival in New York through the journey to their new home in Minnesota.

Julie Weiss's world is suddenly torn apart by a war that will forever change the face of humanity. Her life as a privileged Jewish girl quickly becomes one of humiliation and terror. In part two, Julie has left Nazi Austria for New York, where she begins a new life with her extended family who she has never met.

When Julie discovers a mysterious note written in Chinese, she brings it to her friend Ivy to translate.

A diary account of 13-year-old Anetka's life in Poland in 1896, immigration to America, marriage to a coal miner, widowhood, and happiness in finally finding her true love. Her fascinating diary entries give readers a personal glimpse into what life was like in a coal-mining town during a tumultuous time in the country's past.

Critically acclaimed author Barry Denenberg turns a sharp eye on life for a young Irish immigrant at the Lowell Mill.

Living in the steerage section of a steamship bound for America, Chanah tries to keep her newly found cat a secret.

As a young boy, Bao and his father awoke early, hours before his father's long workday began, to fish on the shores of a small pond in Minneapolis. Unlike many other anglers, Bao and his father fished for food, not recreation. A successful catch meant a fed family. Between hope-filled casts, Bao's father told him about a different pond in their homeland of Vietnam.

Maria is from Spain, Jin is from Korea, and Fatima is from Somalia. All three are new to their American elementary school, and each has trouble speaking, writing, and sharing ideas in English. Through self-determination and with encouragement from their peers and teachers, the students learn to feel confident and comfortable in their new school without losing a sense of their home country, language, and identity.

Gita has recently moved to America from India, and she is looking forward to celebrating Divali--her favorite holiday--with her family. She has invited some of her new friends from school to join in the festivities, but a winter storm puts a damper on her plans. Just as Gita decides she hates her new home, events take another turn.

After Saya's mother is sent to an immigration detention center, Saya finds comfort in listening to her mother's warm greeting on their answering machine. To ease the distance between them while she's in jail, Mama begins sending Saya bedtime stories inspired by Haitian folklore on cassette tape. Moved by her mother's tales and her father's attempts to reunite their family, Saya writes a story of her own-one that just might bring her mother home for good.

Mia's abuela has left her sunny house with parrots and palm trees to live with Mia and her parents in the city. The night she arrives, Mia tries to share her favorite book with Abuela before they go to sleep and discovers that Abuela can't read the words inside.

My Chinatown explores a boy's first year in the United States--after emigrating from China--as he grows to love his new home in Chinatown through food, games, and the people surrounding him.

Disliking her name as written in English, Korean-born Yoon, or "shining wisdom," refers to herself as "cat," "bird," and "cupcake," as a way to feel more comfortable in her new school and new country.

In Painted Words, Marianthe's paintings help her to become less of an outsider as she struggles to adjust to a new language and a new school. Under the guidance of her teacher, who understands that there is more than one way to tell a story, Mari makes pictures to illustrate the history of her family, and eventually begins to decipher the meaning of words.

A lyrical celebration of multiculturalism as a parent shares with a child the value of their heritage and why it should be a source of pride, even when others disagree.

When five year old Gabriella hears talk of Castro and something called revolution in her home in Cuba, she doesn't understand. Then when her parents leave suddenly and she remains with her grandparents, life isn't the same. Soon the day comes when she goes to live with her parents in a new place called the Bronx. It isn't warm like Havana, and there is traffic not the ocean outside her window. Their life is different- it snows in the winter and the food at school is hot dogs and macaroni. What will it take for the Bronx to feel like home?

When 12-year-old Seema Trivedi learns that she and her family must move from their small village in India to Iowa City in the USA, she realises she will say goodbye to the only home she's ever known and, most importantly, to her beloved family who she'll have to leave behind. Yet the adventure of moving to America unfolds before her like the bloom of a new flower. In time, will she begin to plant roots in the foreign soil that feels so strange?

Gaby Howard loves volunteering at the local animal shelter. Gaby has been feeling like a bit of a stray herself, lately. Her mother has recently been deported to Honduras and Gaby is stuck living with her inattentive dad. She's confident that her mom will soon come home so that they can adopt Gaby's favourite shelter cat together, and start getting back to the way things used to be. When the cat's original owners turn up at the shelter, however, Gaby's plans for the perfect family seem to fall apart. But she's determined not to let go of her dream so easily.

Moving to Vermont after his parents split, Miguel has plenty to worry about! Tía Lola, his quirky, carismática, and maybe magical aunt makes his life even more unpredictable when she arrives from the Dominican Republic to help out his Mami.

When a new boy named Stanley arrives in Stella's class, she really wants to be his friend, but sometimes Stella accidentally speaks Spanish instead of English and pronounces words wrong, which makes her turn roja. Plus, she has to speak in front of her whole class for a big presentation at school! But she better get over her fears soon, because Stella Díaz has something to say!