New Releases by James E. Ransome

Recipient of a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of 2019 A young slave girl witnesses the heartbreak and hopefulness of her family and their plantation community when her brother escapes for freedom in this brilliantly conceived picture book by Coretta Scott King Award winner James E. Ransome. Every single morning, the overseer of the plantation rings the bell. Daddy gathers wood. Mama cooks. Ben and the other slaves go out to work. Each day is the same. Full of grueling work and sweltering heat. Every day, except one, when the bell rings and Ben is nowhere to be found. Because Ben ran. Yet, despite their fear and sadness, his family remains hopeful that maybe, just maybe, he made it North. That he is free. An ode to hope and a powerful tribute to the courage of those who ran for freedom, The Bell Rang is a stunning reminder that our past can never be forgotten.

What to do when you get a shiny new red bike? Go for a ride! Up and down! Round and round! Tom is having a blast zooming all over the neighborhood on his new red bike. But when Tom stops by Sam's house to show off his wheels, he's in for an unhappy surprise. The new bike is sudenly...gone. Could his best friend, Sam, be the culprit? This deceptivly simple-seeming picture book offers a clever take on sharing. The award-winning I Like to Read® series focuses on guided reading levels A through G, based upon Fountas and Pinnell standards. Acclaimed author-illustrators--including winners of the Caldecott, Theodor Seuss Geisel, and Coretta Scott King honors--create original, high quality illustrations that support comprehension of simple text and are fun for kids to read with parents, teachers, or on their own! Level F books, for early first graders, feature longer, more varied sentences than Level E. Level F books encourange kids to decode new multi-syllable words in addition to recognizing sight words. Stories are more complex, and illustrations provide support and additional detail. When Level F is mastered, follow up with Level G.