Best Selling Books by Uma Krishnaswami

A dusty path runs through a village where people and animals keep walking up and down, up and down. Others, on faster feet and wheels, shout ''Out of the way, out of the way''. In a simple lyrical way, the author subverts commonly held views on environment and development by showing simultaneously the growth of a wide-spreading tree and a busy winding road, with each making room for the other. Pictures looking almost like embroidery charmingly blend styles to give this allegorical tale a timeless feel.

A girl in India discovers an ancient step well in this companion book to the creators’ much-loved Out of the Way! Out of the Way! When a girl discovers a slab of stone on a weedy patch of land, she calls to her friends, “Look! Look!” The children clear away the weeds and garbage and find more stones. They call their families to come and see and begin to dig around the stones. Word travels to villages nearby, and more and more people join in, until the digging reveals steps that lead down to an ancient well. At the bottom, there’s even a little water! When the rains come, they cause an underground spring to flow once again, filling the ancient well with fresh, clean water and greening the surrounding fields. Lyrical writing and lively, richly colored art come together once again in this compelling story that embraces community, nature and the passage of time. Includes an author’s note about ancient step wells and their potential to help handle floods and provide water. Key Text Features illustrations author’s note Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.6 With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

A boy learns about his family history and the Partition of India from his great uncle, through stories told over a beloved old teacup.

Eleven-year-old Dini loves movies, and so when she learns that her family is moving to India for two years, her devastation over leaving her best friend in Maryland is tempered by the possibility of meeting her favorite actress, Dolly Singh.

A little girl and her father have an opportunity to appreciate the wonders of the night sky. Phoebe helps her dad set up telescopes on the sidewalk outside his store. It’s a special night — Saturn and Mars are going to appear together in the sky. But will Phoebe be able to see them with all the city lights? Raindrops begin to fall, followed by lightning and thunder. Phoebe is filled with disappointment as she and her father hurry inside to wait out the storm. But suddenly the power fails and then, amazingly, the rain and clouds disappear. Phoebe and her dad and all kinds of people spill into the street. And there, in the bright night sky, the splendor of the planets and a multitude of stars are revealed for all to see. An illustrated afterword includes information about the solar system, planetary conjunctions and rings, moons, telescopes and light pollution. A glossary and recommended further reading are also included. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7 Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary each tell their story, culminating in their thrilling ascent of Mount Everest. Tenzing Norgay grew up in Nepal, herding yaks in the shadow of Chomolungma, the mountain also known as Everest. He has always dreamed of climbing to the top. He becomes a guide, leading treks through the Himalayas, and finally attempts the highest mountain himself, but doesn’t make it. Across the ocean, in New Zealand, Edmund Hillary grew up tending his father’s bees. He climbed his first mountain at sixteen and has climbed all over the world ever since. He tries Everest, with no success. In 1953, the two men set out on the same expedition to climb Everest. Their party numbers four hundred, counting all the guides and porters. But the climb is grueling, and eventually Norgay and Hillary are the only two determined to continue. They tramp over windswept glaciers, crawl across rope bridges, hack footholds in the ice ... until finally they reach the top of the world! This remarkable true adventure story, told in a dual narrative, includes illustrated backmatter rich in geography, history and science. Key Text Features author’s note bibliography facts further reading historical context illustrations Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3 With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

"An expressive story about seasons, extremes, and waiting." - Kirkus Reviews Children play, birds call, and grownups go about their business during the hot days of summer in northern India. But in the bustle of street and marketplace, everyone is watching, waiting for those magical clouds to bring their gift of rain to the land. Through the observations of one young girl, the scents and sounds, the dazzling colors and the breathless anticipation of a parched cityscape are vividly evoked during the final days before the welcome arrival of the monsoon.

In this book, learn how to count by tens.

Complications ensue when Bollywood star Dolly Singh premieres her new movie at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., and super fan Dinni and her best friend Maddie present a dance at the grand opening.

Collects seventeen legends about the elephant-headed Hindu god of new beginnings.

When Maya accompanies her mother to India to sell her grandfather''s house, she uncovers family history relating to her parents divorce and learns more about herself and her relationship with her mother.

Winner of the International Literacy Association Social Justice Literature Award An award-winning middle-grade novel about the power of grassroots activism and how kids can make a difference. Every day, nine-year-old Yasmin borrows a book from Book Uncle, a retired teacher who has set up a free lending library on the street corner. But when the mayor tries to shut down the rickety bookstand, Yasmin has to take her nose out of her book and do something. What can she do? The local elections are coming up, but she’s just a kid. She can’t even vote! Still, Yasmin has friends — her best friend, Reeni, and Anil, who even has a blue belt in karate. And she has family and neighbors. What’s more, she has an idea that came right out of the last book she borrowed from Book Uncle. So Yasmin and her friends get to work. Ideas grow like cracks in the sidewalk, and soon the whole effort is breezing along nicely... Or is it spinning right out of control? An energetic, funny and quirky story about community activism, friendship, and the love of books. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.2 Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.6 Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.

Uma Krishnaswami effortlessly weaves motifs from Indian mythology into this bubbly story of ultimately finding comfort in a new place.

The popular Rookie Books expand their horizons - to all corners of the globe! With this series all about geography, emergent readers will take off on adventures to cities, nations, waterways, and habitats around the world...and right in their own backyards.

When Grandma comes down with a "bad case of sadness" one year after Grandpa''s death, Daysha collects objects that will remind her grandmother of Daysha''s grandfather.

“Inviting and original.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Mohandas Gandhi and Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. both shook and changed the world in their quest for peace among all people, but what threads connected these great activists together in their shared goal of social revolution? A lawyer and activist, tiny of stature with giant ideas, in British-ruled India at the beginning of the 20th century. A minister from Georgia with a thunderous voice and hopes for peace at the height of the civil rights movement in America. Born more than a half-century apart, with seemingly little in common except one shared wish, both would go on to be icons of peaceful resistance and human decency. Both preached love for all human beings, regardless of race or religion. Both believed that freedom and justice were won by not one, but many. Both met their ends in the most unpeaceful of ways—assassination. But what led them down the path of peace? How did their experiences parallel...and diverge? Threads of Peace keenly examines and celebrates these extraordinary activists’ lives, the threads that connect them, and the threads of peace they laid throughout the world, for us to pick up, and weave together.

In this book, 100 hungry ants discover a picnic and get into all of the food.

The sequel to the award-winning Book Uncle and Me features bird lover Reeni and her quest to save her city’s bird count event when the mayor tries to shut it down. Reeni is wild about birds! So when she and her best friend, Yasmin, have to pick a survey topic for a school project, asking their neighbors what they know about birds is an obvious choice. They are shocked to learn that no one — not one single person! — has heard about Bird Count India and the major event it is about to launch all over the country. Thousands of birdwatchers will be out counting birds as part of a global movement. Global means world, and isn’t this city part of the world? How come people don’t seem to care about the threats to city birds? And why is the mayor intentionally thwarting their city’s bird count event? Reeni and Yasmin enlist help from Book Uncle, Reeni’s family and even their school bus driver. They must get people interested in the bird count, get them to ask the city government to support the event. After all, what’s good for the birds is good for all of us ... right? A funny, triumphant story about learning to advocate for both the human and non-human inhabitants of your community. Key Text Features chapters dialogue illustrations Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6 Describe how a narrator''s or speaker''s point of view influences how events are described. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3 Describe how a particular story''s or drama''s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

"How many marbles are in the jar? You can make a good guess. You can estimate." -- Back cover.

Demonstrates six simple positions in yoga for children.

This is a book for teachers and others who want to move some learning out of the classroom and into authentic contexts. Krishnaswami is writer-in-residence at a national monument in Arizona. Here she covers all aspects of place-based teaching and learning, both pedagogical and physical, from teaching writing in special places; ways to understand the past; History Day; using special abilities of students and accommodating their special needs; promoting stewardship of the environment, both natural and manmade; taking outcomes back to the community; using state and local resources as well as national; and learning at a distance. Appendixes give resources, a sample teacher guide, and a sample poetry curriculum developed for on-site learning.

A retelling of Hans Christian Andersen''s classic fairy tale about a girl who is only one inch tall.

In this book, learn how to count by tens.

In this book, Mr. Huge''s housekeeper has to estimate the right amount of food to order for 200 guests.

Eight-year-old Arun waits impatiently while international adoption paperwork is completed so that he can meet his new baby sister from India.

In this book, learn about estimation and how it is used.

In this book, 100 hungry ants discover a picnic and get into all of the food.

In the final book in the Book Uncle trilogy, Anil faces a dilemma when the city decides to build a solar panel factory on the site of a mangrove forest. Anil loves karate, his friends and the solar power project he has been championing in his community. He doesn’t love having to speak up — as his karate sensei says, best fight, no fight. Still, Anil wishes his classmate Mohan would stop picking on him. Then Anil learns where the city is planning to build a new solar panel factory. More sustainable energy is good news — but this factory will threaten plant and animal species and force the village people who live on the land to move. Maybe staying quiet isn’t an option anymore ... A class assignment nudges Anil into action. Now he’s a Young Reporter, so why not ask questions about the factory? With help from his friends Yasmin and Reeni, support from his classmates and neighbors, and the right book picks from Book Uncle, can Anil help the city find a solution that works for everyone? And just how loudly will he have to speak up? A triumphant finale to the Book Uncle trilogy about the power of asking the right questions and listening when change comes to your community. Key Text Features chapters dialogue illustrations Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.9 Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series) CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character''s thoughts, words, or actions). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6 Describe how a narrator''s or speaker''s point of view influences how events are described. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3 Describe how a particular story''s or drama''s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

Embarrassed by her clumsiness, eight-year-old Meena, an Asian Indian American girl, is reluctant to appear in the school play until she gains self-confidence by practicing yoga.

Many Windows is a book about young people who are friends despite their religious differences. It''s a book about celebrations, that ultimately celebrates community, is a collection of seven stories about six children who are in the same class at school, two white boys, a black girl, a Chinese girl, an Indian girl and a Pakistani boy.

"Nine-year-old Maria Singh learns to play softball just like her heroes in the All-American Girls'' League, while her parents and neighbors are struggling through World War II, working for India''s independence, and trying to stay on their farmland"--

Explains the basics of how flowers grow and provides instructions for planting and caring for a flower garden.