Tony Johnston

Twelve-year-old Manuel leaves his small town in Mexico to join his older brother in Los Angeles. To cross the US border, he must become a "beast rider"—someone who hops on a train. The first time he tries, he is stopped by the Mexican police, who arrest and beat him. When he tries again, he is attacked by a Mexican gang and left for dead. Just when Manuel is ready to turn back, he finds new hope. Villagers clothe and feed him, help him find

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Told in verse, a boy encounters first grade--with all its peaks and valleys, but most of all with new friends.

Illustrations and easy-to-read text reveal the secrets of letters, including their power to create words of all kinds.

In 1950s Tennessee, ten-year-old David's racist father refuses to let him associate with his best friend Malcolm, an African American boy.

Standing tall above the tree line, Sequoia stretches his ancient arms and gathers clouds to him. He watches as days, seasons, years pass by. His branches are home to owls and choirs of frogs. Beneath his broad canopy, a world grows. This is his story. Through controlled verse and luscious illustration, Tony Johnston and Wendell Minor do justice to the enormous figure of the sequoia tree. A Neal Porter Book

Separated from his parents in Poland during World War II, a young Jewish boy enslaved in a concentration camp, keeps hope alive while playing Schubert on his harmonica whenever the camp's commandant orders him to play.

The beauty and spirit of Christmas resounds in the melodic chimes of a church bell in this lyrical picture book by well-known author Tony Johnston with breathtaking illustrations by watercolor artist Cheng-Khee Chee. On Christmas Eve, people bundle up in the cold and follow the sounds of the bell to gather in celebration. Creatures great-children, dogs, cats, and birds-and small stop to listen as a brass band marches through town. The poetry and imagery...

The antics of ten fat turkeys on a fence illustrate counting from ten to one.

Describes a Mexican family preparing for and celebrating the Day of the Dead.