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Tilbury House publishes award-winning children's books that help young people build character, appreciate cultural diversity, and explore the natural world. For parents and educators seeking to share and discuss the complexities of the world, our books offer opportunities through the stories of real-to-life children in contemporary settings. For instance, books such as Our Friendship Rules and Say Something invite conversation about bullying and teasing; Playing War offers a gentle, but realistic, way to discuss the impact of war; Sheila Says We're Weird offers some fun takes on "green" living.
Our first new book for 2013 will be The Eye of the Whale by Jennifer O'Connell. Jennifer's beautiful paintings will take you along as divers risk their lives to rescue a huge humpback whale tangled in scores of crab-pot lines. Their interaction with the whale was an experience that amazed them all.
In the fall, our wonderful illustrator Rebekah Raye will be back with paintings for The Secret Pool, the fascinating story of vernal pools and the life they sustain. Science writer Kimberly Ridley tells us just what you'll see, if you look at that puddle in the woods closely enough.
This past fall we published Laura Pedersen's Unplugged: Ella Gets Her Family Back. It's a lively story about finding a balance between all those gadgets we love and family time.
Also new last year was Mary Cerullo's new book about ocean life: City Fish, Country Fish, with some very amazing images by photographer Jeff Rotman. Why are some fish so bright and colorful, while others look like mud? You'll learn about the reef-dwellers in tropical oceans (the city fish) and the fish that swim through colder waters (country fish). You'll even meet the red-lipped batfish, see a giant lobster, and learn about small cleaner fish that specialize in dental hygiene!
Kunu's Basket is a very special story from Lee DeCora Francis, who teaches at the elementary school on Indian Island in Maine, home of the Penobscot Indian Nation. Kunu's first tries at making a basket are frustrating, but he's not a quitter and his grandfather helps him realize that it's going to take quite a few tries to get it right. This is a contemporary Native American story that explores themes common to all children: difficulty attempting a new task; wanting to do something "by myself"; and learning to be patient enough to try again and again before getting it right.
We also offer "Teachers Take Note" activity and discussion guides on almost all of our children's book pages on our website. Just scroll down to the bottom of each book page for the link. These cyber guides include literature links and further resources for using our books in classrooms and homeschool settings. We also have suggestions for using our books for themed teaching or for service-learning projects.
Teachers will also find that many of our books can work together for teaching a unit or covering a theme. For suggestions for FOCUSED READING for Positive Choices, please click click here to learn more.
One of our goals at Tilbury House is to help children become involved community members, willing to speak up and make decisions in ways that promote harmony and move us all forward with positive change. We work toward that goal by selecting manuscripts that exemplify children as positive problem-solvers and empathetic friends. In simplest terms, our kids care. The SERVICE LEARNING movement is all about focusing the energy of kids who care. At Tilbury House we not only want to affirm the goals of Service Learning—to engage students and teachers in meaningful applications of their studies as service for the common good—we want to become a part of the movement. Please click click here to learn more.
—Jennifer Bunting, Publisher
—Audrey Maynard, Children's Books Editor
How can young people learn to respond with integrity to the cliquish and bullying behaviors of others? Tilbury House has published a number of anti-bullying books that imaginatively address this question. The award-winning books in this group feature boys and girls acting with admirable depth and decency.
Making and keeping friends is an art. Young readers of our books will enjoy exploring the variations on this theme woven through these engaging stories. Tilbury House is proud of these books that realistically depict children navigating their differences and developing new ideas about what true friendship means.
Tilbury House seeks out unusual books that show how boys can rely on their own emotional intelligence to solve problems, including some that relate to poverty and injustice. The boys in the stories behave in ways that often are ingenious, brave, mischievous, and empathetic. All of these books invite re-reading.
Inner strength and the bonds of friendship put this group of Tilbury House titles in a league of their own! Young people will love reading these stories about girls who discover new ways to show their mettle.
True or not? Can just one person create positive change? This collection of realistic stories will provide young readers with examples that show how real people have made a big difference in the lives of others. These books are particularly inspiring for service-learning projects. Please see the From Picture Books to Projects worksheet (PDF file).
It is good to be green, but how do we pass that lesson on to our children? This collection of award-winning and time-tested Tilbury House stories will serve as a marvelous introduction for children to the idea of stewardship of the natural world. From stones to trees, from the tiniest organism to the largest, these books will help young readers explore science through story.
What is our ethical responsibility to the animals around us? From puffins to elephants our animal stewardship collection explores these questions without shaming or shaking fingers, but instead modeling sympathetic and successful intervention.
Our Native American books are contemporary stories with messages for a contemporary audience. Tilbury House is especially proud of the fact that our books have given voice to authors who come from tribes in New England.
Tilbury House has been publishing award-winning multicultural children's literature since 1992, when Talking Walls was published. We've continued with books about immigration, diversity, and other cultures. (And we try to show diversity in all of our books.) Our hope remains that through our books children will learn that each of us has a story to tell and a heritage worth preserving
We offer Teachers Take Note pages here on our website for almost all of our children's books. Say Something has classroom suggestions on it's last pages. Our separate teacher's guides are listed below:
Tilbury House, Publishers
103 Brunswick Avenue
Gardiner, Maine 04345
telephone
800-582-1899
email
tilbury@tilburyhouse.com
web site
http://www.tilburyhouse.com
(Our books are listed by category in the center section. Scroll down to see them.)
