Kathryn Lasky Books in Order

Tom has four different names for his grandfather, but each belongs to the same loving companion. Photographs follow the pair fishing, playing and sharing everyday activities, showing the affection that makes their time together special.

From his home above Boston Harbor, Jason watches tugboat lights and listens to their whistles. Visiting a working tug brings him closer to its crew, their stories and the busy life of boats that keep the harbor moving.

Inspired by the tall ships' return to Boston for the Bicentennial, this photographic history explores the great age of sail. Accounts of the vessels and the people aboard them introduce young readers to a nautical past.

Abbey spends summer on an island with her family and grandmother. Swimming, gathering blueberries and finding constellations fill their unhurried days, making this picture book a child's account of a place and a relationship she treasures.

On a Vermont farm, Carolyn Frye transforms her sheep's wool into a woven blanket. Text and photographs follow the work through shearing, carding, spinning and dyeing, revealing the seasonal labor and craftsmanship behind a familiar household object.

Carole Bowling creates lifelike dolls for collectors, carefully studying faces and expressions. This photographic account follows her work on a doll modeled after her son, exploring the observation and patient craft involved in giving a figure individuality.

Thirteen-year-old Rachel begins listening to her great-grandmother's memories of escaping persecution in Russia. As Nana Sashie's dangerous childhood journey unfolds, an initially reluctant visitor discovers a family history that connects their very different lives.

Jem joins his father for his first overnight kayaking trip off the Maine coast. Camping on an island, gathering food and watching seals and dolphins turn the outing into a chance to experience the sea for himself.

In 1849, fourteen-year-old Meribah leaves her Amish community in Pennsylvania to accompany her shunned father west. The wagon journey brings unfamiliar dangers and choices as she seeks freedom beyond the strict rules of the home she's left.

The Lacey family of Vermont gathers maple sap and turns it into syrup. Photographs and text follow the seasonal work from tapping trees to boiling, showing the patience, cooperation and changing weather behind this familiar food.

Five-year-old Max waits for the arrival of a baby sister, sharing his thoughts as his family prepares. His words and his father's photographs capture the impatience, worries and excitement that accompany becoming an older brother.

A honeymoon aboard a thirty-foot ketch becomes an Atlantic crossing and years of voyaging for Kathryn Lasky and Christopher Knight. Her memoir follows life afloat, exploring marriage and self-discovery through the experiences of two very different sailors.

When Birdie's brother is implicated in vandalizing a synagogue, the incident exposes tensions within her troubled family. The young aspiring writer confronts prejudice and learns about the Holocaust while trying to imagine a different future for herself.

After his father's death, fifteen-year-old Sam moves to New England and becomes involved in protecting bald eagles at the Quabbin Reservoir. His friendships and unusual experiences connect personal grief with the threatened landscape and its vanished past.

This photographic account follows puppeteer Paul Vincent Davis through the long process of creating and staging a show. Young readers see the preparation and craft behind a performance, discovering how figures become characters before an audience.

Jewish teenager Sarah Benjamin feels out of place at an exclusive Christian girls' school in 1960s Indianapolis. Being drawn into its Christmas pageant brings the contradictions of school, identity and growing up into particularly sharp focus.

Physicist Tom Jacobs dies from a rattlesnake bite in the Nevada desert, leaving Calista and their son Charley grieving in Cambridge. When they begin suspecting his death wasn't accidental, mother and son pursue the truth together.

After her grandchildren leave, seventy-five-year-old Elzibah Swan finds her orderly Boston life too quiet. She decides to learn to swim, trading familiar routines for a new experience that eventually draws her from a pool to the ocean.

In the 1870s, teenage scout Thad Longsworth becomes involved with rival teams hunting dinosaur fossils. Their scientific competition unfolds on the Great Plains, where impending conflict between Native peoples and settlers makes the expedition's world increasingly dangerous.

Suddenly widowed at fifty-two, Dorothy must find her way through a life no longer shaped by marriage. Long uncomfortable with comparisons to her Wizard of Oz namesake, she faces unfamiliar choices and the possibility of discovering herself.

Kathryn Lasky and her family join a dinosaur fossil expedition in the Montana Badlands. Text and photographs record the outdoor work and discoveries, introducing young readers to the practical challenges and excitement of searching for prehistoric remains.

Children's author Norman Petrakis is murdered, drawing Calista Jacobs and her son into another investigation. With help from Smithsonian archaeologist Archie Baldwin, they search for answers behind a death that puts a familiar literary world under suspicion.

A volcanic eruption off Iceland in 1963 creates a new island called Surtsey. This photographic account follows its emergence from the ocean, giving young readers a close view of geological forces forming a new piece of land.

This illustrated nonfiction book explores research into the earliest humans and the theories used to understand their origins. Kathryn Lasky and archaeological illustrator Whitney Powell introduce young readers to evidence and questions behind the study of humankind.

When their family moves to London, twins Liberty and July hear a mysterious voice asking for help. Their telepathic abilities and enthusiasm for Sherlock Holmes lead them through the city toward a puzzle connected to Conan Doyle.

Rebecca misses her city friend while spending summer on a Maine island. Meeting Amanda and joining the Fourth of July parade in bear costumes offer a chance to overcome her shyness and discover the pleasures of a new friendship.

In Arizona, Calista Jacobs encounters a New Age cult whose leader claims an ancient identity. Recognizing the woman as her former college roommate raises suspicions, and the danger deepens as Calista and her son become involved.

Phoebe visits her namesake aunt on Boston's Marlborough Street throughout the year. Their shared activities and the changing seasons reveal life among brick sidewalks and closely packed houses, celebrating the familiar pleasures of spending time with a beloved relative.

On a Florida Keys houseboat, Liberty and July discover they can communicate telepathically with dolphins. When toxic waste threatens the water and its creatures, the twins must use their unusual connection to find and stop the people responsible.

Wildlife photographer Jack Swedberg waits in blinds and studies animal behavior to capture images in the wild. This photographic account follows his work in several landscapes, explaining the patience and special techniques behind pictures of elusive creatures.

Before a family trip to New Mexico, Liberty hears a voice on the wind. In the Southwest, the telepathic Starbuck twins investigate an old mystery involving a Native American potter while contemporary threats complicate their search.

Kathryn Lasky and a group of children observe monarch butterflies, then visit their winter gathering places in Mexico and California. Photographs accompany an exploration of migration, the butterflies' life cycle and efforts to protect their habitats.

Young Meribah Knight travels with her parents to places described in Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books. Diary entries, photographs and her mother's account connect a modern child's reading with the landscapes and history behind beloved stories.

Grace is having a tantrum, and neither her parents' efforts nor her older brother's teasing can calm her. This picture book follows a child's overwhelming anger and the family's responses as a familiar household moment grows louder.

In Salem in 1692, Mary Chase watches accusations of witchcraft spread through her community. When her mother becomes a target, Mary and her brother must challenge the hysteria and find a way to protect their family.

When bears destroy the bees' trees and his people's honey supply vanishes, young dreamer Cloud Eyes receives a guiding vision. His ability to see stories in the clouds becomes central to a quest to restore harmony.

A rural Mexican family prepares for the Days of the Dead, honoring relatives who have died. Photographs and text follow their celebration, introducing young readers to customs that bring remembrance and everyday family life together.

Eleven-year-old Mary Stuart lives at the French court, far from Scotland and her mother. Told through a fictional diary, her story follows friendship, royal responsibilities and preparations for marriage while she longs for affection and her homeland.

Fourteen-year-old Harper loves reading, but her parents travel the country campaigning against books they consider unacceptable. Hiding the stories she treasures becomes harder as she questions their beliefs and searches for the freedom to choose her own life.

Eratosthenes becomes a scholar and librarian in ancient Alexandria, pursuing questions about the world around him. This picture-book biography explains how his curiosity and observations led to an estimate of Earth's circumference, joining history with accessible mathematics.

Grace is excluded from a group dance after being accused of bossiness. Determined to perform at the school concert anyway, she prepares a solo, facing the gap between her dreams of stardom and the challenges of dancing alone.

Two young friends explore a nearby pond through the changing seasons. Tadpoles, insects, flowers and winter ice turn an ordinary place into a year of discoveries, as their games and curiosity reveal the life surrounding them.

Harriet Hemenway and Minna Hall are horrified by fashionable hats decorated with dead birds. Their efforts to change women's buying habits grow into a conservation movement, showing how challenging a popular fashion can help protect threatened wildlife.

Gamma Lee leaves her comfortable village for a windswept mountain, despite her neighbors' doubts. Building a home in the unfamiliar landscape forces her to adapt to the wind and discover how an adventurous new life can take shape.

Remember Patience Whipple records her family's difficult voyage aboard the Mayflower and their first year in the New World. Through illness, harsh conditions and new friendships, her diary follows a young girl's attempts to build a home.

Artist Calista Jacobs finds a Boston matriarch murdered with her own pruning scissors. Becoming involved with the woman's troubled family draws her into generations of secrets, where social standing conceals tensions that may explain another suspicious death.

First-grader Clyde dreads the school cafeteria, especially after his older brother's frightening stories about lunch. Facing unfamiliar food and the question of where to sit, he discovers how helping another nervous bunny can open the way to friendship.

In 1858, Afrika escapes slavery through the Underground Railroad while Boston girl Lucy chafes against expectations for her life. Their paths meet, and a dangerous journey toward Canada tests their courage and their commitment to freedom.

Grace O'Malley longs to sail with her pirate father instead of remaining home to spin and churn. Once aboard his ship, she must show skeptical sailors that she can navigate, climb rigging and defend the vessel.

Hercules recounts his extraordinary life, from the dangers of infancy to the twelve labors demanded of him. This retelling of the Greek myth follows a hero whose immense strength brings difficult challenges as well as remarkable adventures.

When influenza strikes Duluth in 1918, ten-year-old Marven is sent to a remote logging camp. Surrounded by unfamiliar woodsmen and snowy wilderness, the Jewish boy must adjust to work far from home and finds an unlikely friend.

Scientist Meg Lowman studies the living world high in rainforest treetops, taking her children into the canopy with her. Photographs and explanations follow their climb, revealing the plants, animals and research that fill this difficult-to-reach habitat.

Samuel Clemens's childhood adventures, mischief and changing jobs shape the writer who becomes Mark Twain. This illustrated biography follows his early years, showing how curiosity and a gift for storytelling develop before he adopts his famous pen name.

Newspaperman's daughter Alice Rose befriends young reporter Sam Clemens in Virginia City. Witnessing a murder draws her into a conspiracy involving silver mines and Confederate interests, turning their shared storytelling into an investigation that threatens her safety.

Young Russian Jewish immigrant Zippy Feldman records her family's adjustment to New York's Lower East Side. Her hopes for the theater and enthusiasm for American freedoms create tension with family traditions as she searches for a future.

Photographs and observations follow primatologist Alison Jolly's work with lemurs in Madagascar. Exploring their social lives and behavior brings readers into an unfamiliar habitat, where studying these animals reveals the relationships that shape their daily survival.

Clyde worries that nothing he owns is interesting enough for show-and-tell, especially after his brother criticizes his ideas. A mysterious discovery in the basement offers a possibility, but he must find the confidence to share it with his class.

Sophie discovers Rose, an old doll once loved by her mother and grandmother. As everyday play reveals the doll's fragility, Sophie must learn how to care for a treasured companion whose imperfections make their attachment stronger.

Recovering from a stroke, widow Maggie Welles meets landscape architect Tristan Mallory through their neighboring gardens. Working together at night awakens an unexpected romance, but her demanding family and the difficulties of recovery complicate their growing connection.

While King Richard fights abroad and Prince John consumes England's wealth, young falconer Matty seeks adventure with her friends. Among them is the future Robin Hood, whose beginnings place their youthful experiences against a country troubled by unjust power.

Thirteen-year-old Darci Murlowe questions a society that designs children through genetic engineering. A discovery about her own origins places her life in danger, forcing her to confront whether identity is determined by DNA or something beyond it.

Farmer Henry finds discarded royal clothes and begins to feel more important when he wears them. Bringing his new finery home creates trouble with everyday chores, while his animals offer a different opinion of his transformed appearance.

During a drought that threatens her prehistoric clan, Mishoo follows a dream into a cave. Creating animal images on its walls becomes a way to seek help from the spirits and explore a power she has never known.

After violence destroys her family's security, Matty finds purpose in her father's hawks and an unusual ability to understand them. Joining her friend Fynn's resistance to Nottingham's sheriff brings her into the legend as Maid Marian.

Piglet Lucille wants to join her older siblings in the snow, but getting into her snowsuit becomes an ordeal. Stuck zippers, awkward boots and waiting for help test her patience before she can enjoy the winter games.

Thirteen-year-old Marie Antoinette prepares to marry France's heir and leaves Austria for Versailles. Her fictional diary follows lessons, court expectations and loneliness as a political alliance turns a young girl's daily life into a royal responsibility.

These two historical stories follow an orphan who seeks answers while sitting for Winslow Homer's portrait and a young Paris ballet student facing wartime hardship. Art and ambition shape each girl's struggle to find her place.

Clyde and Rosemary's science fair plants die just before their project is due. A loose tooth suggests a replacement experiment, but using their own teeth means deciding whether discovery is worth giving up a visit from the Tooth Fairy.

Sarah Breedlove Walker grows from a childhood marked by poverty into a businesswoman developing hair products for Black women. This illustrated biography follows her determination to build a company and use her success to help others.

Joshua Slocum spends his life at sea, then finds his sailing skills challenged by changing technology. Rebuilding an old sloop, he sets out alone around the world, attempting a voyage no sailor has completed before.

Minnie Swift records her family's struggles in Indianapolis during the Great Depression. With Christmas approaching and money dwindling, an orphan's arrival from Texas brings new responsibilities and changes the way they understand family and the holiday.

A boy finds a nearly frozen sea turtle on a Cape Cod beach, beginning a rescue involving volunteers and scientists. Photographs follow efforts to revive the endangered animal and explain the dangers facing its remarkable journey.

When Clyde and Rosemary's bean plants die, their science project needs a new idea quickly. Clyde's loose tooth offers an experiment, but persuading his partner to contribute hers means putting scientific curiosity ahead of the Tooth Fairy.

Lucille plans a birthday ballet performance in her new tutu, hoping for a moment in the spotlight. Her older siblings keep drawing attention away, making the young piglet's celebration a test of patience and family understanding.

Kathleen Bowen records life in Washington, D.C., in 1917 as the struggle for women's voting rights intensifies. School, family concerns and war news share space in her diary with a movement demanding courage from the women around her.

Jahanara, daughter of Emperor Shah Jahan, describes royal life in seventeenth-century India through a fictional diary. Palace luxury surrounds family rivalries, political intrigue and military concerns, revealing the uncertainty beneath her privileged position at the Mughal court.

Three young children notice the many things their mothers' hands can do, from baking and drawing to comforting and planting. Their everyday observations connect practical tasks with affection, showing how care becomes visible in familiar gestures.

Lonely Dr. Smart Pig invents a companion to keep him company at Halloween and withstand the Big Bad Wolf. His creation turns out enormous and ravenous, making friendship with this unexpected monster more complicated than he planned.

Kidnapped from Africa and enslaved in Boston, Phillis Wheatley develops a passion for learning and poetry. This illustrated biography follows her struggle to make her voice heard in a society that denies her freedom and questions her abilities.

A mother tells her daughter about the girl she was before parenthood, recalling friends, pets, games and treasured possessions. Moving between past and present, their conversation helps the child discover a familiar person behind the everyday role of Mom.

After quarantine separates Sofia Monari from her family, their reunion brings a new beginning in Boston’s North End. While her parents struggle to earn a living, Sofia navigates an unfamiliar school, new friendships, and the demands of work.

Sofia Monari arrives at Ellis Island after a difficult journey from Italy, only to be separated from her parents and quarantined. Friendship with Maureen helps her endure frightening conditions and keep alive the hope of reunion with her family.

This illustrated guide helps children understand a new baby in the family. Questions about crying, eating, babbling and games turn everyday mysteries into opportunities for older siblings, cousins and friends to learn how babies communicate and grow.

Lucille feels left out when her father and older siblings leave for a camping trip. Staying home with her mother, the little pig discovers that tents, picnics and adventures can happen indoors, even without joining the others.

Pushed from his nest, young barn owl Soren is taken to St. Aggie's, a supposed refuge for orphaned owls. Its sinister routines make him suspicious, and he joins clever Gylfie in planning an escape to warn other owls.

Soren, Gylfie, Twilight and Digger search for the legendary Great Ga'Hoole Tree, hoping its owl guardians can help confront St. Aggie's. Their dangerous journey brings new responsibilities, unfamiliar allies and questions about Soren's missing little sister.

This illustrated biography follows clockmaker John Harrison's effort to solve the problem of measuring longitude at sea. Building a timepiece that could withstand ocean travel meant challenging an obstacle that had long endangered sailors and their ships.

Soren's sister Eglantine has returned after a terrible ordeal, but his mentor Ezylryb is missing. With his friends, Soren undertakes a dangerous search, facing enemies whose plans threaten more than the life of one beloved teacher.

Sofia records the challenges and pleasures of immigrant life in Boston’s North End as her family opens a store. When her friend Maureen comes to live with them, their shared adventures help Sofia find her place in a new country.

After her mother's disappearance, fourteen-year-old Jerry Luna stops speaking. A trunk in her great-great-aunt's home draws her into the lives of Jewish ancestors in Spain and Spanish America, connecting family persecution with her own silence and grief.

Brothers Humphrey and Albert awaken in an enchanted royal court and set out to find a prince who can rescue Briar Rose. Instead, they meet Daniel Bernoulli, whose flying machine offers an unexpected scientific approach to their problem.

In Japan in 1858, Princess Kazunomiya grows up within the sheltered imperial court. A treaty with American visitors brings political uncertainty into her world, and her imagined diary explores the pressures surrounding a young royal's increasingly complicated future.

Eglantine's strange behavior worries Soren and his friends as war continues around the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. An infiltrator has made her an unwitting spy for the Pure Ones, leaving the guardians fighting a threat within their own home.

Soren and the guardians prepare to defend the Great Ga'Hoole Tree against his brother Kludd's forces. As war spreads through the owl kingdoms, friendships and training face a hard test in the struggle to protect their refuge.

In Russia in 1897, fifteen-year-old violinist Reuven Bloom loses his parents and older sister to anti-Jewish violence. Carrying his baby sister, he sets aside his musical dreams and begins a dangerous journey toward safety and freedom.

Thirteen-year-old Sylvie trains at the Paris Opera Ballet, determined to grow tall enough to join its dancers. War brings hunger and uncertainty to her city, testing the ambitions that sustain her and her struggling widowed mother.

Inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe's letters, this picture book imagines a day at her New Mexico home. Early walks through the hills reveal shapes and colors that become paintings, giving young readers a glimpse of how an artist sees.

Soren and Coryn read an ancient legend about Grank, an owl studying fire and embers far from home. A desperate summons draws him into a king and queen's struggle against treachery, with lessons for the present-day guardians.

Nyroc, the young son of Kludd and Nyra, is being raised to continue the Pure Ones' cruel plans. Drawn toward forbidden stories of goodness, he must question his upbringing and find courage to challenge his mother's expectations.

Clyde dreads his school's Sports Spectacular, fearing he won't be chosen for a team. When his friend Rosemary suggests an individual tumbling event, the little rabbit considers whether his love of bouncing might give him a chance.