Slam-Dunk Picks

February calls for warm coats and wooly hats. Outside icicles hang in stately rows and fields glow silver in landscapes lit by the sun. Inside it’s toasty warm, perfect for a pastime that pleases, finding solace in story, in meeting engaging characters who come to life on pages we turn to our heart’s content.

Clover’s “Slam Dunk Picks” are books diverse in subject matter. Page on with a charmer that features fun in the snow, a Brothers Grimm fairytale reimagined and a dynamite read about a round ball certain to rack up points with all ages.

Page On! Enjoy!

The Community Literacy Foundation, in partnership with Neighborhood Reads, and with support from its sponsors, provides these books at no cost to 34 schools in Washington, Union, Pacific, St. Clair and surrounding communities and to the Washington Public Library. Learn more at CommunityLiteracyFoundation.org.

Youngest Read

Nothing generates more excitement than a snow day. In “Snowball Fight,” a couple of kids capitalize on the white stuff in a jim-dandy by Beth Ferry and Tom Lichtenheld, a talented duo who shine with catchy text and simple, expressive illustrations.

“Drifting flakes fall faster, faster, turning things to alabaster,” piling up on the roofs of two houses facing each other, shown only in bold lines against the white. The scene is serene until suddenly the doors open, expelling a kid from each house dressed and ready for snow play.

Working individually, the kids build two forts to fire snowballs, the volley beginning slowly but morphing into a flurry of chaos, snowballs flying, an energetic bevy of blasts. Alas, the friendly fight ends abruptly when an avalanche from the roofs buries the forts in huge piles.

Leave it to these creative kids to find yet another way to enjoy their snow day in a book as inviting as a cup of hot cocoa on a wintry day, enjoyed with cheeks still pink from outdoor larks.

Buy the book at Neighborhood Reads

Middle Read

Fairytales continue to provide pleasure. Though “Rumpelstiltskin,” a Brothers Grimm creation was written more than 200 years ago, the namedropper still has appeal, especially in a retelling by the marvelous Mac Barnett.

Readers are introduced to a poor miller with a gift of gab whose wagging tongue lands his daughter in a big pickle when he makes an outlandish claim to the king. After bragging his daughter “is pretty,” and has “a great sense of humor,” he gloats: “And she can spin straw into gold.” Did you ever hear the like?

The king hadn’t, and so begins a series of challenges, the piles of straw the girl is presented with getting bigger. Each room with straw gets a visit from a crazy little man who offers his help, but only if the distraught girl will gift the guy with some personal item—until she has nothing left to give. Except something that proves to be nearest and dearest to her heart.

Return to days of old and revisit a story about a cruel character who gets his just desserts in a clever read that comes to life in illustrations by award-winning artist Carson Ellis, whose depiction of Rumpelstiltskin blowing his stack is one for the books.

Buy the book at Neighborhood Reads

Oldest Read

The amazing Kadar Nelson will draw cheers, like crowds applauding 3-pointers, with his new release, “Basket Ball: the Story of the All-American Game.”

Addressing readers in a conversational manner, Nelson presents a comprehensive volume on everything basketball, from its founder and early days, to its star players over the years, greats from the past and from today’s games, both male and female.

Nelson does the sport justice in a book that includes fascinating facts about basketball’s history, like details about early baskets, which weren’t like modern ones with a rim and netting but actual baskets. Balls had to be retrieved from the baskets using a stepladder.

Kids will be captivated by chapters that cover “The Birth of the NBA,” featuring famous players, and “The Revolutionaries,” focusing on feats of stars like Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. Artwork throughout is museum quality, richly rendered identifiable portraits and gritty action shots that will make readers feel like they’re “in the game.”

Buy the book at Neighborhood Reads

Written by Chris Stuckenschneider.

Copyright 2026, Community Literacy Foundation.