self-confidence

Peep is afraid of jumping off the curb, but with a little encouragement from his mother and sisters, he finally gives it a try.

Harriet the hamster, fearing she will never be adopted, undergoes a glamorous makeover.

When supremely organized seventh-grader, Molly McGinty, loses the notebook she relies on to keep her life in order she spends the day in chaos.

Janie's parents move to the suburbs so she can go to a better school, but when she discovers that all the other students are richer than she is, she feels out of place--until she realizes that there are more important things than money.

When an orchestra conductor misplaces his baton and feels he can not work without it, he learns that it is his own talents, not a little stick, that make him famous.

Marty loses his lucky baseball bat, and his confidence along with it, and wonders if he will recover both in time to help the Tigers win the championship.

Afraid that his friends will tease him for wearing eyeglasses, fourth-grader Alex refuses to wear them anywhere except at home.

Explains what believing in yourself means, such as not caring if someone makes fun of your glasses or knowing it's okay to be the only boy in ballet class.

Ada stops playing her violin after some older children make fun of her but Mama helps her find a way to handle their teasing.

During a malaria epidemic in late eighteenth-century Cleveland, Ohio, ten-year-old Seth Doan surprises his family, his neighbors, and himself by having the strength to carry and grind enough corn to feed everyone.