The Golden Gate: Children's Books about San Francisco

An annotated booklist compiled by the children's librarians at the San Francisco Public Library, May 2001. The books listed are a sampling of the titles available about San Francisco. Ask your Children’s Librarian for further suggestions, and tell us which are your favorites.

For Younger Readers

• ABCDrive! by Naomi Howland.
  Clarion, 1994. (jPS HowL)
  A car trip takes one boy and his mother past many familiar City sights.
• "Are There Any Questions?" by Denys Cazet.
  Orchard, 1992. (jPS Caze)
  Cartoon-style art shows what school visits to Steinhart Aquarium are really like.
• Barrio: José's Neighborhood by George Ancona.
  Harcourt, 1998. (j979.461 Anco)
  Eight-year-old José explores the cultural life of his Mission District neighborhood. (Also available in Spanish)
• The Cable Car and the Dragon by Herb Caen. Illus. by Barbara Ninde Byfield.
  Chronicle Books, 1986. (jPS Caen).
  The late, great San Francisco columnist's only book for children brings together San Francisco favorites--fog, a cable car, and the Chinese New Year parade.
• Celebrating Chinese New Year by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith. Photos. by Lawrence Migdale.
  Holiday House, 1998. (j394.261 Hoyt)
  Young Ryan Leong and his family eagerly prepare to celebrate an important traditional holiday.
• Celebrating Hanukkah by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith. Photos by Lawrence Migdale.
  Holiday House, 1996. (j296.435 Hoyt)
  The daughter of a local rabbi, 11-year-old Leora describes how and why her family celebrates one Jewish holiday.
• The City by the Bay: A Magical Journey Around San Francisco by Tricia Brown and the Junior League of San Francisco. Illus. by Elisa Kleven.
  Chronicle Books, 1993. (j917.9461 KLev)
  Tour San Francisco's varied neighborhoods and famous landmarks via colorfully whimsical collage art. (also available in Japanese)
• Dancers in the Garden by Joanne Ryder. Illus. by Judith Lopez.
  Sierra Club, 1992. (jPS Ryde)
  Imagine yourself as a hummingbird at the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park.
• Earthquake by Milly Lee. Illus. by Yangsook Choi.
  Farrar, 2001. (jPS Lee)
  The 1906 earthquake and fire force a Chinese American girl and her family to temporarily move from Chinatown to Golden Gate Park.
• Fine Lines by Ruth Heller. Photos. by Michael Emery.
  Richard C. Owen, 1996. (j741.642 HeLL)
  Read how this author/artist makes her way to San Francisco and watch her create exciting books for children once here.
• Francis, the Earthquake Dog by Judith Ross Enderle and Stephanie Gordon Tessler. Illus. by Brooke Scudder.
  Chronicle Books, 1996. (jPS Ende)
  The St. Francis Hotel, in rubble after the 1906 earthquake, harbors a missing dog in this tale, inspired by a true story.
• Humphrey, the Lost Whale: A True Story
  by Wendy Tokuda and Richard Hall. Illus. by Hanako Wakiyama.
  Heian, 1986. (j599.5 Toku)
  Citizens unite to attempt rescue of the humpback whale that swims into San Francisco Bay by mistake. (also available in Japanese)
• Konnichiwa!: I Am a Japanese-American Girl by Tricia Brown. Photos by Kazuyoshi Arai.
  Holt, 1995. (j973.0495 Brow)
  The colorful Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown concludes a visit with Lauren Kamiya and her family.
• Maybelle the Cable Car by Virginia Lee Burton.
  Houghton Mifflin, 1997. (jPS Burt)
  San Francisco successfully fights to save its beloved cable cars in this reissue of a classic picture story. (also available in Japanese)
• Meet My Grandmother: She's a United States Senator by Lisa Tucker McElroy. Photos. by Joel Benjamin.
  Millbrook, 2000. (jB Fein)
  Former mayor Dianne Feinstein lives a busy life according to her enthusiastic 6-year-old granddaughter.
• Nate the Great, San Francisco Detective by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Mitchell Sharmat. Illus. by Martha Weston.
  Delacorte, 2000. (jR Shar)
  The famed boy detective and his dog solve yet another case, the first away from home.
• Nim and the War Effort by Milly Lee. Illus. by Yangsook Choi.
  Farrar, 1997. (jF Lee)
  Nim works hard to win her school's newspaper drive and to show the class bully that she is an American too. Set in Chinatown during World War II.
• Stella & Roy by Ashley Wolff.
  Dutton, 1993. (jPS WoLf)
  Who will win the bike race around Golden Gate Park's Stow Lake, the speedy Stella or her slow-but-steady younger brother?

For Older Readers

• Angel Island by Larry Dane Brimner.
  Children's Press, 2001. (j979.462 Brim)
  Angel Island today is a magnificent state park. It's history as army base, detention center, and immigration station is chronicled in this book.
• At the Sound of the Beep by Marilyn Sachs.
  Dutton, 1990. (jF Sach)
  Runaway twins Mathew and Mathilda hide in Golden Gate Park among the homeless and become embroiled in a murder mystery.
• Batboy: An Inside Look at Spring Training by Joan Anderson. Photos by Matthew Cavanaugh.
  Lodestar, 1996. (j796.3576 Ande)
  The Giants are seen in spring training through the eyes of one batboy. Fans: Check out The San Francisco Giants Baseball Team by David Pietrusza. (Enslow, 2000 - j796.3576 Piet)
• Black and Blue Magic by Zilpha Keatley Snyder.
  Atheneum, 1966. (jF Snyd)
  Although magic allows him night flights over San Francisco, Harry is still accident-prone.
• By the Great Horn Spoon! By Sid Fleischman.
  Little, Brown, 1963. (jF FLei)
  A 12-year-old Boston stowaway and his butler strike San Francisco gold in 1849 in this great read-aloud. (also available in Spanish)
• Child of the Owl by Laurence Yep.
  HarperCollins, 1977. (jF Yep)
  When her father is mugged, Casey unwillingly goes to live with her grandmother in Chinatown. The prolific Yep is also author of the Chinatown Mystery series starring 12-year-old Lily and her great-aunt, Tiger Lil, a famous movie actress.
• Dragonwings by Laurence Yep.
  HarperCollins, 1975. (jF Yep)
  A Chinese boy shares his father's dream of flying in turn-of-the-century San Francisco. (also available in Chinese)
• Earthquake in the Early Morning by Mary Pope Osborne.
  Random, 2001. (jF Osbo)
  The magic tree house takes Jack and Annie back to the 1906 earthquake and fire.
• Everyone Wears His Name by Sondra Henry and Emily Taitz.
  Dillon, 1990. (jB Stra)
  Biography of Levi Strauss, prominent San Francisco businessman and creator of popular denim pants. For younger readers there is Mr. Blue Jeans by Maryann N. Weidt (Carolrhoda, 1990 - jB Stra)
• Fifth Chinese Daughter by Jade Snow Wong.
  HarperCollins, 1950. (jB Wong)
  A sensitive memoir recalling the author's traditional upbringing in Chinatown during the 1930s and 1940s.
• The Golden Gate Bridge by Craig A. Doherty and Katherine M. Doherty.
  Blackbirch, 1995. (j624.5097 Dohe)
  Photographs help chronicle an engineering feat, its visionary designer, and heroic workers.
• Hurry Freedom: African Americans in Gold Rush California by Jerry Stanley.
  Crown, 2000. (j979.4004 Stan)
  A civil rights history that recounts how unparalleled opportunity and familiar prejudice affected African Americans in San Francisco in its early years.
• I Have Something to Say About This Big Trouble. Collected by the Reverend Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani; foreword by Maya Angelou.
  Glide Word Press, 1989. (j808.8 I)
  Children living in San Francisco's Tenderloin express themselves in heartfelt poetry, prose, and pictures.
• Jack London by Tom Streissguth.
  Lerner, 2000. (jB Lond).
  A noted author's love for books, boats, and adventures is described in this action-packed biography which begins in San Francisco in 1876.
• Just Like Me. Edited by Harriet Rohmer.
  Children's Book Press, 1997. (j704.942 Just)
  Fourteen illustrators, published locally by Children's Book Press, describe their artistic development in lively mini memoirs and vibrant self-portraits. Half hail from San Francisco.
• Kidding Around San Francisco by Bobi Martin.
  John Muir , 1996. (j917.9461 Mart)
  A travel and activity guide filled with tips on neighborhoods, stores, restaurants, and special events in The City and beyond.
• The Lost Garden by Laurence Yep.
  Messner, 1991. (jB Yep)
  An acclaimed children's author describes his years growing up in the Western Addition.
• Mama's Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes.
  Harcourt, 1943. (jF Forb)
  A large Norwegian immigrant family in the early 20th-century counts on Mama's legendary savings.
• Mission San Francisco de Asis by Kathleen J. Edgar and Susan E. Edgar.
  PowerKids, 2000. (j979.461 Edga)
  Introduces the mission system and mission life, with information on the local Ohlone Indians.
• The Moon Bridge by Marcia Savin.
  Scholastic, 1992. (jF Savi)
  Two girls wonder if their friendship will survive when one is sent to an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II.
• Peppermints in the Parlor by Barbara Brooks Wallace.
  Atheneum, 1980. (jF WaLL)
  An orphan girl encounters evil when she returns to San Francisco to live with kindly relatives. Part mystery, part melodrama.
• Red Means Good Fortune: A Story of San Francisco Chinatown by Barbara Diamond Goldin. Illus. by Wenhai Ma.
  Viking, 1994. (jF GoLd)
  Jin Mun, a 12-year-old boy, vows to free Wai-Hing, a young slave girl, in this story set during the 1860s.
• San Francisco by Deborah Kent.
  Children's Press, 1997. (j979.461 Kent)
  Bright colored photos show off famous sights in this introduction to San Francisco, past and present.
• San Francisco: A Mini-History by Phyllis Zauner.
  Zanel Publications, 1994. (j979.461 Zaun)
  A potpourri of facts about San Francisco's famous and infamous past and its landmarks.
• San Francisco Earthquake, 1989 by Victoria Sherrow.
  Enslow, 1998 (j363.3495 Sher)
  The 7.1 Loma Prieta shaker and subsequent clean-up affected The City in many ways.
• The San Francisco 49ers Football Team by Arlene Bourgeois Molzahn.
  Enslow, 2000. (j796.3326 MoLz)
  An overview of the five-time Super Bowl winning NFL team from its founding in 1946 through the 1998-99 season.
• Shannon: Lost and Found by Kathleen V. Kudlinski. Illus. by Bill Farnsworth.
  Aladdin, 1997. (jF KudL)
  An Irish immigrant girl helps collect books for San Francisco's new free library in the 1880s and then solves the mystery of their disappearance.
• Someone Is Hiding on Alcatraz Island by Eve Bunting.
  Clarion, 1984. (jF Bunt)
  Escaping malicious classmates, Danny finds himself a prisoner on Alcatraz for one terrifying night.
• Taking Sides by Gary Soto.
  Harcourt, 1991. (jF Soto)
  After moving to the suburbs, Lincoln Mendoza misses the Mission, his basketball team, and his homeboys.
• West from Home by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Edited by Roger Lea MacBride.
  HarperCollins, 1974. (j979.461 WiLd)
  The author of the Little House series writes letters about her visit to San Francisco during the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition.