Get ready to bundle up for Recess at 20 Below!

Ask any group of kids, ‘What do you like most about school?’ and a majority will answer, ‘Recess!’ Whether kids live in hot or cold weather, they all enjoy going outside to explore their environment with friends. But what happens when the temperature drops below zero? Or even way below zero?

Curious questions about living and playing in Alaska such as When does winter start? How do you get dressed to go outside? What does that cold feel like at 20 below? Will your tongue really freeze to metal? are answered in the children’s book RECESS AT 20 BELOW (September 2005, Alaska Northwest Books®) by author and photographer Cindy Lou Aillaud.

Book Awards

  • Selector’s Choice for the Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People by the National Council of Social Studies and the Children’s Book Council
  • “Notable” status from the International Reading Association Children’s Book Awards in the Primary/Non-Fiction Category
  • Monarch Award nominee: Illinois’ K-3 Children’s Choice Award
  • 2006-2007 Alaska Battle of the Books
  • 2005-2006 Notable Book for Children by the Tree House Breakfast Selections
  • 2015-2016 Alaska Battle of the Books
  • 2022 Represented Alaska at the Library of Congress’ National Book Festival in Washington D.C.
  • 2023 Read Around the States Project, reading by US Senator Lisa Murkowski and interview with Cindy Lou Aillaud
Available on Amazon.comSee Sen. Murkowski Read Recess at 20 Below!

Everybody Plays! is a fun storybook written by Cindy Lou Aillaud and Lauren Lieberman that follows an elementary school-age child to a sports camp for children who have visual impairment, blindness, or deafblindness. Written at a 4th grade reading level, readers learn about sports and recreational physical activities that are enjoyed universally and about specific sports designed for persons with visual impairment and blindness.

The young storyteller describes how sport modifications and equipment adaptations help the campers have a blast when they learn about sports and play with new friends and coaches. Young readers learn about Paralympic sports and are encouraged to identify the Paralympic sports that the storyteller experiences while at camp.

Each sport and recreational activity has a Listen Up! page that introduces the sports novice to each sport or activity. If a reader does not need the detailed explanation of a particular activity, the print, braille, and electronic books are designed so the Listen Up! pages can be skipped.

Both the braille and large print items come with a CD.

Out of print.

Everyone remembers that teacher who made a difference. The one who went the extra mile to truly affect lives, whose lessons carried as much importance outside the classroom as inside. This book is a celebration of those teachers who continue to make an impact. A collection of stories from some of the country’s top educators, this book is a celebration of teachers’ work, and motivation for them to continue. Joseph Underwood has collected stories from each of the twenty-eight 2004 Disney Teacher of the Year™ honorees. And every story celebrates a different obstacle they overcame, the power and know-how needed to triumph, and the reward granted upon beating the odds. It’s the perfect gift for anyone in or considering the profession. This collection is sure to inspire, celebrate, and motivate those people who make the biggest difference in everyone’s life.

Cindy Lou is honored to have been a Disney Teacher of the Year™, and even further honored to be featured in this collection.

Available on Amazon.com