Jacobs Little Giant — Barbara Claasen Smucker

Things never seem to go right for Jacob. He's the youngest in his family, so everyone treats him like a baby. And at school, he's the smallest kid in his class, the one who never gets picked for the baseball team. Sometimes he wonders if he'll ever be able to hit a home run or help with the grown-up chores around the farm.

But then Jacob's father gets involved in an exciting experiment: raising giant Canada geese to help save them from extinction. And it's Jacob's job to take care of them, feeding them and protecting them from predators, even chasing away hunters.

Most of all, Jacob worries about the smallest, frailest gosling. Will it grow like the others? Will it have the strength to fly south when the other birds migrate in fall? Only time -- and Jacob's watchful care -- will tell.