Our bodies! Our amazing, astounding, and all-around awesome bodies! Bodies come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and can do extraordinary things. Our bodies are uniquely our own yet they connect us to the world around us in so many ways. Through playful rhymes and colorful engaging artwork, all the things that make our bodies special--from the texture of our hair to the color of our eyes--are celebrated. This sweet and inclusive book encourages young readers to acknowledge and accept differences, and offers the perfect opportunity to open up conversations about body acceptance. Every body is different and all bodies are good. Back matter includes tips and conversation starters for parents and educators to use with children.
From the boiler to the coupling, build a little train along with an engineer and her workers. This rhyming story will have readers chugging along with the team as the train takes shape. Just don't forget the caboose! Woot woot!
When it's time to write in class, one child feels like she has absolutely nothing to say. But suddenly--ker-plink--one drop, one tiny thought, hits her. And before long she's caught in a shower of funny phrases, a whirlwind of adjectives and verbs, a downpour of huge ideas. Boom, CRASH! A regular brainstorm of creativity for her to soak up and play in! With writing prompts and a glossary in the back matter, this is a story to inspire imagination and ingenuity in all readers.
From a mischief of mice and a shiver of sharks to a caravan of camels and a rhumba of rattlesnakes, animals from around the globe gather a group and sashay, swim, slither, or sail through this party of animal plurals. The only question is "What to call this animal arcade? This critter convention? This zigzag zoo? This purring and preening parade?"
Pug is snug on his rug. But what happens when along comes BUG?! With a claim to the rug?! The two engage in a hysterical, rhyming battle of wits and strength until Slug asks the necessary questions and helps them find common ground. Rhyming is an important developmental reading skill. It teaches phonics (decodable text) and helps young readers infer content. This is a fun story to build those skills--and is an epic read aloud!
Otis P. Oliver is taking a stand. He is NOT taking another bath--ever. But when your opinions matter to the rest of the family about as much as the opinions of the family dog (who, it's worth mentioning, only has to bathe once a month), you have to get serious. So Otis borrows a spiffy suit from his dad and rouses a rabble of neighbor kids to stand up for what the know is right: a bathtub ban. This hilarious story about standing up for what you believe in, compromise, and family will have readers of all ages ready to hit the pavement for their cause--whatever it may be.
A ghostly lady haunts her local library for years, roaming the halls and walking through walls. When the library is scheduled for demolition, the building is closed to the public, books are removed, and workmen begin dismantling all the fixtures. The ghost is dismayed. Are her days of haunting over? But then a young girl decides the library needs to be saved. Ghost and girl work together, coming up with creative, inventive ideas to rescue the library and bring patrons and booklovers back. A lovely celebration of public libraries and a timely reminder of the important role they play in their local communities.
The Color Collector is a poignant story about newness, friendship, and common ground. When a boy notices the new girl picking up all manner of debris and litter on their walks home from school he wants to know why. So she shows him the huge mural she's created in her room that reminds her of the home she left behind. He learns all about where she's come from and they both find how wonderful it is to make a new friend.
Bear is tired. The weather is getting cool and he's ready for a nice long nap--he's got earmuffs and a brand-new door to keep out the noise, plus a pair of fluffy slippers. Meanwhile, real estate mogul Woodpecker finds his recent homes…missing. And he follows the trail of debris right to Bear's new front door. When he "tap tap taps" to talk to Bear about it, the two engage in a feisty exchange of name-calling and gossip with the rest of their forest neighbors. Can they patch it up--literally--before Bear loses too much sleep?
Taking your monster on a road trip this summer? Or letting your favorite beast tag along on a family beach vacation? Wherever you and your monster are traveling, Travel Guide for Monsters is full of essential tips to help you both enjoy the sights from coast to coast--and avoid monster-related mishaps.
Experts know that sometimes the best way to teach a child what something is is to teach him what it isn't. Running through the alphabet, beginning readers are given a letter and then told what the letter topic isn't. A isn't for box; it isn't for fox. A is for ants that crawl over your socks.
In The Nutcracker's Night Before Christmas preparations for a doomed stage production of the classic ballet goes from terribly bad to ridiculously worse. Sick stagehands, renegade cats, and crashing Christmas trees have everyone sure that the show won't go on. But it's Christmas Eve and help is on the way! Told in verse with wonderful whimsical illustrations, this story hits all the right notes for holiday reading.
Tallulah doesn't look like the other young mermaids living in the ocean. Her tail is a dull gray. And when all the other mermaids go on a quest to find the special gemstones that make their tails sparkle with color, Tallulah doesn't find her gemstone at all. When Turtle suggests that Tallulah searches the Great Lakes she is eager to give it a try, even though the other sea creatures believe mermaids don't belong in lakes. Tallulah explores the Great Lakes from north to south and east to west, until she finds a beautiful Petoskey stone and she realizes that she is finally exactly where she belongs.
Bring the magic of poetry to life with R is for Rhyme: A Poetry Alphabet. From acrostics and ballads to meter and metaphor, author and poet Judy Young has written a delightful collection of poems to illustrate poetic tools, terms and techniques. Each term or technique is demonstrated in an accompanying poem so readers can see the method at work. Whether haiku or rap, sonnets or cinquain, budding writers of all ages will be inspired to put their imaginations to work crafting their own poems.
It started with a mother's love... Fleeing from a forest fire, a mother bear urges her two cubs into the watery shelter of a vast body of water. Though it will be difficult, she knows if they can swim across to the opposite shore, they will be safe. With calls of encouragement and steadfast love, Mother Bear guides her cubs across the great lake, Lake Michigan. And the story of what happens once Mother Bear reaches the far shore becomes the legend behind the natural wonder known as Sleeping Bear Dune.
Following in the footsteps of My Momma Likes to Say comes the charming My Grandma Likes to Say. Thousands of proverbs and idioms can be found in the English language. Derived from many different sources, these expressions are a wonderful link to history and culture, and can be an instructive tool in language education. "That's a horse of a different color My grandma likes to say. I'm not sure what she means But I like it anyway. Polka dots and stripes. Yellow, orange, and blue. What color would a horse be If it were up to YOU?" Original paintings conceived from a child's point of view provide a hilarious visual interpretation of those sayings oft-quoted by the 'senior' members of our families.
From the author of Buzzy the Bumblebee comes a child's hilarious visual interpretation of such parental idioms and witticisms as "Hold your horses;" "Money doesn't grow on trees;" and "I have eyes in the back of my head." "Cat got your toungue?" My momma likes to say. I'm not sure what she means but I like it anyway. My cat has never tried to take my tongue away. But if he did, he'd find that it can stretch a long, long way.
Its the first day of winter vacation and Stella Mae Culpepper is bored. As she looks out from the window of her second-floor apartment, she can see all of the usual happenings on Linden Square, her city neighborhood. There are her neighbors. She knows them all by nameor by the names shes given them, depending on their activities and what Stella Mae can see from her window. Stella Mae thinks she knows her neighbors but she doesnt really. Everyone in the neighborhood is too busy minding their own business to pay much attention to anyone else. But now its the first day of winter vacation and a storm is coming. Not just any storm but a big, wonderful winter storm. Its a blizzard! And when the snow finally stops and Stella Mae ventures outside to play, something quite marvelous happens on Linden Square.
This is the delightful fable of Fibblestax, and how he came to be the one who names everything. He has to battle the tricky, red-faced Carr, a man who "gives terrible names to wonderful things." The mayor of their town gives them five things to name, and the final one, "that very strange feeling, a dreamy kind of cheer/the feeling that makes you feel so good when a special friend is near" stumps Carr. But, Fibblestax knows that feeling... With soft, intricately detailed illustrations to accompany the musical text, this book will surely become a special favorite for children of all ages.
Five minutes after his birth, Johnny Kaw is over six feet tall and still growing. When he outgrows his crib and even their town, his parents decide to move west where "little" Johnny can have plenty of room to play. After the family crosses the wide Missouri River to Kansas, Johnny sits down to play with his dog. His bottom ends up making the valley where his family will settle. And when Johnny clears stones from a field so his father can plow, he ends up creating the Rocky Mountains in the process. The legendary folk hero shapes the state's landscape by carving out valleys and creating prairies with his bare hands. Why, he even takes on a tornado when it threatens the family farm.
What is a first draft? What is a narrative? In S is for Story: A Writer's Alphabet, author and writing coach Esther Hershenhorn uses the alphabet to help explain, explore, and examine the tools, techniques, and strategies for those hoping to live the literary life. Writing terms and topics are explained using a two-tier format. C is for the Character, every story's star, the one for whom we cheer, we care, with whom we travel far. Specific genres, story elements (setting and plot), and the mechanics of how to write (including editing and revision) are covered, while quotes from famous authors provide examples of the writer's thought process. Budding writers of all ages will be inspired to put pen to paper (or fingers on keyboards)!
For many years, Monday through Friday, Miss Anderson has walked to Parkland School, eager to begin her day's work in her classroom. She is a devoted teacher, beloved by the many children she has taught over the years. Theschool and her students mean everything to her. After one holiday weekend, Parkland School suffers a devastating flood. Burst pipes send water pouring into classrooms and the library. The school must close for repairs. But it's not just the building that has been damaged. New supplies and materials, especially books, are needed. But there isn't enough money to do it all. Miss Anderson cannot bear to think of her beloved school closed and her students left without materials. What can she do to help? And when the answer comes to her, Miss Anderson knows what to do and whom to ask for assistance.
It's midnight - a special time of night, when anything can happen. Wide awake long past his bedtime, a young boy slips outside his house to join some special friends in a nighttime jubilation. Complete with howls and whoops, they joyously celebrate the mystery and magic of the night, basking in the glow of the moonlight. They howled at the moon, they howled at life, and they howled with all things in the night. But their revelry comes to a halt when the moon is caught in the branches of a tree. Is anyone brave enough to climb the tree and save the moon? Gorgeous atmospheric paintings lure readers of all ages into believing that anything can happen - at midnight!
Cosmo loves the moon, and the moon loves Cosmo. They both come to realize though that lots of things depend on the moon - the ocean tides, morning glories, and the dogs, who can't stop howling. A magical book about the power of friendship and the nature of responsibility, Cosmo's moon will charm everyone who's ever been bewitched by the beauty of the moon.
Baby Bear shares special moments with all the important people in his life. With Momma, he gets to spend time in the garden, picnicking and planting butterfly bushes. With Daddy, he spends time on the farm, helping to fix the tractor and dig holes for planting. With Big Brother, he goes to the beach where they sail kites and chase each other on the sand. Aunt Grace takes him to the aquarium and answers all his questions, while Uncle Roy shows him how to be a clown. And it's always a special day when Nana comes to visit. But while each day's activity and companion may be different, the routine at the end is always the same. Baby Bear is tucked into bed with a reading from a special book and always with a honey oatmeal raisin cookie.
