Re-illustrated and re-designed, Our California is a lively tour of award-winning author Pam Muñoz Ryan's home state. Spirited poems celebrate California's major cities and regions. Backmatter includes state symbols and additional information about each place. Bold paintings by illustrator Rafael López capture the spirit of the land.
Mrs. Hartwell is preparing her class to take the Big Test. Knowing they have studied and are well-prepared, she helps the students practice how to sit quietly, fill in the bubbles, and follow the directions. She even instructs them on proper morning-of-the-test nutrition. As her students grow increasingly anxious about the Big Test, Mrs. Hartwell realizes she has to teach the most valuable test-taking skill of all: learning to relax!
Rumpelstiltskin is back! This time he's making mischief with his multiplying stick. Can Peter unlock the secret of the stick in time to save the kingdom? Whimsical illustrations bring fun to multiplying whole numbers and fractions.
Priscilla is only four years old when her mother is sold to another master. All Priscilla has to remember her mother by are the hollyhocks she planted by the cow pond. At age ten, Priscilla is sold to a Cherokee famiily and continues her life as a slave. She keeps hope for a better life alive by planting hollyhocks wherever she goes. At last, her forced march along the Trail of Tears brings a chance encounter that leads to her freedom. Includes an author's note with more details about this fascinating true story as well as instructions for making hollyhock dolls.
Zero is lonely in Digitaria. He can't play Addemup with the other numbers, because he has nothing to add. Join Zero as he goes on a journey to discover his place.
Get ready for an alphabet revolution! X is exasperated. Every other letter in the alphabet has so much to do and plays such important roles in making words. X expects more. He calls for a vote on a new alphabet (gasp!). According to the Alphabet Constitution, X has every right to question the status quo. But the night before the vote, X is plagued by dreams of what could happen if he were to take on another letter's job. S has to run around a lot making singular words plural, except sometimes he isn't needed at all, and sometimes he needs to bring along another letter... it was all very confusing. Then X thought he'd like to be E. E was very important and very useful. E agreed. But E was exhausted. He was in thousands of words and constantly busy. X didn't think E's job was a good idea after all. Jef Czekaj explores the order of the alphabet and the rules of spelling and grammar with hilarious consequences. His graphic-novel-style illustrations make these concepts and the story of X exciting, exhilarating, and extraordinary.
Dinner is served. What in nature could be more poetic than the hunt for food and the struggle for survival? In twenty-nine poems readers will squirm at the realities of how the animal world catches food, eats it, and becomes dinner in turn. In these quirky poems readers are introduced to many animals with disgusting eating habits, such as the marabou stork that lurks on the periphery, like a vampire in the shadows, waiting for a chance to pick at a rotting carcass. The dermestid beetle does not mind doing the dirty work, cleaning up animals on the road side and often made busy at museums cleaning up bones for exhibits. And, baby wasps hatch inside an unsuspecting caterpillar and eat their way out. Gross, cool, and extremely funny, David Clark's illustrations get to the heart (and skin and guts) of the food chain and the web of life, depicting the animal world at dinner time in all its gory glory. Back matter includes further information about the animals in the poems and the scientific terms used.
A ribbiting math adventure! After being banished to the Abyss of Zero in Multiplying Menace: The Revenge of Rumpelstiltskin, Rumpelstiltskin is back, and he's stirring up more trouble than ever. Together with his sidekick, a witch named Matilda, Rumpelstiltskin plots his revenge on Peter and uses his magical powers to divide the kingdom into frogs. Peter and his dog, Zero, must locate the Great Multiplier and find a solution that will break the Great Divide before Rumpelstiltskin has a chance to combine the two mighty math sticks. Can Peter once again save the kingdom in time, or will it meet a green and warty fate? Young readers will fall in love with this math adventure and learn all about dividing by whole numbers and fractions, as well as division rules for equations involving zero. Beautifully rendered illustrations will grab readers' attention as they learn basic math skills in a fun and inventive way. Back matter includes a summary of the basics of division.
