Melissa’s Octopus And Other Unsuitable Pets

There are certain animals that make suitable pets, like a cat, a dog, or a guinea pig. Then there are others that make, well, unusual pets, like an octopus, a warthog, or an elephant. They’re too large, too messy, and maybe a tad too free-spirited with a tendency to break things like tables, floors, and even ceilings.

The Cow Tripped Over The Moon

Jumping over the moon is fine as long as you don’t trip and end up needing cow-size bandages. And having a blackbird peck off your nose can leave a person very sore indeed. Led along by bright, humorous illustrations and an energetic rhyming text, little readers will have fun guessing who the next Storyland victim might be, following hints like, “Who could be covered in egg?” and “Who went up and tumbled down?”

P. Zonka Lays An Egg

Extraordinary hen P. Zonka spends her time taking in the beauty around her: the shiny green of the grass, the buttery yellows of the dandelions, the deep blue of the sky. The other hens can’t understand why she never lays eggs like they do. Finally, P. Zonka gives in and lays an egg. To everyone’s delight, she produces a wondrous egg that contains all the colors and designs that she has stored in her creative imagination.

Andreo’s Race

Just as sixteen-year-old Andreo, skilled in death-defying ironman events in wilderness regions, is about to compete in rugged Bolivia, he and his friend Raul (another Bolivian adoptee) begin to suspect that their adoptive parents have unwittingly acquired them illegally. Plotting to use the upcoming race to pursue the truth, they veer on an epic journey to locate Andreo’s birth parents, only to find themselves hazardously entangled with a gang of baby traffickers. Never suspecting that attempting to bring down the ring would endanger their very lives, the boys plunge ahead.

The Big Princess

Once upon a time, a king and queen discover among their flowers a lovely and very tiny princess perched on a leaf. Overjoyed to have found a daughter, they fashion for her a single-feather bed and watch as she grows large enough to sleep in a ring box, a teacup, and a teddy bear’s lap. But still the princess keeps growing and growing, until her head pokes through the top of even the tallest tower.

The Octopus Scientists

With three hearts and blue blood, its gelatinous body unconstrained by jointed limbs or gravity, the octopus seems to be an alien, an inhabitant of another world. It’s baggy, boneless body sprouts eight arms covered with thousands of suckers—suckers that can taste as well as feel. The octopus also has the powers of a superhero: it can shape-shift, change color, squirt ink, pour itself through the tiniest of openings, or jet away through the sea faster than a swimmer can follow.

Sona and the Wedding Game

Sona’s big sister is getting married and she’s been given an important job to do. She has to steal the groom’s shoes. She’s never attended a wedding before, so she’s unfamiliar with this Indian tradition as well as many of the other magical experiences that will occur before and during the special event. But with the assistance of her annoying cousin Vishal, Sona finds a way to steal the shoes and get a very special reward.

Rhinos Don’t Eat Pancakes

Daisy’s mum and dad are always too busy to listen to a word that she says, so when, one day, she tells them that a big purple rhino has just walked into the house and taken a chomp of her pancake, guess what? That’s right – nobody listens! But there’s a surprise in store for Mum and Dad when they discover that a big purple rhino has gone missing from the zoo. Perhaps they should have taken more notice of what Daisy had to say. Kids will love this funny story about a little girl and her most unlikely new friend.