Far away, near the South Pole, a blue penguin is born. It is not something you see every day. “I feel like a penguin,” says Blue Penguin. “But you’re not like us,” the others tell him. Blue Penguin can’t jump or dive very well, so the others wander off and leave him behind. In his loneliness, Blue Penguin begins to dream, and he starts to sing.
Phoebe half Jamaican, half French-Canadian hates her school nickname of “French Toast.” So she is mortified when, out on a walk with her Jamaican grandmother, she hears a classmate shout it out at her. To make things worse, Nan-Ma, who is blind, wants an explanation of the name.
In the middle of a vast forest lives a giant who spends his days hurling and heaving, smashing and bashing. Over time, the animals flee as their homes vanish, the birdsong dwindles away to silence, and, finally, the forest itself disappears.
Nekgaon is a perfect village. Yes, everything’s perfect, from the cock’s crow to the setting sun. But a strange demand from a strange man changes everything.
When the young prince of Zapada is imprisoned by invaders, he needs all the help he can get to escape. As he flees dressed in his red pajamas, his captors are hot on his heels.
Around the world each night, parents tell stories to children as they put them to bed. Margaret Read MacDonald a folklorist, storyteller, and children’s librarian uses bedtime tales in the daytime to end her story hours on a calm note.
Maya’s family refuses to believe that she has an elephant in her backyard. But the elephant is not hers and he needs to return home!
Most of the time, Gary is just like the other racing pigeons, eating and sleeping and dreaming of adventure. There’s just one thing that separates him from the ordinary pigeons: he can’t fly.
Hill can see the world all around him. Hole feels the earth breathing. Hill wonders what it’s like to be Hole. And Hole wishes he could see the sun rising.
Richard hears something in his room before bedtime. Is it a monster? He doesn’t wait to find out and sets off running through the streets, over the hills, through the forest, and into the fields until he finds himself in a magical jungle. With the help of his stuffed lion Lionheart, Richard finds the courage he needs to face his fears.