When Jake Mendoza, who lives in the Smokehill National Park where his father runs the Makepeace Institute of Integrated Dragon Studies, goes on his first solo overnight in the park, he finds an infant dragon whose mother has been killed by a poacher.
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Mo’s Mischief: Teacher’s Pet
Mo Shen Ma lives in a big city in China. Modern Chinese cities are very much like ours, so his life is not so different from your own: he goes to school, watches television, and gets into mischief, just like all over the world! Each story depicts Mo’s problem, and his creative solution.
Howl’s Moving Castle
Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl’s castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there’s far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.
Monday
This playful and original picture book takes three friends through the days of the week as well as the seasons of the year. Monday is our main character and as we move through the days of the week he becomes smaller and smaller until Sunday when he virtually disappears in a snowstorm. His two freinds go off to look for him. They too move through the days of the week as well as the seasons of the year as they search for their friend. At the end they finally find him, and he is just a little bit different, for as we know, no one Monday is the same as the next.
Please note that there are five different weights of paper used in this book and as the reader moves from the lushness of spring into the browns of autumn and the icy whiteness of winter the paper becomes thinner and thinner. Additionally, the paper is textured with a Braille-like effect during the snowstorm at the end of the book.
Anna of Byzantium
Anna Comnena has every reason to feel entitled. She’s a princess, her father’s firstborn and his chosen successor. Someday she expects to sit on the throne and rule the vast Byzantine Empire. So the birth of a baby brother doesn’t perturb her. Nor do the “barbarians” from foreign lands, who think only a son should ascend to power. Anna is as dismissive of them as are her father and his most trusted adviser–his mother, a manipulative woman with whom Anna studies the art of diplomacy. Anna relishes her lessons, proving adept at checkmating opponents in swift moves of mental chess. But as she matures into a young woman, her arrogance and intelligence threaten her grandmother. Anna will be no one’s puppet. Almost overnight, Anna sees her dreams of power wrenched from her and bestowed on her little brother. Bitter at the betrayal, Anna waits to avenge herself, and to seize what is rightfully hers.
Singing to the Sun
Thorfinn’s father is obsessed with power while his mother cares only for wealth. When it is time to choose a bride, Thorfinn decides he must listen to his own heart. He seeks the wisdom and experience of his friends, the court jester and the old tabby cat. In which direction will they lead him? Will he chose the princess who promises him wealth, the princess who promises power, or the princess who is full of love and happiness? And, just as important, will that princess chose Thorfinn in return?
The Gift of the Sun: A Tale from South Africa
In this witty book based on an African folk tale, Thulani prefers sitting in the sun to doing his chores. Tired of milking the cow, he trades her in for a goat. When the goat gets into the corn seed, he trades it for a sheep. Sick of shearing, he buys some geese, which then get exchanged for some sunflower seeds. With each trade, his hard-working wife gets more and more exasperated.
Ruby Sings the Blues
Ruby’s voice is so loud, it’s driving everyone crazy! Then Ruby’s jazz-playing neighbors come up with a plan to help her control her volume. Ruby finally learns to sing to her heart’s content without everyone needing earplugs!
The Black Book of Colors
Living with the use of one’s eyes can make imagining blindness difficult, but this innovative title invites readers to imagine living without sight through remarkable illustrations done with raised lines and descriptions of colors based on imagery. Braille letters accompany the illustrations and a full Braille alphabet offers sighted readers help reading along with their fingers. This extraordinary title gives young readers the ability to experience the world in a new way.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume 3, Issue 1
The Collector Of Moments
A solitary boy is drawn to his mysterious new neighbor, an artist named Max. He spends hours in Max’s studio, but Max is secretive and does not show the boy his pictures — until he departs on a journey and leaves behind a surprise exhibition for his young friend. Max’s pictures are strange and beautiful. They depict a realm where things, familiar at first glance, nevertheless behave in the most surprising and unpredictable ways. In this spellbinding picture book, the reader joins the boy in contemplating these challenging images, in a celebration of the power of art to transform the everyday into something magical.