The Snow Show

Tune into The Snow Show to see Chef Kelvin and his trusty sous-chefs, Snow White and Jack Frost, investigate evaporation, condensation, and precipitation—all while cooking up the lightest, fluffiest batch of snow ever to fall from the sky. The critics agree: This is one snowy science-filled cooking extravaganza that’ll make kids wish every day were a snow day! Includes an author’s note with additional information about snow, suggested reading, and a link to the author’s website, which features an exciting animation of snow-crystal formation and a free activity kit.

Hamlet

The Dane as never seen before — in a daring, dazzling, sexy prose retelling of Shakespeare’s tragedy by best-selling author John Marsden.Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, but Hamlet can’t be sure what’s causing the stench. His rage at his mother’s infidelities — together with his greed for the sensual Ophelia and his dead father’s call to revenge a “murder most foul” — have his mind in chaos, and he wants to scatter his traitorous uncle’s insides across the fields. But was it really his father’s ghost that night on the ramparts, or a hell-fiend sent to trick him? “Action is hot,” he tells Ophelia, who lives shut up in a tower with her longings and lust. “Action is courage, and reflection is cowardly. Picking up the knife has the colors of truth. As soon as I hesitate. . . .” In this dark, erotically charged, beautifully crafted novel, John Marsden brings one of Shakespeare’s most riveting characters to full-blooded life in a narrative of intense psychological complexity.

Little By Little

Otto is an otter who can do many things. But there’s one thing he can’t do: swim. Little by little, and with a some help from his big sister, Otto gets the courage–and the practice– to splash and tumble in the water with his friends.

The story and illustrations will encourage kids, showing them that if they take it step-by-step, any new skill is within their reach!

DarkIsle

IT’S A MAGICAL world if you know where to look. . . .For 10-year-old Morag, that magical world is no farther than the cellar of her cruel foster parents’ home. That’s where she’s shocked to meet Aldiss, a talking rat, and his resourceful companion, Bertie the dodo bird. Morag jumps at the chance to escape a life of drudgery and join them on their quest to save their homeland from an evil warlock named Devlish, who is intent on destroying it. But first, Bertie and Aldiss will need to stop bickering long enough to free the only guide who knows where to find Devlish: Shona, a dragon who’s been turned to stone. Together, these four friends begin their journey to a mysterious island beyond the horizon, where danger and glory await—along with clues to the disappearance of Morag’s parents, whose destiny seems somehow linked to her own.

Panda Kindergarten

School is in session! But this is no ordinary kindergarten class. Meet sixteen young giant panda cubs at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda at the Wolong Nature Preserve. The cubs are raised together from infancy in a protected setting, where they grow strong. Under the watchful eyes of the scientists and workers, the cubs learn skills that will help prepare them to be released into the wild.

Fly By Night

Twelve-year-old Mosca Mye hasn’t got much. Her cruel uncle keeps her locked up in his mill, and her only friend is her pet goose, Saracen, who’ll bite anything that crosses his path. But she does have one small, rare thing: the ability to read. She doesn’t know it yet, but in a world where books are dangerous things, this gift will change her life. Enter Eponymous Clent, a smooth-talking con man who seems to love words nearly as much as Mosca herself. Soon Mosca and Clent are living a life of deceit and danger — discovering secret societies, following shady characters onto floating coffeehouses, and entangling themselves with crazed dukes and double-crossing racketeers. It would be exactly the kind of tale Mosca has always longed to take part in, until she learns that her one true love — words — may be the death of her.Fly by Night is astonishingly original, a grand feat of the imagination from a masterful new storyteller.

Millie in the Snow

Millie’s new job as a mail cow keeps her very busy. Christmastime is especially hectic, and she can barely wait for the milking to be done before she’s out delivering presents. On Christmas Eve, at the end of a long day, the mail carrier sends Millie home with all the presents she’s made for the farmer and the other animals. Only, Millie gets a bit confused by the snow-covered landscape. Suddenly everything looks the same, and the farm is nowhere in sight.

Wild Boars Cook

THE BOARS ARE BACK! But watch out, because this time they’re not only bossy, selfish, and stinky, they’re hungry, too! If you thought Boris, Morris, Horace, and Doris already had bad manners, wait until you see them concoct a Massive Pudding. And if this pudding sounds horrible, the ingredients will leave you speechless! Meg Rosoff and Sophie Blackall team up again to delightful results in this companion book about the beloved disgusting wild boars. The wild boars have established themselves as forces to be reckoned with, and this second installment will not disappoint—it’s laugh-out-loud funny!

My Ocean: A Novel of Cuba

After his grandparents emigrate, 12-year-old Enrique heads for the ocean, a source of comfort and solace. Why did they flee Cuba, leaving Enrique and his mother behind? Should they go, too? If not, will they, like so many others, be seen as disloyal? The sea has no answers for the boy. As the years pass, Enrique is invited to become a Pioneer, a special honor that bodes well for his future, but it means he’s forbidden from reading the letters his grandparents send home. Enrique wants to belong, to show that he’s deserving of the honor, and once again, he seeks the ocean’s solace. Once again, the ocean has no easy answers. Still, life goes on. There are games with his friends, swimming expeditions, girls to hang out with. And always, there’s the ocean, a place he can go in good times and bad as he tries to make sense of what the future holds for him, his family, and many other Cubans.