Material appropriate for primary age groups
Tobias is a very special mole. He collects shiny round pebbles and hides them down in his burrow where they’re safe. When a friend warns him about robbers on the prowl, Tobias begins to worry. Frantically, Tobias moves his stones from one place to another until he discovers, too late, that he has been tricked into letting his fears get the better of him. This contemporary fable warns of the dangers of misplaced trust and unwarranted fears.
In this book, James Bond, Daisy decides she wants to play her favorite dress-up game: spies! But how can she accomplish her missions if no one understands her secret code language? Daisy is almost ready to call it quits when her mom gets into the action, and Daisy realizes that being a spy just might run in the family.
When Ben rips open his present, he finds a penguin inside. “Hello, Penguin!” he says. “What shall we play?” But Penguin says nothing. Even when Ben tickles its belly, sings a funny song, does a dizzy dance, stands on his head, sticks out his tongue, and resorts to increasingly rude and drastic measures, Penguin makes no response. What will it take for Penguin to say something — or for Ben to understand what Penguin has to say?
Best friends Jamie and his toy Highland bull Angus tackle a lively playmate, become muddled by a pretend game, and discover that playing is not fun unless they are doing it together.
Elizabeth Quan’s father had made a success in the New World, but he longed for his home in China. So in the early 1920’s, he and his family set out on an arduous trip to the far side of the world. By train, ship, ferry, cart, and on foot, Elizabeth, her parents, and her brothers and sisters set off from Toronto to a village in China to visit the grandmother they have never met.From the mountain of luggage to the whales breaching in the Pacific and geishas on wooden sandals on the cobbled streets of Yokohama, Elizabeth Quan describes sights that would captivate any child. But hers is also a journey of personal discovery. Did she fit in in Canada, where her straight dark hair and even the foods she ate set her apart? Would she fit in in China where she was just as different to the people she met? In the course of her family’s travels she learns that home is a state of mind and that the moon can find us, no matter where we are.
Max thinks school is boring, and his uncle Bill’s idea of livening things up doesn’t sound too exciting either. He gives Max a big bag of seeds for his birthday. At first Max is skeptical, but he follows his uncle’s instructions and scatters the seeds on his way to school. From that moment on, unusual things begin to happen, and the changes are simply magical. Wildflowers begin to grow throughout the city, where they’ve never been before. Suddenly Max becomes the most popular kid in school as his class gets to pick the flowers, draw them, and study them. This was the best gift, after all. Here is a lovely story about how small actions can make a big difference in your own life, and the life of an entire community.
Little Monkey is being naughty. So Big Monkey gets very angry and Little Monkey ends up very sad.But even though Big Monkey doesn’t always like the naughty things Little Monkey does, one thing is clear:Big Monkey loves Little Monkey. Always.
In ancient Japan, a young tanuki, a raccoon dog that can change shapes, becomes stuck in the form of a teapot. Includes notes on the original Japanese folktale from which this story is derived.
Tyger! Tyger! is a moving fable that expresses hope for harmony between the human and the animal worlds. It draws its inspiration from real life–a Buddhist monastery in Thailand that has for years provided sanctuary for one of the world’s most endangered animals, the beautiful Indo-Chinese tiger.
Max and Maddy Twist have a flair for solving crimes. Their parents once ran a thriving detective agency—until the notorious Professor Claude Sardine shut them down. But now Max and Maddy are ready to pick up where their parents left off. When a Swiss businessman asks for their help in catching a bank robber, Max and Maddy can’t wait to take on the case. But little do they expect to find themselves hot on the trail of a gang of thieving St. Bernards!