Laureth Peak’s father has taught her to look for recurring events, patterns, and numbers–a skill at which she’s remarkably talented. Her secret: She is blind. But when her father goes missing, Laureth and her 7-year-old brother Benjamin are thrust into a mystery that takes them to New York City where surviving will take all her skill at spotting the amazing, shocking, and sometimes dangerous connections in a world full of darkness.
In the seedy underworld of Victorian London, a boy is born and abandoned. Snatched up by an unscrupulous and abusive showman, Wild Boy, covered in hair from head to toe, becomes a sideshow freak. Isolated from other children and wickedly abused by the cruel master who bought him, Wild Boy becomes an avid observer, developing Sherlock Holmes–like deductive skills. Although he is tormented and insulted, kicked and spat at, his quick mind takes in everything he sees. When a murder occurs at the fair, Wild Boy is hastily accused. Can he use his powers of deduction to save himself? And will the talented and spunky young acrobat Clarissa be with him — or against him?
Eel, an orphan, and his best friend Florrie must help Dr. John Snow prove that cholera is spread through water, and not poisonous air, when an epidemic sweeps across their London neighborhood in 1854.
A heedless little boy and his dog slam the door as they run out to complete an errand, unknowingly dislodging a red ball that bounces through the neighborhood and triggers an escalating series of mishaps.
A critically acclaimed children’s novelist reveals the origins of her stories in her own childhood experiences in England during World War II, her years at Oxford, her family life, and her role in numerous literary organizations.
Discovering how little the old repair man knows about the Branton Town Hall Clock, a Wonder of the World, the wise Clock Mice offer their assistance for its sake and theirs, only to find their confidences betrayed by the man.
The life story of the author of many beloved children’s books.
A letter from Beatrix Potter to a young friend who is ill marks the origin of her famous tales.
“Once there was a little flea who thought that he was too little . . .” And so begins an innocent quest. The flea wants to be bigger. He scales a pea. Then scales an apple. He climbs atop a flower, a plant, a tree, a home . . . a telephone wire, a skyscraper . . . finally, the flea finds himself on a cloud! Down below, a bear notices him. So, is the flea now big? Or just high up? The Flea uses appealingly stylized art, simple text, humorous twists, and one very determined flea to give young readers a light lesson on the importance of perspective and the malleable meaning of words.
In his absence, Abel’s children relive his tales of earlier adventures, make a moon machine out of an old table, and dream of being joined with him through the all-seeing moon. By the creator of The Lion and the Unicorn.