A Circle Of Cats

One a quiet day, when the wind was still, the creek could be heard all the way up to where the old beech stood.  Under its branches, cats would come to dream and be dreamed.  Black cats and calicos, white cats and marmalade ones, too.  But they hadn’t yet gathered the day the orphan girl fell asleep among its roots, nestling in the weeds and long grass like the gangly, tousle-haired girl she was.  Her names was Lillian.

Lillian is an orphan who lives with her aunt on a homested miles from anyone, surrounded by uncharted forest.  She wanders the woods, chasing after squirrels and rabbits and climbing trees like a possum.  Free-spirited and independent, Lillian is kindard soul to the many wild cats who gather around the ancient beech tree.  One day, while she is under the beech, Lillian is bitten by a poisonous snake.  The cats refuse to let her die, and use their magic to turn her into one of their own.  How she becomes a girl again is a lyrical, original folklore that begs to be read aloud.  Set in the hill country outside of the author’s fictional city of Newford, A Circle of Cats is the much anticipated first picture book by longtime friends Charles de Lint and Charles Vess, whose art is as magical as the story.

The Boy, the Bear, the Baron, the Bard

A comic romp through Shakespeare’s London featuring an intrepid little boy, a friendly bear, and-in the role of dastardly villain-the Bard himself. What happens when a boy bursts through the curtain of a deserted theatre and onto the world’s most famous stage? He lands on the Bard himself and the chase is on-through the streets of Shakespeare’s London. This is a rare and inventive visual feast-a runaway story about a curious boy, a magic cloak, a grumpy bard, a captive bear and a baron bound for the chopping block. It is also a richly illustrated, dramatic and very funny tale of adventure and friendship.

Wombat Divine

Wombat loves everything about Christmas–especially the Nativity play. He’s wanted to be in it for as long as he can remember. At last he’s old enough to try out. But at the auditions, the first part goes to someone else. So does the next. And the next … Will there be a part left for Wombat?

The Best Restaurant in the World

The next time you go to the beach, look out at the horizon, and you just might see the Super Sailing Sea Restaurant bobbing along. Climb aboard and Chef Peppi will treat you to cotton-candy clouds, introduce you to the flying Spotted Sea Singers, and much more. Maritime magic and scrumptious treats waft on every tropical breeze in this delicious, ice-cream-colored adventure.