The Butterfly Ball is tomorrow, and all of Tuptown awaits an exciting day full of cake, games, and amazing butterflies. Everyone has a job to do—even Harold. He’s making the Spirit of Tuptown prize! But when the prize statue goes missing, a confident Pigsticks volunteers to solve the case (with the help of Harold’s careful note-taking, of course).
After nine years of war between the Greeks and Trojans, tensions are heating up among men of the same faction as well as those on opposing sides. Two proud and powerful Greeks, King Agamemnon and legendary warrior Achilles, quarrel over a beautiful maiden, causing Achilles and his myrmidons to drop out of the fight. Meanwhile, fueled by rage and pride, honor and greed, soldiers on both sides—-Odysseus and Patroclus for the Greeks, Paris and Hector for the Trojans-—perform heroic deeds, attempting to end the war.
“Every year, Kinga and his classmates wait for the black-necked cranes to return to the kingdom of Bhutan, deep in the Himalayas. Every year, fewer cranes return. Together with classmates, Kinga creates and performs a dance to honor the cranes and also remind people of their duty to care for them”
The day before Christmas, everyone in Jose’s neighborhood seems grumpy, including his mother who is homesick for Puerto Rico, but when he and his parents return from the pizzeria where they borrowed an oven to cook their roast, the heavenly aroma reminds those they pass of all they have to celebrate.
A clever little dog christens himself “Sad” when his humans fail to give him a name. Although they feed him and wash him, they don’t appreciate his many gifts, like his love of singing (“stop that yapping!”). When the people move away and leave Sad behind, Sad is heartbroken. But then a new family with a young boy arrives at Sad’s house in a big truck. Although Sad is initially frightened, it soon becomes clear that the boy is just the right person to make a dog’s life complete with playtime, treats, and a brand-new name: Lucky.
The Sea Tiger is Oscar’s best friend and Oscar’s only friend. They do everything together: explore the ocean, visit the sea circus, even hitch a ride to the surface to look at the stars. But Oscar is shy, and so it’s up to the Sea Tiger to help him find other friends.
Lily Lujan is known as Little Chanclas because she wears her chanclas, or flip flops, wherever she goes, especially to parties, so when the chanclas come apart while she is dancing at a family barbecue and Chewcho the bulldog eats one, Lily is inconsolable until Granny Lola arrives with a solution.
Five-year-old Ariel wants a very simple birthday celebration at the park with bean and cheese tacos and bubbles, despite his older brother Dario’s preference for big birthday parties.
Simple rhyming, repetitive text describes “the place where you live,” from the warm and sunny kitchen smelling of tortillas and hot chocolate to the yard, neighbors, school, library, and front porch.
A young boy rides the bus across town with his grandmother and learns to appreciate the beauty in everyday things.
Join the discussion of Last Stop on Market Street as well as other books centered around relocation on our My Take/Your Take page.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume 8, Issue 3