When her grandmother takes in a stranded family at Christmas, Grace is reluctant to share her favorite holiday with strangers, even though the visiting family includes a “real live ballerina.”
Grace at Christmas
Picture Book
Get Happy
Simple, rhyming text urges the reader to be happy by making such choices as teasing less and tickling more, or groaning less and giggling more.
Hansel and Gretel
It’s a tale as timeless as storytelling itself: two children, lost in the woods, stumble upon a candy house that isn’t all that it seems. From Hansel’s trail of bread crumbs to Gretel’s ingenious triumph over the witch, the details of this familiar fairy tale enchant children year after year. Now, in an update on her classic retelling, Caldecott Honor winner and New York Timesbestseller Susan Jeffers brings Hansel and Gretelto life for a new generation.
Strega Nona’s Gift
In Strega Nona’s village, the holiday season is a time of celebrations-and nothing says celebration like a feast! All the kitchens are bustling from the Feast of San Nicola, when the children choose the food, to the Feast of Epiphany, when someone gets to be king or queen for the day. Even the animals share in the holiday spirit, and when Big Anthony smells the delicious treats Strega Nona is cooking for them, he decides that just a taste couldn’t hurt, right? Wrong! Big Anthony gets his just desserts, while Strega Nona surprises everyone with a special gift.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper pipes a village free of rats, and when the villagers refuse to pay him for the service, he pipes away their children as well.
Under the Hood
A mechanic welcomes the reader to his garage where he will try to fix his car, but first needs help in finding his friends, Mouse, Crocodile, and Bird under lift-up flaps and fold-out pages.
Same, Same but Different
Pen pals Elliott and Kailash discover that even though they live in different countries–America and India–they both love to climb trees, own pets, and ride school buses.
A Stork in a Baobab Tree: An African Twelve Days of Christmas
Set in Africa during the Christmas season, this is the story of a village preparing for a celebration – the birth of a child. The story is told in verse inspired by the traditional carol The Twelve Days of Christmas, but in this version by the author Catherine House the gifts are: 1 stork in a baobab tree, 2 thatched huts, 3 woven baskets, 4 market traders, 5 bright khangas, 6 women pounding, 7 children playing, 8 wooden carvings, 9 grazing goats, 10 drummers drumming, 11 dancers dancing and 12 storytellers. This is a Christmas steeped in the atmosphere of African village life, including descriptions of the objects and activities mentioned in the text.
How the Leopard Got His Claws
In the beginning, all the animals lived as friends. The leopard, their king was strong but gentle and wise. Only the dog had sharp teeth, and only the dog scoffed at the animals plan to build a common shelter for gathering out of the rain. but when the dog was flooded out of his own cave, he attacked the leopard and took over as king. It was only then that the leopard returned with a new roar, sharp claws, and shining teeth, life for the animals would never be the same.
In this riveting fable for young readers, Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart, evokes themes of liberation and justice that echo his novels about post-colonial Africa. Glowing with vibrant color, Mary GrandPre’s expressive and action-filled paintings bring this unforgettable tale dramatically to life.
Peter Rabbit: The Tale of a Naughty Little Rabbit
This is the story of Peter Rabbit, a naughty rabbit who doesn’t listen to his mother and sneaks into a nearby garden. In the garden, Peter stumbles across a grumpy farmer and loses his shiny shoes and his new blue coat. He escapes – but not without a few hair-raising moments of danger. This picture book retelling retains all the excitement of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit, but with more accessible language.