What can you do with a boy who tries to do things right but only leaves disaster in his wake? Readers everywhere will love to laugh at the hilarious antics of the ever-blundering Juan Bobo, Puerto Rico’s most celebrated folk character. In this rollicking Juan Bobo tale, our hero sets out to find work at the farm and the grocery. Although the tasks are simple and the directions couldn’t be clearer, he always find a way to bungle things up as only a character whose name means “Simple John” could!
Three little Swedish brothers help their mother with all the chores at home to earn two bright yellow sleds, one for themselves and one for a poor, unhappy little boy.
Snipp, Snapp and Snurr were three little boys who lived in Sweden. They had blue eyes and yellow hair, and they looked very much alike.One summer, the boys went to the seashore with their nanny. Although they didn’t know how to swim, Snipp and Snapp decided to go ‘sailing’ in Nanny’s washtub. Luckily, Snurr ran and got help from their friend Nick. One thing was certain after that–it was time for the boys to learn to swim! It took many lessons and a lot of practice, but in time Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr proudly showed their parents their new skills–and then they even won a swimming contest!
Leaping into a shirt and thrusting his arms into his pant legs, the Absentminded Fellow dashes out into the London streets, frantically hails a cab, rushes through the train station and right into an abandoned car. Three days later, to his surprise, he’s still in London…This droll character portrait will quickly have listeners chiming in on the chorus.
In a risky plan to free her kidnapped lover, Oonagh cleverly solves the evil pirate king’s riddles, unites the princess Ethne with her lover, and invents sails.
A rainy-day errand introduces Carrie to many different kinds of bread, including chapatis, challah, and papusaa.
Outside her home in Michoacan, Mexico, grows eight-year-old Isabel’s greatest treasure: an oyamel tree. Every autumn, a miracle happens because Isabel’s tree is the wintering place for thousands upon thousands of monarch butterflies that migrate from the north. When they flutter down to roost, they transform Isabel’s tree into La casa de las mariposas–The House of Butterflies. But this wonder is in danger of disappearing forever. Isabel’s family is poor, and it has been a cruel, dry year for Papa’s meager crop of corn and beans. Soon, chopping down the tree to sell its wood may be the family’s only hope for survival. What will happen to the butterflies then?
It’s Splat’s first day of school and he’s worried. What if he doesn’t make any new friends? Just in case, Splat decides to bring along his pet mouse, Seymour, and hides him in his lunchbox. The teacher, Mrs. Wimpydimple, introduces Splat to the class and he soon starts learning all his important cat lessons. But when Seymour escapes and the cats do what cats do (they chase mice!), Splat’s worried again. Maybe now he’ll lose all his friends, old and new! Just in time, wise Mrs. Wimpydimple takes charge and teaches everyone an important new lesson.
Children are sure to smile as Suzy sets off to the woods in search of peace and quiet — cluelessly evading a trail of hungry critters in her wake.One afternoon all the geese are honking — except Suzy Goose, who is heading off to escape the noise. Suzy loves being alone in the woods, but the fox (TIPTOE), the wolf (CREEP, CREEP), and the bear (PAD, PAD) on her trail have other things in mind!
Duck’s truck is stuck in the muck.Who will help him out?First, frog lends a hand. Then sheep helps push, too. But duck’s truck won’t come unstuck! Can anyone help him get out of the muck? Or is duck out of luck?Find out in this rollicking read-aloud by the inimitable Jez Alborough.