Up Cat

A cat can get tangled up in all kinds of fun and mischief between wake-up time and nap time. Follow along with the playful text as Cat laps up milk, messes up the house, gets up to no good, stands up to a visiting dog, and finally curls up for a nap in the sun.

The expressive, energetic illustrations against simple backgrounds mirror the spare but rhythmic text that teaches about “up” actions while leading the reader through a day in the life of a cat.

Tashi and the Tibetan Flower Cure

A young Tibetan American girl helps her grandfather recover from an illness through the use of a traditional cure that focuses on spiritual as well as physical recovery and brings together a caring community.

Virginia Wolf

Vanessa’s sister, Virginia, is in a “wolfish” mood — growling, howling and acting very strange. It’s a funk so fierce, the whole household feels topsy-turvy. Vanessa tries everything she can think of to cheer her up, but nothing seems to work. Then Virginia tells Vanessa about an imaginary, perfect place called Bloomsberry. Armed with an idea, Vanessa begins to paint Bloomsberry on the bedroom walls, transforming them into a beautiful garden complete with a ladder and swing “so that what was down could climb up.” Before long, Virginia, too, has picked up a brush and undergoes a surprising transformation of her own. Loosely based on the relationship between author Virginia Woolf and her sister, painter Vanessa Bell, Virginia Wolf is an uplifting story for readers of all ages.

Jo Jo the Giant

JoJo may be small, but his heart is big and so are his dreams. The red Rocket Racers in the window of Smiling Sam’s Shoe Shop could be his, but only if he can stand up to the big kids and run the race of his life. The boy in the mirror looks doubtful, but the boy standing in front of it is going to try. Anything could happen!

Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917

On December 6, 1917 two ships collided in Halifax Harbour. One ship was loaded top to bottom with munitions and one held relief supplies, both intended for wartorn Europe. The resulting blast flattened two towns, Halifax and Dartmouth, and killed nearly 2,000 people. As if that wasn’t devastating enough, a blizzard hit the next day, dumping more than a foot of snow on the area and paralyzing much-needed relief efforts. Fascinating, edge-of-your-seat storytelling based on original source material conveys this harrowing account of tragedy and recovery.

Waiting For The Biblioburro

When a man brings to a remote village two burros, Alfa and Beto, loaded with books the children can borrow, Ana’s excitement leads her to write a book of her own as she waits for the BibliBurro to return. Includes glossary of Spanish terms and a note on the true story of Colombia’s BiblioBurro and mobile libraries in other countries.

The Jade Notebook

After down-to-earth Zeeta and her flighty mother, Layla, settle in the idyllic beachside town of Mazunte, Mexico, where Zeeta’s true love, Wendell, has an internship photographing rare sea turtles, Zeeta discovers that paradise has its dark side as she and Wendell dig deeper to unearth her elusive father’s past.