Materials from Europe
If you ever see a box of cornflakes offering a free lion, ignore it. This is the story of two brothers who didn’t and then ended up with a grizzly bear, a cranky old crocodile, and a huge gorilla, instead. Anything can happen in this wildly wacky tale.
Pedro and George are fed up with the children of the world getting them confused. Pedro is a crocodile, and George is an alligator. There’s a difference, you know. This determined pair decides to go on a mission to prove who’s who, once and for all.
Simon Schwartz was born in 1982 in East Germany, at a time when the repressive Socialist Unity Party of Germany controlled the area. Shortly before Simon’s birth, his parents decided to leave their home in search of greater freedoms on the other side of the Berlin Wall. But East German authorities did not allow the Schwartzes to leave for almost three years. In the meantime, Simon’s parents struggled with the costs of their decision: the loss of work, the attention of the East German secret police and the fragmentation of their family.
A prophecy and a broken cane given to him in his childhood help a simple peasant and his children, who have power over wind, fire, and water, to defeat a wicked emperor who was once the peasant’s friend.
There are certain animals that make suitable pets, like a cat, a dog, or a guinea pig. Then there are others that make, well, unusual pets, like an octopus, a warthog, or an elephant. They’re too large, too messy, and maybe a tad too free-spirited with a tendency to break things like tables, floors, and even ceilings.
An elite crew has finally found the Lost Nuts of Legend. Now all they have to do is go home. Everyone is starving, the Star Nav is broken, the neighbors are distinctly unfriendly, and it was a really bad idea to stop at the Death Banana and ask for directions.
Jumping over the moon is fine as long as you don’t trip and end up needing cow-size bandages. And having a blackbird peck off your nose can leave a person very sore indeed. Led along by bright, humorous illustrations and an energetic rhyming text, little readers will have fun guessing who the next Storyland victim might be, following hints like, “Who could be covered in egg?” and “Who went up and tumbled down?”
Extraordinary hen P. Zonka spends her time taking in the beauty around her: the shiny green of the grass, the buttery yellows of the dandelions, the deep blue of the sky. The other hens can’t understand why she never lays eggs like they do. Finally, P. Zonka gives in and lays an egg. To everyone’s delight, she produces a wondrous egg that contains all the colors and designs that she has stored in her creative imagination.
Daisy’s mum and dad are always too busy to listen to a word that she says, so when, one day, she tells them that a big purple rhino has just walked into the house and taken a chomp of her pancake, guess what? That’s right – nobody listens! But there’s a surprise in store for Mum and Dad when they discover that a big purple rhino has gone missing from the zoo. Perhaps they should have taken more notice of what Daisy had to say. Kids will love this funny story about a little girl and her most unlikely new friend.
A ghost story, a fantasy, a historical novel, and literary fiction all wrapped into one, this highly awarded novel for young readers begins with the Boon family’s move to an isolated, dilapidated house. Is it the site of a haunting tragedy, as one of the daughters believes, or an end to all their worries, as their father hopes?