A collection of anecdotes about the author’s encounters with animals beginning with his first elephant ride at the zoo and continuing through his years as a dairy farmer.
Dick King-Smith’s Animal Friends: Thirty-Two Stories
Europe
Materials from Europe
Don’t Want To Go!
A resistant Lily discovers that new experiences don’t need to be scary in this engaging, deftly told story certain to resonate with young children. One morning, Lily’s mom wakes up with a sore throat and achy head and needs to stay in bed. But Lily’s dad needs to go to work. Who will look after Lily? When Dad arranges for her to spend the day at Melanie’s house, Lily is none too happy. “Don’t want to go!” she says. Even though Melanie has a friendly dog named Ringo and a funny baby named Sam, Lily is shy and wants to sit under the table with her toy Bobbo. But maybe a chance to make silly collages, or feed Sam lunch, or hold Ringo’s leash might make her feel braver–and maybe she’ll start having so much fun she won’t want to leave at the end of the day! With illustrations that keenly convey emotion through the subtlest gesture, Shirley Hughes mines a familiar situation for its most genuine moments and creates a truly reassuring story for young children.
The Christmas Eve Ghost
Two children find goodwill and acceptance in unexpected places even in the hardest of times in a moving tale from a master picturebook creator. In 1930s Liverpool, where streetcars clang on iron tracks, young Bronwen and Dylan live with their widowed Mam. Every day, in the wee hours of morning, Mam leaves the two alone as she gathers other people’s laundry to boil in a big metal copper at home. At night, if she’s not too tired, Mam tells fanciful tales of dragons and ghosties, and on Sunday, she cautions the children about the O’Rileys next door, who go to a church that is not for their kind. But on Christmas Eve, when Mam must go out, Bronwen and Dylan hear a ghostly plonk! plonk! plonk! from the washroom that sends them running straight into the arms of Mrs. O’Riley. Not only do they find that the house next door harbors nothing to fear, but it may hold a blessing for Mam, too. With evocative drawings full of compelling detail, Shirley Hughes tells a timeless, genuine tale of community and human kindness.
The Minpins
Little Billy strays into the forest, where he meets the Minpins—tiny people who live within the trees. The Minpins tell Billy about The Gruncher, who preys on them. So Billy embarks on a mission to rid the Minpins of their foe once and for all, and sets off—on the back of a swan—to confront The Gruncher.
Supermoo!
Operating out of their Cowcave headquarters, Supermoo, a superheroine Holstein, and her trusty sidekick, Calf Crypton, battle the evil forces of pollution that are out to destroy the world.
Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes
Offers simple, step-by-step recipes for dishes mentioned in Roald Dahl’s works, including such delicacies as “Bruce Bogtrotter’s Sensational Chocolate Cake” and “Stinkbug Eggs.”
John Burningham’s Abc
Lively full-color illustrations accent a dazzling alphabet book that uses double-page spreads to highlight the upper- and lower-case versions of each letter, in a distinctive concept book first published in 1964.
Count Up: 2
Teaches children to identify number sets: one monkey, three frogs, four elephants.
Five Down: 2
Portrays written numerals as physical objects, helping children to associate the sign for a number with the act of counting.
Friend, The
Easy-to-read text and drawings describe a young boy’s relationship with his best friend Arthur.