Batty’s efforts to impress visitors at the zoo fail, but he is determined to be popular like the other animals. First he goes to the penguin pool but the water is cold and he doesn’t like fish. Then he tries the gorilla enclosure but he doesn’t have any fleas for the gorillas to pick off him. He tries to laze in the sun with the lions but its far too bright for his sensitive eyes. When eventually he returns to his bat cave he finds that everyone else is trying to be like him, hanging upside down. This clever and witty story is brought to life with Batty’s upside down view of his surroundings, involving the reader in turning the book upside down with him.
Europe
Materials from Europe
Flood and Fire
She survived the epic battle of the raiders on the rough waters that flood England. Now poor fishergirl Lilly is determined to return Lexy, the Prime Minister’s kidnapped daughter, to her home. And since his father was killed in the clash, Zeph is equally determined to claim leadership of his family’s clan before more savage tribes invade the marshlands. But will the electromagnetic pulse of an omnipotent computer set the world aflame and wipe out all humans so that artificial intelligence can take over the future?! It’s up to the unlikely trio of children — and their petulant, unpredictable gameboard PSAI — to rage against the machines.
Chronicles of the Red King: The Secret Kingdom
Timoken is a prince born in a secret kingdom. At his birth, a forest jinni bestows magical gifts upon him: a cloak made by the last moon spider and a potion called Alixir. When the peaceful land is attacked, Timoken and his sister, Zobayda, must find a new kingdom to call home. Together, with only the magical gifts and a talking camel, the siblings set off.
The Abandoned Lighthouse
A bear, followed by a boy and his dog, use a rowboat to float to an abandoned lighthouse where they all spend the day fishing, cooking their catch, and then joining together to make the lighthouse work again.
Requiem: Poems of the Terezin Ghetto
Paul B. Janeczko’s stirring new collection of poems goes inside the walls of the notorious camp to portray the indomitable spirit of those incarcerated there. Hitler hailed Terezin (Theresienstadt) as a haven for artistic Jews, when in reality the Czech concentration camp was little more than a way station to the gas chambers. In his second book inspired by devastating history, acclaimed poet Paul B. Janeczko gives voice to this heartrending creative community: its dignity, resilience, and commitment to art and music in the face of great brutality. The many memorable characters he conjures include a child who performs in the camp’s now famed production of Brundibar, a man who lectures on bedbugs, and a boy known as “Professor,” who keeps a notebook hidden in his shoe. Accented with dramatic illustrations by the inmates, found after WW II, Janeczko’s spare and powerful poems convey Terezin’s tragic legacy on an intimate, profoundly moving scale.
Bob & Co
“Who left the sun in the bathroom again? Where does the story begin?” There are so many questions in the world of “Bob & Co”. Its no wonder that Bob needs a page of quiet now and then to think them over. Irreverently tackling the big questions of life, the universe, and everything with abundant humor and captivating illustrations, “Bob & Co” is a unique, charming, and sometimes bafflingly inventive book that every inquisitive child (and adult) will treasure and adore.
Hostages to Fortune
When the death of Kevin’s employer confronts him and his wife Sadie with the sudden loss of both job and home, an uncertain future looms up before them. Sequel to “A Proper Place.”
Sisters . . . No Way!
Cindy, a savvy yet cynical teenager, still traumatized by her mother’s recent death, is appalled when her father falls in love with one of her teachers, a woman with two teenage daughters of her own. She cannot imagine a worse fate than having her teacher as her stepmother, and as for the two prissy girls, she is never going to call them sisters . . . no way! But if Cindy dislikes her prospective sisters, Ashling and Orla think she is an absolute horror — spoiled, arrogant, and atrociously rude to them and their mother when they visit her house. Will the girls ever get along and learn to be a family? Featuring the girls’ stories in two unique, back-to-back diaries, one for Cindy and the other for Ashling and Orla, readers can choose which story to begin with and will enjoy the varying viewpoints recording the same events.
A Proper Place
The fourth in the very successful series about Kevin (a Catholic) and Sadie (a Protestant) who meet (The Twelfth Day of July), grow up and fall in love (Across the Barricades) and leave Belfast to marry and find some peace (Into Exile). A Proper Place finds them still in Liverpool, with a two-room flat and baby Brendan, and coping with Kevin’s sullen seventeen-year-old brother, Gerald;’ but a job and a tied cottage on a Cheshire farm offer a new direction
The Twelfth Day of July
Sadie is Protestant, Kevin is Catholic – and on the tense streets of Belfast their lives collide. It starts with a dare – kids fooling around – but soon becomes something dangerous. Getting to know Sadie Jackson will change Kevin’s life forever. But will the world around them change too?