Materials from Europe
Terry is half asleep when he hears the wailing, rising and falling like the waves of the sea. He wishes it were a dream, but he knows it isn’t. It isn’t an owl screeching, either. Or the Flannerys’ old cat. Could it be the Banshee—the ghostly figure of Irish legend who wails outside a house when death is near? Why would she come here? In spite of his fears, Terry goes out to confront her.
Everyone has heard the story of Henny Penny, and how her foolishness led her to a terrible end. But that is the version from the fox’s point of view. In this beautifully illustrated retelling, readers will enjoy a cheery new take on the tale of Henny Penny, who may have been smarter than anyone previously thought. The familiar repetition of silly names and the even sillier antics of the animal characters will win over readers as they have for generations, while Sophie Windham’s gorgeous illustrations bring a fresh new perspective to this heroic hen’s tale.
This classic collection of nursery rhymes, chosen and illustrated by Brian Wildsmith, will provide hours of enjoyment for young children everywhere.
This newest entry in our Discover the World series reveals the treasures of Scotland– from Edinburgh’s castles to the stories of Robert Louis Stevenson to the gloomy waters of Loch Ness and its fabled Nessie. Learn about haggis, tatties and neeps and other great traditions from the country that invented golf.
A hilarious picture book debut has a scurvy crew setting off for an island of gold, where an unexpected development awaits under the final flap. I was sailing along and what did I see? An island of GOLD in the scurvy sea! But there’s one small thing I forgot to share there’s also a MONSTER waiting there. A mysterious old pirate tells a tavern of salty seadogs about an island bursting with hidden treasure. But once they set sail, he also mentions that it is guarded by the terrible Pirate Cruncher. When the pirates’ greed gets the better of their fear, there’s a big surprise in store!
When the zookeeper’s jacket seems a trifle tight one morning, his excessive concern worries the animals.
Lauren Child’s spunky character returns and—as if things could get any livelier in Clarice Bean’s household—Uncle Ted is babysitting! Who can Mom and Dad get to babysit the feisty Clarice, her pesky brother Minal Cricket, and the school’s guinea pig, Albert, who’s visiting for spring break? (Not to mention teenage brother Kurt, who abhors daylight; big sis Marcie, who chats on the phone all day; and Granddad, who tends to wander off.) Only Uncle Ted, firefighter and movie addict, can be persuaded. Will he survive the week?
Presents the author’s second collection of poems about dinosaurs, that includes details about the eating habits, locomotion, and habitats of such creatures as Stegosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Hadrosaur, and Deinosuchus.
It’s bedtime, and Madison can’t quite fall sleep. So she asks her mom for a blanket, her doll, a glass of milk, and a few other things that she believes just might do the trick. Will anything help Madison get to bed? Settle your little ones downs and share this sweet and reassuring bedtime book.
This is the story of how young Zeus, with a little help from six monsters, five Greek gods, an enchanted she-goat, and his mother, became god of gods, master of lightning and thunder, and ruler over all. in doing so, he learned a lot about family. Who knew that having relatives could be so complicated, even for a god? Brian Karas says about his inspiration for this book, “I’ve been interested in working with myths, but I felt as though I needed a personal connection. I am of Italian and Greek descent so I started to think of my Greek heritage. But the world of Greek mythology was unknown to me and in a way felt inaccessible, until I learned more. The Greek believed their gods and goddesses to be, among other things, very human-like in their emotions and behavior. They had complicated family relations. They were flawed on many levels – they could be petty, impulsive and unreasonable. I started to recognize them. Then I travelled to Greece, I knew this place! This personal connection gave me what I felt I needed to work with a Greek myth. But which? “I am also interested in the beginnings of things. When I started researching I kept looking for the ultimate source, the very first account, and largely drew from Hesiod’s Thegony. Being interested in origins, I was also drawn to the Greek’s version of the very beginning of things and it was here that I settled on the story of Zeus. There is much written about his reign as ruler of heaven and earth but very little about his youth and rise to power. The story of how his mother hid him on the island of Crete is a familiar one but there was a big gap in everything I read of what happened in between his life as an infant and his glory days. Young Zeus is my account of how things might have gone for young Zeus and what led him to become the omnipotent almighty god that he was believed to be.”