Materials from Europe
There are one hundred orphans at the Russian orphanage, but Nikolai is the only bear. He growls when he speaks and claws the air when he plays. “Play nice, Nikolai,” the keepers say. No one wants to take Nikolai home. Until one day, when a fur-faced man and a smooth-faced woman come to visit from America. They growl with him and play with him, and sing songs that make him feel soft-bearish. And when it’s time for them to go home, Nikolai knows that he has found the right family at last.
ANNABELLE’S FATHER WANTS her to master her computer keyboard. Annabelle thinks the chore will be more tolerable if she writes letters to someone. She chooses Gran, her great-grandmother. Of course, Gran is most definitely not online, so Annabelle prints and mails her letters off. At first, Gran takes her time answering—and she’s in the habit of repeating herself—but soon the two are keeping up a steady correspondence. Letter by letter, a true, tender friendship evolves. Annabelle and Gran talk about everything: parents, movies, school, the past and the present. When Annabelle divulges a big secret—the reason she and her best friend are no longer speaking—Gran remembers a similar situation. And when Gran needs foot surgery, Annabelle begins to worry.
Open the covers of this extraordinarily inventive, interactive book to find that the cats inside are ready to play — in very surprising ways.There they are, purring under a blanket. But not for long! Three sprightly cats named Tiny, Moonpie, and Andre are eager to involve you in their games, whether it’s tossing a ball of yarn (oof!), lifting flaps to find them in boxes (comfy), or getting caught in a pillow fight (biff!). As their antics get wilder still, they’ll need a kind soul to blow on the page to dry them off! With an irresistible story that directly engages the reader, this book’s clever design and bright, gestural illustrations make for cat-tastic lift-the-flap fun.
Pretty, carefree Aurelia Gamser (known today as Ruth Gruener) had an idyllic life in 1930s Poland — until violent acts of anti-Semitism and the deportation of Jewish families to concentration camps changed everything in her world. Hiding out with a gentile family, her very life at risk every day, Ruth struggled to remain strong and sane. And though she was destined to live, her struggle continued after the war, when she began a new life in America, as a teenager who had been through horrors. This memoir will inspire countless readers and bestow important lessons about life, hope, and memory.
SHIVER ME TIMBERS!The treasure of pirate Rufus Rumblebelly has disappeared form the museum!Luckily, captain Flinn eagerly takes the helm and heads to Bag o’ Bones Island. . .only to be met by a rogue gang of pirate dinosaurs with swords at the ready! Flinn and his friends may be able to triumph, but are they prepared to face the fierce, frightening, and most terrifying-looking pirate GIGANOTOSAURUS?Climb aboard for this rambunctious follow-up to the successful Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs!
It’s Valentine’s Day and Splat has a special valentine for a certain someone in his class. Her name is Kitten, and Splat likes her even more than fish sticks and ice cream. But Kitten doesn’t seem to like him at all—she always ties his tail and pokes his belly when she sees him. And then there’s Splat’s rival, Spike, who also likes Kitten. Will Splat’s heartfelt valentine win Kitten’s paw in the end? In this funny follow-up to Splat the Cat, Rob Scotton captures the highs and lows of a first crush with humor and understanding.
The Adderhead–his immortality bound in a book by Meggie’s father, Mo–has ordered his henchmen to plunder the villages. The peasants’ only defense is a band of outlaws led by the Bluejay–Mo’s fictitious double, whose identity he has reluctantly adopted. But the Book of Immortality is unraveling, and the Adderhead again fears the White Women of Death. To bring the renegade Bluejay back to repair the book, the Adderhead kidnaps all the children in the kingdom, dooming them to slavery in his silver mines unless Mo surrends. First Dustfinger, now Mo: Can anyone save this cursed story?
Desperate to provide enough food for himself and his daughter, a poor man sets himself up as Doctor All-Knowing and is soon called upon by a rich man to find a thief.
Best-selling Taiwanese illustrator Jimmy Liao teams up with renowned British author Joyce Dunbar to present a fantastical, heartwarming tale.Why can’t Jo-Jo go to sleep? He doesn”t like the darkness under the bed — a monster might be hiding there. And one is! It’s a tiny speck of a monster with a huge appetite for darkness, gobbling it up under the bed, in every nook and cranny, and in the wide world outside, growing bigger with every bite. Soon there is no darkness left anywhere, from the earth to the stars. All the world is light, but the monster still has an empty feeling inside. Only a sleepless boy will help him be fulfilled at last.
One family’s story of survival in postwar Hungary, 1948. In Budapest after the war, when Kata’s family first returns from hiding, they are glad to be alive and hopeful that life will improve. But the secret police is questioning everyone about their loyalty to the Hungarian Workers Party, and conditions seem to be worsening. The eleven-year-old doesn’t understand why her brother Bela is acting so differently or why he hasn’t come home from his recent excursion. Her father used to own the factory, but now, as an employee, his wages continue to fall. She helps her mother sew the bears they will sell on the black market, but when Kata learns that Bela has escaped the country, she grows angry and sad. In time, she hopes that Bela will make it to America and will send for his family.