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.
Doctor All-Knowing
Europe
Materials from Europe
The Monster Who Ate Darkness
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.
The Bear Makers
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.
The Snow Queen
When Kay is lured from his home by the beautiful, cruel Snow Queen, his friend Gerda sets out on an epic journey to rescue him. As she searches, she encounters a series of strangers to whom she relays her plight. Charmed by her story and her innocence, each of them helps Gerda, so that at last she is able to find the Snow Queen’s icy palace. But at the end of her epic journey, will Gerda manage to set Kay free?
The Baby In The Hat
A simple, singsong text and child-friendly illustrations tell an amusing tale of a baby saved and an adventurous hero born. When you’ve caught a baby in a hat, what else is there to do but to sail all over the world and return, with treasure in your trunk, to fall in love?Once again, the inimitable Allan Ahlberg offers a tale full of energy and fun. Paired with André Amstutz’s charming illustrations, this is a story sure to be read over and over again. And it’s all true.
Nathan Fox: Dangerous Times
Sir Francis Walsingham, England’s spymaster general, has eyes and ears all over the world. His secret service protects Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth—and ensures the might of all of England. Now he has a new recruit. Fourteen-year-old Nathan Fox is an actor in the same company as young Will Shakespeare. His life in the theater has taught him a thing or two about disguises and deception. But nothing can prepare Nathan for the shadowy world he’s about to enter now. Nathan is trained in swordplay and street fighting, code breaking and escapes. Then he’s paired with fearless spy John Pearce for his first mission: a journey to Venice to forge an alliance against the powerful King of Spain. Posing as master and servant, Nathan and Pearce move smoothly through Venetian society… until they cross paths with the great General Othello. Soon they become entangled in his tragic love affair with a young noblewoman, Desdemona. Nathan’s new life holds more action and more drama than he ever saw on a stage. But will he ever survive to tell Will Shakespeare this tale?
Tyrannosaurus Drip
The duckbill dinosaurs live across the river from the T-Rex’s. The duckbills are peaceful plant-eaters. The T’s are scary meat-eaters. When a duckbill egg hatches in the T’s nest, both the new baby and the T-Rex family must try very hard to get along. But the little dinosaur, nicknamed Drip by his new family, soon proves he’s not such a drip after all—in fact, he’s a real hero! Dinosaur enthusiasts of all ages will cheer for Drip in this timeless story about little versus big, by the author of the beloved and bestselling picture book, The Gruffalo.
My Secret War Diary, by Flossie Albright: My History of the Second World War 1939-1945
When nine-year-old Flossie starts her diary and scrapbook on July 27, 1939, her mother has already died and her father has just joined the Dorsetshire Regiment. The Second World War ends for Flossie on August 14, 1945, when her father comes home.
Best Friends
Gemma and Alice have been best friends since they were born on the same day in the same hospital—it doesn’t matter that Gemma loves soccer while Alice prefers drawing, or that Gemma is always getting into trouble while Alice is a model student and daughter. But when Alice has to move to Scotland with her family, their friendship is put to the test. Is Best Friends Forever stronger than five hundred miles? Readers will relate to the heroic efforts the girls make to maintain their friendship and the small disasters of ‘tween life that they encounter along the way.
Escape to the Forest: Based on a True Story of the Holocaust
When the Nazis invade Poland, nothing is safe anymore. Ten-year-old Sarah and her family must leave their home and live in a Jewish ghetto surrounded by barbed wire. There, life is a nightmare of cold and hunger where Nazi soldiers kill Jews at will. But Sarah still hears stories that give her hope–stories about a man who lives in the nearby forest, fighting the Nazis and sheltering the Jews. Sarah’s brother thinks they should try to escape to the forest. Her parents think they will be safer where they are. Sarah doesn’t know who is right. But as life in the ghetto grows worse and worse, the forest may be their only hope. Based on a true story of life during the Holocaust, this is a heartrending novel of one family’s struggle to survive.