Willy’s Stories

Every week, Willy walks through an ordinary-looking set of doors and straight into an adventure. Where will those doors lead him today—to a mysterious desert island with footprints in the sand? Down a deep, dark rabbit hole full of curious objects? Or perhaps aboard a pirate ship to stand face-to-face with Captain Hook?

The Lie Tree

On an island off the south coast of Victorian England, fourteen-year-old Faith investigates the mysterious death of her father, who was involved in a scandal, and discovers a tree that feeds upon lies and gives those who eat its fruit visions of truth.

Featured in WOW Review Volume IX, Issue 3.

The First Drawing

Thirty thousand years ago, an imaginative child sees the shapes of animals in clouds and on the walls of the cave he shares with his family, but no one else can see them until he makes the world’s first drawing. Includes author’s note on cave drawings.

Join the discussion of The First Drawing as well as other books centered around relocation on our My Take/Your Take page.

Book

Books are one of humankind’s greatest forms of expression, and now Book, in a witty, idiosyncratic voice, tells us the inside story. A wonderfully eccentric character with strong opinions and a poetic turn of phrase, Book tells of a journey from papyrus scrolls to medieval manuscripts to printed paper and beyond—pondering, along the way, many bookish things, including the evolution of the alphabet, the library (known to Egyptians as “the healing place of the soul”), and even book burning.

Creaturepedia

Welcome to this collection of best-loved animals from all over the world, chosen for their special talents and characteristics, with fun illustrations by Adrienne Barman. Meet ‘the architects’, the ‘noisy neighbors’, the ‘homebodies’, the ‘forever faithfuls’, the ‘champions of forgetfulness’ and more in this alphabetically ordered encyclopedia.

Why Dogs Have Wet Noses

Comprised of fun and playfully surprising contemporary illustrations and a satisfying tall tale, Why Dogs Have Wet Noses is a refreshing and memorable take on an old story. Told with dry humor, this is a secular story of how, not long after the world began, it started to rain, and it was the kind of rain that pounds down and never stops. Wise as he was, a man named Noah decided to build a lifeboat, and he set about gathering as many kinds of creatures as he could think of. And he had the good sense to invite slugs, spiders, and the other slimy, creepy-crawly creatures that most people try to get rid of by spraying or stepping on. He also let a funny looking dog with a big soft nose trudge on board all by himself. Had he not done so, the Ark, as you may not know, would definitely have sunk.