The Yellow Balloon

Writer and illustrator Charlotte Dematons brings the same enchanting look to this picture book that made her Worry Bear and Looking for Cinderella so successful. Lovely watercolors portray a great and diverse planet teeming with life at all times of day and night. People and animals of every shape, color, size, and costume are seen, busy at work and play. As the yellow balloon floats through many time periods – ancient, medieval, and contemporary – and realms both natural and supernatural, young readers can also look for the small blue car, the fakir on his flying carpet, and the scoundrel in prison garb. This story will fascinate young readers as they embark on a lively and fun-filled journey around the globe.

Rain

Sam wants to go out, but it’s pouring rain, so Granddad says they need to stay inside until the rain stops. Sam drinks hot chocolate and reads his books and dreams of adventures while Granddad does some paperwork. When Granddad needs to mail his letter, it’s time to go out despite the rain and floods and Sam and Granddad have a magical adventure. The follow up to the acclaimed Snow, this is the second title in a four-book series based on the weather from creator Sam Usher.

Aluta

For eighteen-year-old Charlotte, university life is better than she’d ever dreamed a sophisticated and generous roommate, the camaraderie of dorm living, parties, clubs and boyfriends. Most of all, Charlotte is exposed to new ideas, and in 1981 Ghana, this may be the most exciting and most dangerous adventure of all.

The Hill

Jared’s plane has crashed in the Alberta wilderness, and Kyle is first on the scene. When Jared insists on hiking up the highest hill in search of cell phone reception, Kyle hesitates; his Cree grandmother has always forbidden him to go near it. There’s no stopping Jared, though, so Kyle reluctantly follows.

Otto and the Secret Light of Christmas

One day Otto, an elfin adventurer, finds a postcard on the seashore showing pictures of beautiful sparkling lights in the night sky with the words, ‘The light of Christmas!’ If this ‘Christmas’ can brighten even the gloomiest Finnish winter, Otto decides he must find it.

Longbow Girl

Sixteen-year-old expert archer Merry Owen is desperate to save her family’s farm in Wales, in the shadow of the Black Castle, and when she finds a buried chest containing an ancient and hopefully valuable Welsh text, she hopes it will be the key to a fortune–and so it is, but not in the way she expected, for it sends her and her friend James de Courcy into past.

Fanny In France: Travel Adventures Of A Chefs Daughter, With Recipes

Fanny is a girl who knows a lot about food and cooking since she’s grown up in and around the famous restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. When Fanny’s mother, Alice Waters, the chef and owner of Chez Panisse, starts to watch her favorite old French movies, Fanny knows soon they’ll be packing their bags and traveling to France for a visit.