Mr. King likes new things. When his stuff gets the slightest bit old, he just tosses it into the pond. But when a pond monster frightens Mr. King, he must think of new ways to deal with old messes — with delightful results!
Mr. King’s Things
Animals
Red Knit Cap Girl
With the help of their forest friends and the advice of wise Mr. Owl, Red Knit Cap Girl and White Bunny, who are on a quest to find a way to talk to the Moon, learn that they need only to wait and listen quietly to make their wish come true.
Toads on Toast
Mamma Toad does everything she can think of to save her unruly brood from Fox’s frying pan, including offering up herself, and eventually persuades Fox to try her own secret recipe for Toad-in-a-Hole, a tasty treat that they all end up enjoying together. The secret? No toads!
Spike: The Mixed-Up Monster
While Spike, a tiny axolotl salamander, practices being the monster he believes he is, other animals call him cute and funny but when a gila monster arrives and the other creatures hide, Spike shows his true nature.
One Gorilla: A Counting Book
What better attention-getter for small children than primates in all their variety? And who better to render them than Anthony Browne? In this elegant counting book, the author-illustrator outdoes himself with a vivid presentation of primates from gorillas to gibbons, macaques to mandrills, ring-tailed lemurs to spider monkeys. With his striking palette, exquisite attention to detail, and quirky flair for facial expressions, Anthony Browne slyly extends the basic number concept into a look at similarities and differences — portraying an extended family we can count ourselves part of.
Annie and the Wild Animals
When her cat disappears during winter, Annie searches for a new pet among the woodland animals until her beloved Taffy reappears with a surprise in the spring.
It’s Our Nature
Believing that animals have feelings, Orozco suggests that humans could learn how to live more harmoniously by looking at how various creatures behave. She gives 10 examples of how specific animals demonstrate tolerance, responsibility, generosity, community, communication, trust, commitment, altruism, and brotherhood. For instance, female elephants generously nurse and protect younger elephants even if the babies are not their own. Wildebeests tolerate zebras that mix in with their herds for protection from predators. Other animals represented include the howler monkey, flamingo, dolphin, armadillo, crocodile, octopus, penguin, and wolf. Each behavior is explained on a spread, accompanied by a simple illustration. Introduces children to different traits that contribute to congenial living and is appropriate for group sharing or individual browsing and emphasizes humans learning from animal behaviors.
One White Dolphin
When a baby albino dolphin caught in old fishing netting washes ashore, Paralympics sailing hopeful Felix and English school girl Kara work with veterinarians and specialists to save and reunite the dolphin with her mother, setting off a chain of events that might just save the reef from the environmental effects of proposed dredging.
Daisy Dawson on the Farm
Everyday adventures with a girl who can talk to animals! The weather is hot, hot, hot, and the farm animals are getting grumpy. The pigs are arguing with the chickens, and the ducks and newts are sad because their pond has dried up. Where will the water animals live? Luckily, they have the help of Daisy Dawson, but it may take the elegant and snooty cat Trixie to make the rain fall at last. Warm up to the fifth adventure featuring Daisy Dawson, the ordinary girl with an extraordinary gift: she can talk to and understand animals!
Gods and Warriors.
In the turbulent world of the Mediterranean Bronze Age, Hylas, a lowly twelve-year-old goatherd, thief, and outsider, journeys from the Greek mountains to Crete and Egypt, making allies with animals, battling tyranny, and withstanding the elemental powers of the gods of land and sea.