Kindergarten-Grade 4–Paper-collage whiz Jenkins returns to the space art he used to such breathtaking effect in Looking Down (Houghton, 2003), but here he looks up: at the entire solar system, and, briefly, beyond. The text, written by his physicist father, provides a nearly number-free scattering of basic facts, beginning with an overview of the system, depicting planets and major moons from the Sun on out, then closing with spreads on space travel, and the idea of life on other planets. In alternating close-ups and pages of smaller scenes, the artist overlays pieces of cut, painted, crumpled, or otherwise worked papers for dramatic evocations of swirling clouds, airless expanses of rocky rubble, storms, volcanoes, spacecraft, and more. Unfortunately, the beauty here is sometimes only skin deep; the volcano Maxwell Mons, for instance, is incorrectly placed on Mars rather than Venus, and the clean look of one view of the solar system is achieved by leaving out the asteroid belt, and assigning Pluto to a wro

Jemima Puddle-duck can't find her ducklings! Join Peter Rabbit as he helps Jemima Puddle-duck look for them and then take them back to the farm. Features a big round sound button toddlers will love to press to hear a quacking noise. Images are accompanied by charming rhyming text.

Here in lyrical prose is the story of the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the words that became the national anthem of the United States. This flag, which came to be known as the Star-Spangled Banner, also inspired author Susan Campbell Bartoletti, who, upon seeing it at the Smithsonian Institution, became curious about the hands that had sewn it. Here is her story of the early days of this flag as seen through the eyes of young Caroline Pickersgill, the daughter of an important flag maker, Mary Pickersgill, and the granddaughter of a flag maker for General George Washington’s Continental Army. It is also a story about how a symbol motivates action and emotion, brings people together, and inspires courage and hope.

In simple, straightforward text and marvelously expressive pictures, the author and photographer have captured the thoughts and feelings of one small boy. Whether he is proud or scared, lonely or excited, his face mirrors his emotion with the wonderful directness of childhood.

It’s Fairy Friendship Week, so when Candytuft’s recipe book gets ruined, she wonders how she’ll create her delicious sweets for all the other Flower Fairies. Worse than that, someone’s up to no good and seems determined to spoil the special week for everyone. Can Candytuft find out who’s responsible for the havoc? And will she ever succeed in making a new batch of enchanted treats for her friends?

"Ten minutes till bedtime!" Father announces from behind his newspaper. Out a picture window, his son and his son's pet hamster can see a hamster family (with kids numbered 1 to 10) approaching the house. "All aboard!" shouts the boy's prized pet, as his puzzled owner opens the door and the hamster tourists are loaded onto the special trolley. What the humans at 1 Hoppin Place don't know is that their cherished family pet has advertised on the Web (www.hamstertours.com) for a "10-Minute Bedtime Tour," and the hordes have only just begun to descend. "Nine minutes till bedtime," Father insists, oblivious to the burgeoning hamster parade. At the 8-minute marker, the hamsters and the boy are in the kitchen for a pre-bedtime snack. One little guy is standing on top of a fruit bowl, lowering a cherry cluster with a string and paper clip. Hamster number 10 is trying to feed an animal cracker to the boy's fuzzy bedroom slipper. "Seven minutes till bedtime!" reminds Father as creative tooth-brushing progresses.

Come along as Strawberry and her friends help the Sandman save the Dream Factory from the villainous Purple Pie Man and Sour Grapes! This Sticker Stories title has big, inviting scenes to decorate and over 75 reusable stickers so little girls can experience the Sweet Dreams movie again and again.

Today is the community picnic and Cocoa Mole gets to eat as much as he wants. But when it is time for all the animals to play, Cocoa is too full to join them. He falls asleep and journeys into the world of dreams. Munchie Monkeys appear and feverishly dance around him, tempting him to eat even more yummy treats. In this whimsical, humorous and charming story, Cocoa discovers that being with his friends is more fun than stuffing himself.

Spooky Mad Libs includes three of our best-selling monster-themed Mad Libs-all in one frightfully funny book! frightfully funny book! If you have just heard someone say……

Ages 4-8. In this world record book of natural history, Jenkins identifies and describes places such as the planet's deepest lake, highest mountain, most active volcano, the most extreme tides, and the places designated the hottest, the coldest, the wettest, the driest, and the windiest on Earth. Each spread features a distinctive collage of cut-and-torn papers, which vary in texture and hue. Silhouetted forms provide dramatic focal points in the compositions. Each spread includes a couple of lines of text, supplemented with more information in smaller type and inset maps and diagrams that help the reader visualize just how high, deep, or wet the subject is in comparison with others of its kind. Highly effective visual education for the classroom or for young browsers intrigued by superlatives. Carolyn Phelan --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Come along for this hilarious junior novelization of Mr.Bean’s Holiday.With 16 full-color screen grabs illustrating the story and funny,easy text,young readers will get to relive all the action,friendship,and comedy of the movie!

Dr. Robert Mason, the current recipient of the National Science Foundation"s Young Investigator Award, has been studying a mysterious phenomenon for over fifteen years: the reemergence of tens of thousands of red-sided garter snakes — the world"s largest concentration of snakes — after a winter spent in a state of suspended animation in subterranean caverns. This gathering each spring in the forests of Manitoba, Canada, is one of the most extraordinary events of the natural world and is the subject of study for Dr. Mason, a.k.a. the Snake Scientist.

From Publishers Weekly From the opening lines (Sun sizzled. Hair frizzled), Spinelli (Summerhouse Time) jauntily establishes the theme for this tale of one sweltering week in the town of Lumberville, long before the advent of air conditioners. Beginning on a blistering Monday, the day-by-day chronicle reveals how residents cope. Abigail Blue and her brother Ralphie open a lemonade stand, but two days later forgot about the lemonade and just sold ice. Lottie Mims takes four cold showers one day and on the next wore her bathing suit to clean house. Caldecott Honor artist Lewin's (Click, Clack, Moo) amusing assemblage of brush, ink and watercolor images portray the resourceful ways the townsfolk try to beat the heat. On Saturday night, everyone—whether in a bed or on a rooftop or on a fire escape or in a tent or near the river—everyone... had the exact same dream. A spread depicting that dream rounds up playful portraits of the smiling citizens frolicking in the rain. A power outage may be the closest

PreSchool-Grade 1–From the first page, where humans appear to be hanging upside down and a spider takes center stage (the scene is seen from the spider's perspective, as she clings to the ceiling), it's obvious that this is no ordinary tale. Monks begins with a visual bang and an unusual premise: a spider wants to be this family's pet. However, each time the arachnid tries to entertain them, they toss her outside, screaming, "Aaaarrgghh! Spider!" Disappointed, she stalks off to live in the backyard. When the family members peek out the back door and see the trees festooned with glittering webs, they decide she'd make the perfect pet. Although the resolution is a bit simplistic, the story provides a nice showcase for the art. The acrylic cartoons ably capture the wide-eyed, fearful expressions of the parents, their two children, dog, and cat when confronted with their visitor. A variety of patterned fabrics provide visual interest throughout, but the pièce de résistance is the backyard bejeweled with webs

Grade 1-3-Truss's picture-book version of her adult bestseller tackles the topic of commas and what can go wrong when they are misused.The title is derived from an old joke in which a panda misunderstands correct panda behavior after reading a poorly punctuated wildlife guide.Versions of two identically worded sentences are presented side by side,demonstrating the difference in meaning achieved when a comma is added or subtracted.Timmons's humorous watercolor cartoons bring the point home.In one spread,the sentence on the left(Look at that huge hot dog!)is illustrated with a gigantic sausage,while that on the right(Look at that huge,hot dog!)shows a tall,sweltering canine.The author cleverly selects examples with the potential for comical(and grammatically correct)revisions.Endnotes elaborate on comma usage in more technical terms.While a title on grammar may need hand selling,both read-aloud audiences and independent readers will discover the potent possibilities of punctuation.More specific than Robin Pulve

Wolf Christmas is a Marshall Cavendish publication.