PreS. There can never be enough truck books for some preschoolers, and those who feel that way are sure to love this one--for the sound and rhythm of the words as well as clear, brightly colored pictures of machines in action. As a boy and his mom watch the activity at a building site, the child hears the pounding of the huge machines. Digger goes "Grrr-clank! Grr-clank! Grrr-clank-clank!"; "Flatbed backs and grunts, then backs and grunts some more"; Cement Mixer rumbles and grumbles. The workmen are Digger's helpers, and the pictures show them climbing and clanging, welding and hammering. When all the work is done, there is a new community center for everyone. After a read-aloud, toddlers will want to play out the construction action again and again.

Benny thinks hes the best——，best at everything.He is such a big shot!But when Benny gets to camp, hes not very good at anything.When some capers get into trouble,can Benny be the best at saving the day?

The creators of Brothers of the Knight here offer an inspirational story of a hopeful young ballet dancer who complains of her too-big feet and too-long legs: "I was too big for the boys to pick up, and too tall to be in line with the other girls. So I watched from backstage, dancing in the wings, hoping that if I just kept dancing and trying, it would be my turn to dance in the spotlight." Though her brother and several of her peers constantly razz her, Sassy's uncle encourages her to audition for a role in a summer dance festival, asserting, "All you gotta do to make your mark on the world is walk into a room." The director of the festival echoes this sentiment when he announcesAin the book's foreseeable denouementAthat Sassy has landed a place in his program. Allen's wordy narrative occasionally tries too hard to be hip (featuring such slang put-downs as "Your mama" and "Talk to the hand"), but this tale may well boost the confidence of youngsters who share Sassy's lack of self-assuredness. Nelson's animat

"My name is King. I am a dog. I am also a detective." King has a very big mystery to solve. His family is missing, and he's been put in the P-O-U-N-D. Why doesn't his beloved human (Kayla) come to get him? When King is adopted by Connor and his mom, things get more confusing. The new family calls him Buddy! And just as Connor and Buddy start to get acquainted, Connor disappears! Buddy (aka King) has big problems to solve, but with some help from his friend Mouse (a very large dog) and the mysterious cat with no name, he shows what a smart, brave dog can do. Mystery fans and dog lovers will be swept up in Dori Hillestad Butler's funny, satisfying story... and left eager for Buddy's next adventure.

Clifford visits Sports Day and joins in the fun.

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.

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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.

The official, fully authorized full-color guide to the characters, places, and landscapes of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth as depicted in The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.Fully illustrated with almost 300 color photographs, including stunning new images from the extended director's versions of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, and exclusive "first-look" shots from The Return of the King, this Complete Visual Companion now tells the whole tale of The Lord of the Rings in sumptuous detail.The many characters, creatures, and strange lands of Middle-earth encountered by the Fellowship of the Ring in their epic journey are here brought to life: from the magical Elven realms of Rivendell and Lothlorien to the abandoned Dwarven kingdom of Moria; from the wizard Saruman's stronghold at Isengard to the land of the Horse-lords, Rohan; from their last-ditch fortress at Helm's Deep to Minas Tirith, the city-kingdom of the proud Men of Gondor; from the haunted Paths of the Dead to the battlefields of Pelen

PreSchool-Grade 1. Froggy wakes from hibernation in the middle of the winter. Despite his mother's urgings to go back to sleep, he is determined to go out and play. He puts on different articles of clothing, each with its own fun sound effect. Each time he ventures out, his mother reminds him that he has forgotten something, prompting him to go back inside, undress, and start again. He becomes so exhausted that he decides it is easier to just stay asleep. This story is just as hilarious in Spanish as it is in English. Storytellers will enjoy making sounds that will encourage young listeners to participate in the telling. The cartoonlike illustrations and funny facial expressions make this a wonderful read-aloud.?Diane Tureski, New York Public Library Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Where but under the sea can you find such a rainbow of brilliantly colored creatures?This imaginative coloring book iS filled with schools of exotic tropical fish bearing graceful patterns of spots and stripes．And many are positioned against intricate backgrounds--waves of sea grass and mounds of coral-that provide an extra challenge．You may choose to color the designs realistically or personalize them with your own imagination． Created by award．winning artist/designer Ruth Heller,DESIGNS FOR CoLoRING are unique among coloring books．The high-quality paper is suitable for use with crayons，felt．tipped pens，water paints，pencils，or pastels．You can use bold，bright colors，or lighter,subtler shades．You may even want to flame an especially pleasing page—or transter a pattern to a piece of embroidery,needlepoint，pottery,or mosaic．

After months of searching, not to mention leading a pride of escaped circus lions through Europe and all the way back to Africa, Catspeaker Charlie Ashanti has finally been reunited with his parents—and a long-lost relative with a huge secret to reveal. But their family reunion doesn't last long. Kidnapped and thrown in a boat, Charlie finds himself alone and bound for who knows where. Charlie's parents and his faithful lion friends are in hot pursuit, but can Charlie outwit his captor and topple the Corporacy's wicked enterprise? That's the plan, and Charlie intends to pull it off—no matter the cost.

Brie is in love with Lanc me Juicy Tubes, Louis Vuitton accessories, and her gay best friend Charlie, who is in love with 1960s pop art, 1980s teen movies, and serial heartbreaker Walker, who has ever only been in love with his VW Bug, until he meets Daisy . . . who is too busy hating everyone to know what love is. Set in London, this girl-loves-boy-loves-boy-loves-girl romp is set against a theatrical production of The Taming of the Shrew, and features enough on- and off-stage drama to satisfy teens looking for a beach read—or a read all year round.

After Rose’s flower is destroyed she must leave her garden and search for a new home and new friends. Lonely and frightened, she discovers an old overgrown thicket in the corner of a garden where no other Flower Fairy dares to go. But it will take all of Rose’s fairy power to make this flower bloom again and reveal the very special secret it hides in time for the Queen of the Meadow’s visit.

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