A delicious treat about America's favorite fruit is now available in a Spanish bilingual format. Ana grows and sells apples, and she makes cider and applesauce and muffins. A glossary helps kids learn the names of Ana's delicious ingredients in both languages. With tie-ins to math and science curricula and units on autumn, this book will be especially welcomed by teachers. Truly the pick of the crop!

Grade 4–6—Benjamin lives in a horrible orphanage where he is punished by having to use a toothbrush to clean out the moldy cooking pots. He can still remember his parents and the life he used to lead before they died. When a social worker stops by with a birthday cake for him, his life is changed with a single wish come true—that he will have unlimited wishes. While this is good news for Benjamin, it's bad for the world as it upsets a natural balance and opens the door for Curseworks to put an evil plan in place that will make curses so strong that they cannot be stopped. The premise of the book is imaginative, but the characters are one-dimensional, leaving the story feeling flat. The de*ions of the Wishworks Factory are vivid and filled with details. Unfortunately, the orphanage itself seems old-fashioned, and readers will be jolted to find that they are actually in the modern world of video games and televisions rather than a world of Victorian orphans in top hats.—Tasha Saecker, Menasha Publ

Pico’s father isn’t like the other fathers on Easter Island. Instead of building boats or hunting octopus, he sculpts the giant stone figures that he believes, in times of trouble, will rise and walk. Impossible, thinks Pico, until the Great Wave crashes into the island and Pico experiences firsthand the wonder of the stones. In this stunning tale of faith and the humbling power of nature, T. A. Barron and William Low envision life as it might have been on the mysterious Easter Island ……before the stones became the island’s only inhabitants.

From acclaimed photographer and famed lover of dogs Elliott Erwitt comes Woof, the most unintentionally persuasive advertisement for dog ownership there ever was. Erwitt's eye is unfailing, and his love for dogs is captured in each and every photo. Digging a hole, barking at a cat, jauntily carrying a stick—Erwitt takes these ordinary moments and makes them extraordinary. The humorist P. G. Wodehouse once said of Erwitt, 'There’s not a sitter in his gallery that doesn't melt the heart, and no beastly class distinctions, either. Thoroughbreds and mutts, they are all there." Add to that the level of respect Mr. Erwitt shows for his subjects: whether it be a scruffy little terrier pausing for a quick pant or a herding dog intensely focused on her flock, with one click of the shutter the individuality of each and every dog is conveyed and memorialized. Mostly new photographs, with a couple of old favorites sprinkled in for good measure, Woof is a celebration of dogs at their finest.

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.

For Seikei, the adopted son of the famous samurai Judge Ooka with a knack for solving mysteries, a trip home to see his real family isn’t cause to celebrate. His brother has become mixed up with local criminals who use the family’s tea shop as a front for a smuggling operation. His sister, meanwhile, has fallen in love with an apprentice to a puppet master who stands accused of murder. Somehow, Seikei senses the two are connected. His loyalties divided between his new family and his old, Seikei must find the real killer before it is too late. Set against the eerie backdrop of the old Japanese puppet theaters, where life-sized marionettes were controlled by black-cloaked men, Edgar Award-winners Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler render their most satisfying mystery to date.

First you hear the siren, then you see the lights. Soon, a red blur zooms by— it’s a truck of firefighters to the rescue! From practical jokes in the firehouse to legendary bravery, every detail of a firefighter’s life is fascinating. This picture book’s simple rousing text and playful illustrations allow even the youngest firefighter fans to follow their heroes through an ordinary day of cooking, laughing, putting out a fire and rescuing a beloved pet.

Julie Braverman is the coolest girl Julie Prodsky has ever met. She has no curfew, a to-die-for wardrobe and her mother is the "It's Better in the Bahammas"ad. During their freshman year at the High Schoolof Performing Arts in New York City, the previ-ously unexplored world of flirting ,freedom,and fashion is revealed to Julie P.througt the eyes of her new best friend .And learning the secret to Julie B.'s collection of Fiorcucci jeans-shoplifting-only makes julie P.ad-mire her.Before long,Julie P.has her own closet-ful of stolen lothing,and a new boyfriend.The julie P.'s conscience catches up with her. If she stops stealing,will her relationship with Julie B.come to and end?