A smear. A smudge. A tear. When you think you have made a mistake, think of it as an opportunity to make something beautiful! A life lesson that all parents want their children to learn: It’s OK to make a mistake. In fact, hooray for mistakes! A mistake is an adventure in creativity, a portal of discovery. A spill doesn’t ruin a drawing—not when it becomes the shape of a goofy animal. And an accidental tear in your paper? Don’t be upset about it when you can turn it into the roaring mouth of an alligator. An award winning, best-selling, one-of-a-kind interactive book, Beautiful Oops! shows young readers how every mistake is an opportunity to make something beautiful. A singular work of imagination, creativity, and paper engineering, Beautiful Oops! is filled with pop-ups, lift-the-flaps, tears, holes, overlays, bends, smudges, and even an accordion “telescope”—each demonstrating the magical transformation from blunder to wonder.

    Another winner from the author of My Heart Is Like a Zoo, Perfect Square, and Cat Tale!Five carpenter ants at home in their tree stump hear a noise. What is it? One ant thinks it is a hungry aardvark lurking outside the stump, just waiting to eat them. One ant makes a hole in the stump to see. Orange light floods the stump—it's not an aardvark, proclaims the ant chorus. It's orange! So what is lurking outside the stump? This very funny picture book features die-cut holes on almost every page, suspenseful page turns, a wonderful surprise ending, and an introduction to a rainbow of colors. It's an Orange Aardvark! is a tour de force for Michael Hall, the acclaimed and bestselling creator of My Heart Is Like a Zoo, Perfect Square, and Cat Tale.

    When Zoey decides to turn the barn into a school and become a teacher, everyone in the barnyard learns that the best part of school is using your imagination.From the hilarious author-illustrator duo that brought you Chicken in Space, this story about playful approaches to activities like reading, math, and recess will inspire any young adventurer to get excited for school.

    He is demanding fair and equal treatment! The letters (more or less) agree to go backwards, but it's not long before P has some ideas of his own. And so does H, for that matter. In fact, it seems as if almost every letter has a different opinion about how the alphabet should be arranged. It's chaos! It's pandemonium! And it's definitely not as easy as A-B-C! Filled with visually humorous details, Bob Kolar's colorful illustrations are the perfect foil for Alethea Kontis's snappy story about the comic confusion that comes when the letters of the alphabet, like a class of unruly children, step out of order and show that each one has a mind of its own.

    . . your favorite teacher! This humorous new book in the beloved HOW TO . . . series takes readers through a fun and busy school year. Written in tongue-in-cheek instructional style, a class of adorable students gives tips and tricks for getting a teacher ready for the first day of school, and all the events and milestones that will follow (picture day, holiday concert, the 100th day of school, field day!). And along the way, children will see that getting their teacher ready is really getting themselves ready. Filled with charming role-reversal humor, this is a playful and heartwarming celebration of teachers and students, and the perfect gift for back-to-school readiness or graduation. Praise for the HOW TO . . . books: A new hit this year is How to Catch Santa. . . . The picture book offers lighthearted tips on how kids can steal a glimpse of Mr. Elusive, aka Santa. USA Today (How to Catch Santa) Belongs on the shelf of every kid who loves a grandparent. The Salt Lake Tribune (How to Babysit a Grandpa) The charm of its premise and the clear bond between the generations will have kids and grandparents giggling together. School Library Journal (How to Babysit a Grandma)"

    More fun dinosaur antics await. These prehistoric pupils are in a class of their own! As in their previous books, Jane Yolen and Mark Teague capture children's rambunctious natures with playful read-aloud verse and wonderfully amusing pictures.

    Betty refuses to choose just one and throws a tantrum when she learns the alternative is to get nothing. Full color.

    Milk's dad gave her a sparkly new backpack and told her that she was the creme de la creme, but most of the other kids don't seem to agree. In fact, some of her new classmates think Milk is just little a bit spoiled. . . .In this latest hilarious picture book from Terry Border, our food friends go to school and learn that it's not just Milk that's the creme de la creme. Some other food can be just as sweet.Praise for Terry Border's picture books:Happy Birthday, Cupcake!"As in his earlier picture book, Border's characters are skillfully crafted food items with basic wire limbs arranged in simple landscapes....Preschoolers will be delighted with the visual mayhem."--Kirkus Reviews Peanut Butter & Cupcake:"Border’s witty food comedy will lure children who are hungry for clever visual entertainment."--Publishers Weekly"[Z]any creative photographs. [A] read-aloud hit."--School Library Journal

    . . . Suddenly he feels nervous. His tummy hurts, and he would rather stay home.But Oliver isn't convinced. What if the first day is really fun? What if it's the start of an exciting year?In this charming story of first-day jitters, acclaimed author and illustrator Mike Wohnoutka perfectly captures the mixed emotions felt by kids and their parents when big changes are afoot.

    That'll teach Clunk to have a pen pal from Earth-or so our intrepid narrator thinks. But then Clunk sends him a Zoid, an exasperating Zoid that follows him everywhere. After swapping dirty socks, three Forps, some old lasagna, a weird glob, and a string of Christmas lights, our hero seems to be having . . . could it be . . . fun? But then: Clunk stops sending stuff. Oh no! Earth to Clunk . . . ? Is he too busy being bossed around by our hero's big sister? Will her ever send another package again? Maybe-or maybe not. More hilarious surprises await! Deadpan comedy, vibrant artwork (a bit Calvin & Hobbes, a bit Eloise), a warm friendship theme, and an extraordinary surprise ending will have kids laughing all the way back to the first page of this sweet-in-spite-of-itself story.

    One blustery day a big gust of wind sweeps down and scoops up leaves,twigs and . . . Peggy! The wind blows Peggy into the city, where she discovers strange new things, but how will she find her way back home?

    Feed your craving for a hilarious, heart-warming story with Crab Cake. Humorous, intricate illustrations are perfect to engage readers aged 3-7 while teaching gentle lessons of civic engagement and rallying together as a community. Under the sea, fish do what fish do: Seahorse hides, Pufferfish puffs up, Parrotfish crunches coral, and Crab . . . bakes cakes?      Scallop swims, Dolphin blows bubbles, and . . . Crab bakes cakes.      And so life goes on, until one night when everything changes with a splash!      In the face of total disaster, can Crab's small, brave act help the community come together and carry on?

    You see, his teacher is a monster.But when Bobby runs into his teacher outside of school, he learns there is more to her than meets the eye.

    Just imagine all the fun things to learn and experience! And who better than a pirate captain to drive the bus to school? He's ready to share all the rules one needs to know to ride the bus and to get along with mates at school. But with the anticipation of the first day of school there also comes a bit of anxiety. And it turns out that being a big, blustery pirate captain is no guarantee against feeling insecure and a little frightened in strange and uncomfortable situations. Who can help a rough and tough pirate captain get over his fears and back to driving the school bus? Using humor and pirate-speak, Kindergarrrten Bus addresses some of the concerns and anxiety that many children feel on their first day of school or at the start of any new undertaking.

    in full color. A baffled youngster awakens one morning to findeverything's out of place, but no one seems to notice! Beginning readers willhave fun discovering all the wacky things wrong on each page while sharpeningtheir ability to observe, as well as to read.