Stine, Holly Black, Brett Helquist, and many more. You’ll never look at your closest door, your cat, your sock drawer, or even yourself in the mirror the same way again.

    First published in book clubs, this heartwarming story is released in trade just in time for the holidays.

    But when his wife’s office holiday party turns into a deadly hostage situation, he has to save her life before he can get home in time for Christmas!The unconventional fan-favorite movie Die Hard is now an illustrated storybook—complete with machine guns, European terrorists, and a cop who’s forced to rely on all his cunning and skills (and the help of a fellow officer) to save the day. Based on the classic "Night Before Christmas" poem and filled with whimsical illustrations, this cleverly reimagined homage is destined to become a holiday classic.*Contains adult material including violence and strong language. Reader discretion is advised. Ho-ho-ho.

    Summary: The wisdom of peace and the absurdity of fighting are demonstrated in seventeen stories and poems by outstanding authors of today such as Jean Fritz, Milton Meltzer, and Nancy Willard, illustrated by famous illustrators such as Paul Zelinsky, the Dillons, and Maurice Sendak.

    In the days of the Renaissance, Alberic leads the reader among the folds of a rich tapestry in his search for wisdom.

    She's a princess of the Mollusk tribe, rulers of beautiful Mollusk Island. And she has two fun friends - Aqua and Surf - who just happen to be mermaids.But Little Scallop is bored. Her warrior brothers are allowed to do exciting things, like spying on the pirates who live on the other side of the island. Little Scallop longs to have a real adventure. When Aqua and Surf invite her to go pearl-diving - even though she knows she shouldn't - she can't resist.So late one night, she sneaks off into forbidden waters with Aqua and Surf. That's when the trouble starts - they run into a fierce storm and a strange ship sailed by men who would love to capture a mermaid. Soon, Little Scallop is caught up in the adventure she always wanted. The question is: can she and her friends get out of it?

    This is a wonderful collection of all things that make being young, or young at heart, fun. Audio includes: Questions About the World, How to Play Stickball, The Rules of Soccer, Fishing, Famous Battles, Extraordinary Stories, Girls, First Aid, The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Seven Modern Wonders of the World The perfect book for every boy from eight to eighty.

    When a friend brings a runaway slave, Martin, to the house while her father and stepmother are away, Laura must decide what she believes -- and whether she should help Martin escape.

    For this superbly disquieting collection, he selected fourteen of his favorite tales by such authors as E.F. Benson, Rosemary Timperley, and Edith WhartonIncludes:"W.S." L.P. Hartley"Harry" Rosemary Timperley"The Corner Shop" Cynthia Asquith"In the Tube" E.F. Benson"Christmas Meeting" Rosemary Timperley"Elias and the Draug" Jonas Lie"Playmates" A.M. Burrage"Ringing the Changes" Robert Aickman"The Telephone" Mary Treadgold"The Ghost of a Hand" J. Sheridan Le Fanu"The Sweeper" A.M. Burrage"Afterward" Edith Wharton"On the Brighton Road" Richard Middleton"The Upper Berth" F. Marion Crawford

    M. Barrie's Peter Pan!In August 2004 the Special Trustees of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, who hold the copyright in Peter Pan, launched a worldwide search for a writer to create a sequel to J. M. Barrie's timeless masterpiece. Renowned and multi award-winning English author Geraldine McCaughrean won the honor to write this official sequel, Peter Pan in Scarlet. Illustrated by Scott M. Fischer and set in the 1930s, Peter Pan in Scarlet takes readers flying back to Neverland in an adventure filled with tension, danger, and swashbuckling derring-do!

    “Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers, look heavenward,” she writes, “and speak the word aloud. Peace.”Read by the poet at the lighting of the National Christmas Tree at the White House on December 1, 2005, Maya Angelou’s celebration of the “Glad Season” is a radiant affirmation of the goodness of life and a beautiful holiday gift for people of all faiths.

    And join Odysseus on his journey through murky waters, facing obstacles like the terrifying Scylla and whirring Charybdis, the beautiful enchantress Circe, and the land of the raging Cyclôpes. Using narrative threads from The Iliad and The Odyssey, Padraic Colum weaves a stunning adventure with all the drama and power that Homer intended.

    Now if only the dragonslayers could stop arguing long enough to face the greatest battle of all!

    This unforgettable tale, illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Barbara Cooney, has become a seasonal classic-a touching and joyful story about courage and the power of family.

    Book I has Mother Goose rhymes, as well as rhymes from Hungary, Denmark and China; ancient Norse and Greek myths; Aesop's fables; English fairy tales, including The Story of the Three Bears and Whittington and His Cat; and verse by Robert Louis Stevenson, Hilarie Belloc, and Dennis Lee. And there are wonderful stories by:-Margaret Wise Brown (Goodnight Moon)-Jean de Brunhoff (The Story of Babar the Little Elephant)-Marie Hall Ets (Play with Me)-Robert McCloskey (Make Way for Ducklings)-H.A. Rey (Curious George)-Ezra Jack Keats (Hi, Cat)-Judith Viorst (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day)-Else Holmelund Minarik (A Kiss for Little Bear)-Wanda G'ag (The Funny Thing)-Tomi Ungerer (The Three Robbers)Continuing the parade of children’s favorites that began in the first book, the beautifully illustrated companion volume opens with Gunter Spang’s marvelous The House in Sunflower Street and ends with the modern classics Where the Wild Things Are and Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak. In between there are fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, including Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel and Rumpelstiltskin; nonsense verse and limericks by Edward Lear, and wonderfully illustrated stories by Mitsumasa Anno (The King’s Flower) and Dr. Seuss (And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street).Readers will also meet some of the best-loved characters in children’s literature in:* The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter * The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren*Amos and Boris by William Steig* The Story about Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese* Mr. Gumpy’s Motor Car by John Burningham* Eeyore Has a Birthday and Gets Two Presents by A.A. Milne* The Stupids Step Out by Harry Allard * The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen* “Paddington Goes Underground,” from A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond.Designed so that readers can dip into the two books anywhere and find something delightful and entertaining, The World Treasury of Children’s Literature is one of the finest anthologies of its kind ever published. It is a collection that will be read and reread by everyone, who, like Clifton Fadiman, is still in awe of “the miracle of language.”