But do you know Maria?      With gorgeous, Peruvian-inspired illustrations and English and Spanish retellings, Angela Dominguez gives a fresh new twist to the classic rhyme. Maria and her mischievous little llama will steal your heart.

    But where do butterflies come from? How are they born? What do they eat--and how? With a simple, rhyming text and glorious color-drenched collage, Lois Ehlert provides clear answers to these and other questions as she follows the life cycle of four common butterflies, from their beginnings as tiny hidden eggs and hungry caterpillars to their transformation into full-grown butterflies. Complete with butterfly and flower facts and identification tips, as well as a guide to planting a butterfly garden, this butterfly book is like no other.

    Glorious illustrations of water, sun, and sky accompany brief, evocative verses, making this a perfect keepsake of a seaside vacation or a striking introduction to the pleasures of a day by the ocean.Pam Muñoz Ryan drew on her children's and her own experiences of the ocean in writing the poetic text of Hello Ocean. She is the author of many books for children, including The Flag We Love, California, Here We Come!, Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride (Scholastic), and Esperanza Rising (Scholastic). She lives in Leucadia, California.Mark Astrella lived by both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans while illustrating this book. He is the illustrator of The Desert Alphabet Book and The Butterfly Alphabet Book. He now lives in Hawaii.

    Four friends, three big and one little, are out for a walk. Suddenly, they spot it—a beautiful bird perched high in a tree! They simply MUST have it and—SHH!—they have a PLAN. So they tip-toe, tip-toe very slowly, nets poised—"Ready one ... ready two ... ready three ... GO!" But, at the turn of the page, we find a ridiculous bunch of very tangled characters and a blissfully oblivious bird, flying away.