All he knows is his name: Steve. Fleeing through the night, pursued by half-glimpsed foes, Steve is rescued by the brave and beautiful Alex. Alex has appointed herself as the defender of a small village that finds itself under near-constant siege by the Mobs under the invincible Draugr: the Skeleton King. As Steve settles into his new home, learning the skills that will allow him to survive in this strange, hostile world, he continues to search for the answers to his own identity. At the same time, he faces other, more urgent questions: what does the Skeleton King want with them? How can they stop him from destroying the innocent villagers? What dark shadow lies across Alex’s past? And who is the grim, dark figure with the glowing white eyes? Other books in The Obsidian Cube series Book 2: The Skeleton King, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WKUZQ9S/ Book 3: The Mystery Revealed, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WKU5PQW/ Author’s Note: This short story is for your reading pleasure. The characters in this "Minecraft Diary Books" such as Steve, Endermen or Herobrine...etc are based on the Minecraft Game coming from Minecraft ®/TM & © 2009-2013 Mojang / Notch

    How I pity these readers. With all due respect, Lemony Snicket

    To help celebrate his birthday, Miss Clavel and the girls pay him a visit. When his mother won't let Pepito keep one of his birthday presents--a horse--Madeline is more than willing to help out.

    From an acorn of an idea about a real-life good Samaritan of yesteryear, the author has crafted a satisfying, if occasionally painful, novel that spans the lives of several fortunate and unfortunate young people of the day.The author has researched her backdrop very well, and the atmospheric sights and sounds of the time are both vivid and captivating. Readers will smell the dirty streets and close-living of urban London, revel in the summer splendour of the finest country houses and then flinch when the harshness of life for the poorest souls is revealed in uncomfortable detail.For in the late 1700s your circumstance of birth meant everything. Toby and Aaron may both find themselves living at Captain Thomas Coram's Hospital for parentless children, but their histories are as far apart as they could possibly be. Toby has been rescued from a life of slave labour in a faraway country; Aaron is the illegitimate son of the heir to a large country estate. They are watched over by Mish--a simple soul who has been with them since their arrival. His devotion to them is absolute, but his motives are not altogether straightforward. Could this curious man really be Meshak, the son of a wicked child-killer who was hanged at the gallows for his crimes?Coram Boy is a glorious web of changing fortunes and subtle intrigues. There is tragedy and corruption, hope and evil. Sometimes brutal and sometimes unceasingly bleak, the genre of historical fiction has rarely been this good. It's undoubtedly the kind of book that wins awards. (Age 12 and over) --John McLay

    So wrong. Leave it to Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell (with a little help from Dr. Seuss) to create an entirely new alphabet beginning with Z! This rhyming picture book introduces twenty new letters and the creatures that one can spell with them. Discover (and spell) such wonderfully Seussian creations as the Yuzz-a-ma-Tuzz and the High Gargel-orum. Readers young and old will be giggling from beginning to end . . . or should we say, from Yuzz to Hi!

    First published in 1921, the poem's message about the individual worth of those often overlooked strikes a familiar chord in a society struggling to come to terms with its own victims of homelessness, drug abuse, and alienation.The poem is made new with the addition of Greg Newbold's illustrations. Newbold's images -- which are rich in detail, and made even more so by his use of color and light and his painterly style -- evoke a bygone era that is old-fashioned, small-town, pleasantly nostalgic. Newbold's work in Touch of the Master's Hand has already been recognized by the Society of Illustrators and Communication Arts magazine with a 1996 Award of Merit.

    Serendipity books have warmed the hearts of young and old for over two decades, becoming classics in children's literature.Each beloved tale teaches youngsters how to deal with the challenges of their world, providing them with positive solutions to difficult problems.Join the whimsical characters in this beautifully illustrated collection as they entertain and inspire every reader.

    Luxuriously illustrated with 92 watercolors, it's a wonderful introduction to Alice's adventures as well as a splendid volume for collectors. Available for sale in the United States only.

    Two Jewish sisters from Vienna 12-year-old Stephie Steiner and 8-year-old Nellie are sent to Sweden to escape the Nazis. They expect to stay there six months, until their parents can flee to Amsterdam; then all four will go to America. But as the world war intensifies, the girls remain, each with her own host family, on a rugged island off the western coast of Sweden. Nellie quickly settles in to her new surroundings. She s happy with her foster family and soon favors the Swedish language over her native German. Not so for Stephie, who finds it hard to adapt; she feels stranded at the end of the world, with a foster mother who s as cold and unforgiving as the island itself. Her main worry, though, is her parents and whether she will ever see them again.

    The Browns are worried enough to take Paddington on his first trip to the hospital. From the moment he arrives on a stretcher with wheels, which he thinks is "very good value:' to the end of his overnight stay, Paddington takes it all in with curiosity and wonderment ... along with a little apprehension! But the kind nurses and doctors, and even the patients themselves, help Paddington see that the hospital isn't as scary a place as it first seems. At the end of this gentle, reassuring story, Paddington's arm is set straight and so is Paddington when he discovers that even the hospital food isn't as bad as he thought it would be!For over forty years, Paddington Bear has charmed young readers with his earnest intentions and humorous misadventures. Now Michael Bond's new stories, with warm, charming illustrations by R. W. Alley, bring this classic character into the hearts of another generation of fans.

    Written and illustrated by some of the best children's book authors and artist,Little Golden Books are known by their gold-foil binding and by the pleasure they bring to children.

    This is a guide to conquering the Yuletide season! That's right, it is time to take a stand - don't suffer through another year of brussels sprouts, gift-wrapped socks and slobbery kisses from great aunts who forget to put their teeth in. Take control of your Christmas and put the happy back in your holiday, using the handy hints, games and inspiring stories within this book.

    The Shy Little Kitten, with illustrations by the renowned Gustaf Tenggren.

    And that's when the fun begins. Father Bear gets to Little Bear's room, but Little Bear is missing! Little readers will see him hiding in the MOST obvious place but Father Bear cannot seem to find him. Is he under the stove? Is he in the garden? Is he in the woodbox? Only when Father Bear walks past the mirror does the silliness end, and in a very tasty way. With this, one of the most charming bedtime tales ever, Richard Scarry has once again proven his timeless appeal.

    He's in charge of making Halloweenland the coolest creepy place around. But when Jack suddenly grows bored with tricks and treats, he goes searching for new ways to celebrate...and he finds them in Christmas Town! Christmas, Jack decides, is just what Halloweenland -- and the world -- needs! He sets out to take over the role of Santa. But can anything good come of a tall and lanky skeleton dressed up as everyone's favorite jolly old elf? Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of the Walt Disney Company's most successful franchises, with a huge cult following and a loyal and growing fan base. This beautiful reissue of the book first released in 1993 is a surefire Halloween, Christmas, and year-round hit! The Nightmare Before Christmas is the first book that Tim Burton has written and illustrated.