It's the beginning of a beautiful friendship!Told with a warm, cozy voice, the story is brought to life with adorable two-color illustrations. Filled with adventure and humor, this chapter book is perfect for sharing with kids just aging out of picture books and for newly independent readers.

    Some very odd things. On Monday, a piano rolls down the hill and traps his new friend Cyd in her mum's car. And then a truck tips a load of gravel on top of it. But don't worry—she's ok. Actually, Cyd finds it exciting though of course, she doesn't believe that this sort of thing happens to Archie every day—until they find themselves trapped in a house with a sedated lion trainer, and a very awake lion. Poor Archie! But as he soon discovers, if odd things have to happen to him, it's a lot better if they happen when Cyd's around. Join Archie and Cyd for a whole week's worth of completely surprising and outrageously funny escapades.

    With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!Alexander has just moved to a new town where he is about to uncover all sorts of monsters! He finds an old notebook with the word "DOOM" inscribed on the front cover. The Notebook of Doom, which Alexander now holds, contains top secret information about monsters! In this first book, Alexander goes up against spooky balloon goons--unique and twisted arm-waving balloon guys! This book is full of humor, engaging black-and-white illlustrations, and of course . . . monsters!

    The Fabled Stables house the rarest creatures in existence--all of them one-of-a-kind. Auggie's job is to care for these creatures, as well as track down and safely capture endangered magical beasts in the wild. Some mornings, he arrives to find an empty stall with the name of a new creature to rescue. One day, the Stables rearrange themselves out of the blue, creating a new stall. The sign over the gate says, "Wisp." But what is a wisp and where is it? All Auggie can see is a moonlit swamp stretching out before him. Then a hungry HOWLLLLLLL rings out in the darkness. It's up to Auggie to go into the swamp to find the wisp before it's too late.

    What he doesn’t have is a horse — until he meets Maybelline, that is, and then it’s love at first sight. Maybelline loves spaghetti and sweet nothings, and she loves Leroy, too. But when Leroy forgets the third and final rule of caring for Maybelline, disaster ensues. Can Leroy wrestle fate to the ground, rescue the horse of his heart, and lasso loneliness for good? Join Leroy, Maybelline, and a cast of familiar characters — Stella, Frank, Mrs. Watson, and everyone’s favorite porcine wonder, Mercy — for some hilarious and heartfelt horsing around on Deckawoo Drive.

    Louie and Ralphie are tough, tough, tough, just like Big Lou, and they’re going to prove it. But every time they try to show just how tough they are, the Ratso brothers end up accidentally doing good deeds instead. What’ll Big Lou do when he finds out they’ve been acting like softies all over the Big City?

    I am a scrambled-eggs-and-chocolate-milk type person.2. I have an audition for a TV commercial (which would be great if I were a tall-icy-drink type person.)3. I am in between best friends right now.4. I am worried that the audition will be a disaster. (See #1 and #3!)Jules doesn't want to ruin THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME, and she's willing to turn to anyone for help--even her know-it-all ex-best friend! If only that lovely new girl in class would turn out to be the new best friend of her dreams, maybe, just maybe, Jules will be ready for her close-up....

     " Our Friend Hedgehog feels like a modern-day Winnie the Pooh . It's so warm and full of joy and love. It's got classic written all over it." --Victoria Jamieson, Newbery Honor-winning author of Roller Girl Sometimes you make a friend, and it feels like you have known that friend your entire life. . . .Hedgehog lives on a teeny-tiny island with only her stuffed dog, Mutty, for company. When a great storm carries Mutty away, she embarks on a quest to find her friend. Following the trail of clues Mutty left behind, brave Hedgehog meets a wiggly Mole, a wordy Owl, a curmudgeonly Beaver, a scatterbrained Hen and Chicks, and a girl who's new to the neighborhood, Annika May. With bravery and teamwork, there's nothing that can stop these seven from finding Mutty, but along the way they discover something even more important: each other.The first book in a new series from Caldecott Honor winner Lauren Castillo, Our Friend Hedgehog: The Story of Us has the feel of a timeless classic, introducing an unforgettable cast of characters who will star in many more adventures to come.

    But now her wish has come true, and-switcheroo!-she keeps turning into other people and even animals! What is one ordinary third-grade girl with a really extraordinary problem to do? It's a good thing Katie is resourceful and smart enough to find a solution for every problem . . . no matter how much of a disaster she causes!Katie can't stand George, the class bully. He constantly picks on everyone, but he really torments Katie. One day, she can't stand it anymore, and she wishes she could be anyone but herself. What she doesn't see is the shooting star that flashes through the sky at that moment . . . catapulting Katie into a crazy series of adventures, starting the next day when she turns into the class hamster! Will she be trapped in a glass cage forever? Will she ever be a girl again?

    The doll is absolutely perfect, from her head to her toes. But Penny's doll needs a name. What should Penny call her?

    Everest? And just who is Jay Reynolds - the mysterious twenty-year-old tennis prodigy who appears out of nowhere to battle Rafael Nadal at the French Open and Roger Federer at Wimbledon and become the new hope of American tennis, possibly "the greatest of all time"? Award-winning mystery writer (Moses Wine series) and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter ("Enemies, A Love Story," "The Big Fix". "Bustin' Loose,"), Roger L. Simon answers these questions and more in THE GOAT, his first standalone novel in years. If you love sports, if you love life, if you'd like a second life, this book - funny, touching and sometimes scary, already talked about as the greatest novel about tennis ever written - is a page-turning, can't-put-down must. Called the greatest mystery writer of his generation by Ross Macdonald (Lew Archer) and Nicholas Meyer ("The Seven Percent Solution") Roger L. Simon has won or been nominated for multiple awards for his fiction by the Crime Writers of Great Britain and the Mystery Writers of America. As a screenwriter, he has received an Oscar nomination for his adaptation of Nobel Prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer's "Enemies, A Love Story" and written for such stars as Richard Pryor, Richard Dreyfuss and Angelica Huston. Also a journalist and columnist, Simon has written for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Real Clear Politics, PJMedia, and City Journal, among many others. He appears frequently as a commentator on talk radio and cable TV. What others have said about Roger L. Simon's work: "The writing, as always in Moses Wine books, is sharp, amusing, and sophisticated."  New York Times Book Review "Simon’s new novel about Moses Wine tops his prize-winning The Big Fix and The Straight Man." Publisher's Weekly "Roger Simon writes with humor and real energy. Nobody around is better at caricature." San Jose Mercury News "... he can be genuinely funny and, at times, even sensitive and touching." Washington Post Book World "Simon is a brilliant, classy writer..." Cosmopolitan

    She lives in her own cozy little home under the refrigerator of Mr. and Mrs. Peabody. Maybelle knows it's best to stay hidden away, but she simply adores food. Just once she would love to taste something yummy before it hits the floor!When the Peabodys invite a Very Important Guest for dinner, Maybelle can't resist. She takes a teeny taste—and splashes into the biggest adventure of her life!

    So Prince Tyrone, ruler of Fairylandia, drags in the obvious suspect: Wolfgang.The lone wolf has big teeth, sharp claws, no alibi -- and a single day to find the real culprit and clear his big bad name. When Wolf (reluctantly) teams up with the fourth Little Pig to crack the case, the Big Bad Detective Agency -- and an adventure way funnier than your average fairy tale -- is off to a howling start!

    Oh, and they also happen to be ghosts!Join Cleo, a happy-go-lucky kind of gal, and Fitz, her science-minded brother, as they laugh their way through eleven gut-busting stories, including exploring the beach with a new friend, enjoying some ice cream, playing baseball, and gazing at the stars.Jonathan Stutzman and Heather Fox, the creative team responsible for your favorite doomsday-prone Llama, team up again for a silly and heartwarming graphic novel that is perfect for newly independent readers and comics enthusiasts. The book highlights just how wonderful the world can be when you mix a little fun with some great friends.

    It’s big and old and far away from his friends and his life before. AND it’s haunted… or is it?Megabat was just napping on a papaya one day when he was stuffed in a box and shipped halfway across the world. Now he’s living in an old house far from home, feeling sorry for himself and accidentally scaring the people who live there. Daniel realizes it’s not a ghost in his new house. It’s a bat. And he can talk. And he’s actually kind of cute. Megabat realizes that not every human wants to whack him with a broom. This one shares his smooshfruit. Add some buttermelon, juice boxes, a light saber and a common enemy and you’ve got a new friendship in the making!