I come from a world of stories.A little girl sails her raft across a sea of words, arriving at the house of a small boy. She invites him to go away with her on an adventure into the world of stories... where, with only a little imaginaton, anything at all can happen. Irresistibly engaging characters by Oliver Jeffers set sail and chart their way through Sam Winston's fascinating typographical landscapes in this extraordinary ode to the power and promises of storytelling. Forty treasured children's classics and lullabies are featured in the pictures, providing endless opportunities for discovery, memories and sharing. Woven together by a simple story line, the one-of-a-kind illustrations in a A Child of Books provide an unforgettable reading experience that will inspire and encourage readers of all ages to explore, question, and imagine timeless stories of their own.

    When Curious George gets a new ball, he loves playing with it! But when he takes a peek out the window and sees a very small house, he becomes curious, so George ventures outside. This curiosity starts a comical chain of events that build up to taming a high-flying kite--with George attached to it! With vibrant signature Rey illustrations and easy-to-read text, this story is sure to delight readers young and old at story time.

    When the Princess learns what her father has done, she is horrified. But she is as clever as she is beautiful. Quickly, the Princess devises a plan to escape and, relying on her own spunk and good sense, ultimately marries the man she chooses for herself.

    The spunky girls in these ten entertaining and inspiring stories are much too busy saving the day to wait around for Prince Charming.

    In resourceful and humorous fashion, Elizabeth finds the dragon, outsmarts him, and rescues Ronald--who is less than pleased at her un-princess-like appearance. Full color.

    The spellbound frog is whisked off to the trolls' castle and the ungrateful lass loses her chance to marry a handsome prince until she creates a happy ending, having atoned for her mistake".--Publishers Weekly. Full color.

    Full of mischief (and then remorse), Peter has exploits that are delightfully recognizable to anyone who has children and will surely tickle yet another generation of young readers.Peter Cottontail's efforts to outwit the ever-hungry Reddy Fox lead to a number of whisker-thin escapes, and his fascination with the hibernation of some of his neighbors, such as Johnny Chuck, leads to his decision to hibernate . . . with riotous consequences.This reprint of the classic that was originally published in 1914 presents Burgess' classic style of telling a terrific tale while imparting information about the environment and its creatures.

    Zelinsky has once again with unmatched emotional authority, control of space, and narrativecapability brought forth a unique vision for an age-old tale. Few artists at work today can touch the level at which his paintings tell a story and exert their hold.Zelinsky's retelling of Rapunzel reaches back beyond the Grimms to a late-seventeenth-century French tale by Mlle. la Force, who based hers on the Neapolitan tale Petrosinella in a collection popular at the time. The artist understands the story's fundamentals to be about possessiveness, confinement, and separation, rather than about punishment and deprivation. Thus the tower the sorceress gives Rapunzel here is not a desolate, barren structure of denial but one of esoteric beauty on the outside and physical luxury within. And the world the artist creates through the elements in his paintings the palette, control of light, landscape, characters, architecture,interiors, costumes speaks to us not of an ugly witch who cruelly imprisons a beautiful young girl, but of a mother figure who powerfully resists her child's inevitable growth, and of a young woman and man who must struggle in the wilderness for the self-reliance that is the true beginningof their adulthood.As ever, and yet always somehow in newly arresting fashion, Paul O. Zelinsky's work thrillingly shows us the events of the story while guiding us beyond them to the truths that have made it endure.

    She wasn’t even remotely pretty, and the whole kingdom was in deep shock about it."Princess Rose doesn’t get any prettier as she grows up, but the kingdom does get over its shock. Everyone adores the skinny, buck-toothed princess, and she doesn’t mind her appearance—until the handsomest prince in the world comes looking for a bride. Despite warnings from her seafaring fairy godmother and a wise fool named Jasper, reckless Rose wishes for beauty. She gets her wish, and the prince, but finds neither is as nice as she had expected. The Ugly Princess and the Wise Fool is a 2003 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

    It has everything a classic epic tale should have: rags and riches, hags and heroism, magic and mystery, a curse and a quest, wicked trolls, a shape-shifting bear, and finally, a happy ending. Kate Greenaway Medalist P.J. Lynch has created a luminous backdrop worthy of this grand adventure, transporting readers to a world of fantasy and imagination.

    Frank Baum’s classic American fairy tale series.The first three books of the iconic Oz series, now in one collection! In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and her dog, Toto, find themselves in a strange land called Oz after their Kansas house is swept away by a cyclone. Here they meet the Munchkins and join the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion on an unforgettable journey to the Emerald City, where the all-powerful Wizard of Oz lives. Can he help Dorothy return home? In The Marvelous Land of Oz, a young boy named Tip escapes from a witch and sets out to explore land of Oz. Along the way, he meets the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, as well as some new friends like Jack Pumpkinhead and the Wooden Sawhorse. Eventually, Tip’s journey takes him to the Emerald City, where he realizes that his life will be changed forever. In Ozma of Oz, Dorothy is sailing to Australia when a huge storm washes her overboard. She only survives by clinging to a chicken crate. Eventually she and a yellow hen named Billina wash up on the magic shore of Ev where they meet the mechanical man Tik Tok. But Dorothy and Billina are taken prisoner by the evil Nome King who has captured the royal family of Ev. Only Ozma of Oz can save them, but will she be in time?

    Along with his young friend, Christopher Robin, Pooh delighted readers from the very beginning. His often befuddled perceptions and adorable insights won the hearts of everyone around him, including his close group of friends. From the energetic Tigger to the dismal Eeyore, A. A. Milne created a charming bunch, both entertaining and inspirational. These simple creatures often reflected a small piece of all of us: humble, silly, wise, cautious, creative, and full of life. Remember when Piglet did a very grand thing, or Eeyore's almost-forgotten birthday?Gorgeous watercolor illustrations from Ernest H. Shepard appear in all their glory. With beautiful colors and simple lines, these images hold their own as classics. The tales, filled with superb story lines and lessons, will continue to capture the hearts of new generations.

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    In a hotel in Paris one evening in 1879, Mark Twain sat with his young daughters, who begged their father for a story. After the girls chose a picture from a magazine to get started, Twain began telling them the tale of Johnny, a poor boy in possession of some magical seeds. Later, Twain would jot down some rough notes about the story, but the tale was left unfinished . . . until now. Plucked from the Mark Twain archive at the University of California at Berkeley, Twain’s notes now form the foundation of a fairy tale picked up over a century later. With only Twain’s fragmentary script and a story that stops partway as his guide, author Philip Stead has written a tale that imagines what might have been if Twain had fully realized this work: Johnny, forlorn and alone except for his pet chicken, meets a kind woman who gives him seeds that change his fortune, allowing him to speak with animals and sending him on a quest to rescue a stolen prince. In the face of a bullying tyrant king, Johnny and his animal friends come to understand that generosity, empathy, and quiet courage are gifts more precious in this world than power and gold. Illuminated by Erin Stead’s graceful, humorous, and achingly poignant artwork, this is a story that reaches through time and brings us a new book from America’s most legendary writer, envisioned by two of today’s most important names in children’s literature.

    They traveled far each day in their covered wagon, driving through tall grass until they found just the right spot for their new home. With the help of their kind neighbor, Mr. Edwards, Pa built a snug little house for the family in the middle of the wide-open prairie. Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books have been cherished by generations of readers. Now for the first time, the youngest readers can share her adventure in these very special picture books adapted from Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved story-books. Renee Graef's warm paintings, inspired by Garth Williams' classic Little House illustrations, bring Laura and her family lovingly to life.Renée Graef recieved her bachelor's degree in art from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She is the illustrator of teh paper dolls and the Kirsten books in the American Girls Collection. She is also an avid hat collector, with over 150 hats at last count. She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her huisband, Tim, and thier children, Maggie and Maxfeild.Join the Ingalls family as they pick a special spot on the prairie and build their snug log cabin home. Their new neighbor, Mr. Edwards, comes by to help, and after the hard work is through, everyone sings and dances to the joyful music of Pa's fiddle. Renee Graef's enchanting full-color illustrations, inspired by Garth William's classic artwork, bring Laura and her family lovingly to life in this eleventh title in the My First Little House Books series, adapted from Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved storybooks.