. . for a small mouse. A new invention—the mechanical mousetrap—has caused all the mice but one to flee to America, the land of the free. But with cats guarding the steamships, trans-Atlantic crossings are no longer safe. In the bleakest of places . . . the one remaining mouse has a brilliant idea. He must learn to fly!Debut illustrator Torben Kuhlmann’s inventive tale and stunning illustrations will capture the imagination of readers—young and old—with the death-defying feats of this courageous young mouse

    Thankfully, the bestselling duo of author Laura Numeroff and illustrator Felicia Bond -- creators of If You Take a Mouse to the Movies and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie -- have teamed up to show us the hijinks a whiskered school guest could cause.Starting with asking for your lunchbox, this critter is set for mischief. The feisty mouse asks for a snack for later (cookies of course), a notebook, and pencils, and wants "to share your backpack, too." After he arrives at school, the pushy classmate tries his hand (make that paw) at math and writing on the blackboard, afterward whipping up a messy, pink science experiment and building a "little mouse house" from blocks. The schooltime antics don't stop there, but a busy mouse tends to get hungry after so much playtime. Naturally his snack is in the lunchbox, which is stored "in a safe place" with his new picture book inside.Following the whimsical style of their previous books, Numeroff and Bond have done it again. Their high-adrenaline mouse will have readers cheering while their eyes comb the illustrations for extra nibbles of fun. Although the book's main human character looks positively exhausted at the end, we can only holler for more of the little guy with the huge school spirit. Matt Warner

    Favorite stories by such beloved authors as James Marshall, Jean Van Leeuwen, and Harriet Ziefert are certain to attract readers to this series. Though the quality of stories in this series is uneven, some of them are superb. Like most other beginning-to-read series, Puffin Easy-to-Read is divided into reading levels. Level 1 uses sentences with clear and simple words and illustrations that help the reader understand the story line. Level 2 is the springboard for emerging readers: the stories use longer sentences, yet maintain a vocabulary easy enough for the child to feel comfortable on his or her own. Level 3 offers more challenging sentences and longer stories. Grade 2 - Grade 4.Starring in the school play means hard work, and being left in charge means keeping the class under control, but - uh-oh! - Fox thinks there's nothing to it. But will Fox retreat? Never!

    They dig, they plant, they play, they wait . . . and wait . . . until at last, the brown becomes a more hopeful shade of brown, a sign that spring may finally be on its way. Julie Fogliano's tender story of anticipation is brought to life by the distinctive illustrations Erin E. Stead, recipient of the 2011 Caldecott Medal.

    But everything Mulan does seems to turn out wrong. . . . Follow along with Mulan in this special Lunar New Year story that captures the unique sense of magic, imagination, and possibility that surrounds the holiday!

    Will the three mice find a way to play without something getting torn, ripped, or snatched away? Bestselling author Geoffrey Hayes returns to thrill us with a hilarious tale of tiny cousins who discover a game that can’t ever be ruined. Early readers will want to return over and over to this newest adventure of the charming mice, and learn from them how to embrace a solution rather than evade a problem.

    Three cookies. One problem. Hippo, Croc, and the Squirrels are determined to have equal cookies for all! But how? There are only three cookies . . . and four of them! They need to act fast before nervous Hippo breaks all the cookies into crumbs!

    The world around him is waking up, too, and he soon remembers all the other things he loves, like warm grass, berries, and rain. He's almost content, until, one day, he hears a welcome buzzing sound . . . and finally it is time for Bear to delight in the thing he relishes above all others--and it is as warm, golden, sweet, and good as he remembered.

    Work, work, work on a spaceship to take him home.Since landing on Earth, Otto has made many friends, but what Otto wants most is to visit his family. Will Otto’s spaceship take him up, up, up, so he can go, go, go?

    On Halloween, they would scare children and cast spells . . . but always from the ground. No witch ever thought of flying--no witch until Druscilla. Druscilla was an old witch with the loudest, creakiest knees anyone had ever heard. But she was determined not to let anything spoil her element of surprise. One Halloween, after many failed attempts at sneaking up on unsuspecting villagers, Druscilla made a discovery that changed the course of witch history.

    This gets him evicted from his parents’ home at Sam’s Sandwich Shop. Sadly, other storekeepers shoo him away too, as soon as a dreaded m-o-u-s-e appears. Poor Clarence just can’t find a place without mice.Dejected and tired, Clarence is feeling very sorry for himself when a kindly librarian takes him in. Clarence’s new home is grand–a public library filled with books. There’s even a whirring copy machine! Clarence loves to sit on top of it, earning him the name Copy Cat. For months, life is good. Very good . . . until the winter day when a you-know-what shows up. . . .

    There is only one rule: the temple must be made of materials only from the earth, nothing else.That won’t be a problem. Not for him. Because Rok isn’t a normal little boy. No, not at all. He is a demigod: a quarter of the blood in his veins is the blood of the gods. His heritage grants him power over the earth and its many elements—over stone and soil and the deep, dark, hidden ores. Just like his three siblings, Rok has a unique magical power.However, it isn’t all meditation and peace in Zuuland. Unknown to Rok and his family, his father’s vengeful brother Labec lurks in the shadows with his two children, Coltin and Menga. Uncle Labec is consumed by the desire to steal the greatest treasure of Rok’s father, King Nyark: the ZUKOPAL, a mysterious and powerful opal ring that shimmers with all the colors of the rainbow.But it isn’t just power Uncle Labec seeks. His motivations run far deeper. Labec is the yin to King Nyark’s yang. He seeks a balancing of light and dark, and even more—revenge for past wrongs. Will Rok and his siblings be able to bring peace between their father and uncle? Or will the Zukopal drive them even further apart?

    The last page is sure to delight with all the colors of the rainbow. What a fun way to learn colors!

    Zomboss are neck and neck! Paul Tobin (Bandette, Colder) and Ron Chan (Star Wars, The Guild) return to deliver another hilarious zombie battle to your burg! "Artist Ron Chan and colorist Matthew J. Rainwater [do] an excellent job of capturing the bright, cheery art style of the PvZ games and generally creating an energetic, vibrant cartoon landscape." -IGN

    They had blue eyes and yellow curls, and they looked very much alike.When they decided to bake a surprise cake for their mother's birthday, their friend Aunt Betty helped them. She told them how to make Mother's favorite cake, and she watched them put it in the oven.Remember -- your cake should bake just half an hour, Aunt Betty told the girls as she went out.What happen after that surprised everyone!Originally published in the United States in 1955, Flicka, Ricka, Dicka Bake a Cake was one of a series of treasured books created by Swedish author-artist Maj Lindman (1886-1972). She also wrote and illustrated stories about three little Swedish boys, Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr.Today's young readers will find the warm, wholesome stories of these busy, independent children immensely satisfying.