It's time to bundle up, lace your skates, and give it a try -- then head inside for cocoa and snacks when your cheeks grow rosy and your toes are cold. Back at home, warm bedtime rituals make for the end of a perfect day. But when darkness falls at the pond, who will come out to skate?

    Cuddles and kisses will surely abound when reading this aloud!

    A perfect picture book to share at bedtime or as a gift to welcome a new baby, and for Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.

    . . . The pictures pick up color as the guests arrive and the activities get livelier. To further focus attention on color, the words are printed in boxed insets of the appropriate hue. . . . The music-a simple, singable tune-is printed at the end. The subject and the highly predictable pattern of text have appeal for just-beginning readers as well as for preschool listeners and singers."-Language Arts

    The bear cubs want to play, the little hedgehogs are hungry, the bunnies are peek-a-booing, the toadlets are singing—and their mamas are at their wits' end! Will Grandma Owl finally find a way to settle everyone down to sleep?Carole Lexa Schaefer's delightful wordplay and Vanessa Cabban's winsome illustrations evoke a playful woodland world where tots of all types try to elude bedtime—until wise Grandma Owl affirms with a story that the time is right to say goodnight.

    Throughout the journey, Polar Bear reassures Cub that no matter what changes occur in nature-snow falling in winter, flowers blooming in spring, air warming in summer, and leaves changing color in fall-the loving bond between them will never be broken.

    It covers such topics as the slug's two pairs of tentacles, one pair for seeing, one pair for smelling (it can see you're a kid and smell like broccoli), its breathing hole (on the side of its head!), and its pretty gross mucous covering (in order to find a partner, the slug can follow another slug's mucous trail. True love!). Although silly and off-the-wall, The Slug contains real information that will tie in with curriculum.

    With lively scenes showing accurately illustrated vehicles in action, this book will be a joy to read out loud for truck-obsessed readers and their parents!In Build, Dogs, Build, our favorite doggy construction team is pulling down an old building to make way for a new one! Using equipment like cranes, bulldozers, dump trucks, and cement mixers, these busy dogs must race to finish the job in this fun follow-up to Dig, Dogs, Dig.

    Full-color illustrations.

    Now what? Mama and Sadie’s three brothers take Sadie to the doctor, who says, “I’m not a doctor for leopards.” Then they try the vet, who says, “If this is a leopard cub, it’s a healthy leopard, but if this is a little girl, then she is very ill.” The zoo would be happy to keep her, but no one likes the idea of leaving her behind. No, decides Mama, they’ll take care of her at home, where rest and kindness work wonders. Explosively funny, slightly retro-looking illustrations accompany the laugh-aloud text, which takes a sly dig at the medical establishment while affirming the power of comfort from Mama. And—who knew?—leopardpox may just be contagious!First published in Israel in 2012 by Kinneret-Zmora Bitan Dvir Publishing House.

    Perfect for Valentine's Day gifts, your family library, or an emotional read-aloud for any day of the year.You're my joy beyond joy, a gift from the start. You are my blessing and love — you are my heart.You Are My Heart is sure to become a new favorite of fans who adore the charming artwork and insightful prose of Marianne Richmond, a beloved bestselling author whose books are swiftly becoming classics. This heartfelt book is perfect for readers of joyful and loving stories for kids such as In My Heart: A Book of Feelings, You Are My Wish Come True book, and You Are the One book. Tell your little one "I love you" and "You are the one" with this book full of sweet, soft illustrations.

    “There’s plenty of humor here for children and their adult readers. . . . No one will get bored with Piggins.”--Booklist

    Despite being the spiffiest chameleon in the jungle, he has no friends. And why is that? Because no one can see him! As everyone knows, chameleons blend in with their surroundings. Napoleon is practically invisible. So he tries every trick he can think of, from waving his arms to weaving a welcome mat to making funny faces, to get the other jungle animals to see him. But it's his final trick that really gets him noticed.

    But sometimes that’s not enough. Sometimes a girl has to be super. One little girl transforms herself over and over in this inventive picture book from the bestselling author and illustrator of Not a Box, Antoinette Portis. Once again, Portis shows us that children make ordinary life fun using their imaginations.

    Well, maybe just the feet . . . hee hee! And the tummy . . . pbbbb! And, oh no — not the armpits . . . har, har! Eee-hee! A spirited tickle fest winds up as a sweet family cuddle in a story sure to tickle kids’ funny bones.