The X-Files: Earth Children are Weird


Jason Rekulak - 2017
    But the night is full of strange sounds, lights, and shadows. Surely there’s a rational, scientific explanation for everything . . . or is there? With beautiful illustrations of pint-sized Dana and Fox, this humorous and not-scary-at-all story will introduce the cult TV show to an entire new generation of fans.

Colette's Lost Pet


Isabelle Arsenault - 2017
    Perfect for fans of Uni the Unicorn and Sparky.Colette is exploring her new neighborhood and wants to make friends. But when she encounters someone her age she's never met before, she doesn't know what to say--so she hastily invents a lost pet! Things spiral a bit out of control as a neighborhood-wide search party is assembled and Colette makes her pet bird more amazing with each telling. Will the neighborhood kids catch on to her ever-growing fib?This charming story both clearly identifies the struggle of navigating a different experience and demonstrates to kids a lovely and welcoming way to treat someone new in their community.

Mary, Who Wrote Frankenstein


Linda Bailey - 2018
    Mary is one such dreamer, a little girl who learns to read by tracing the letters on her mother's tombstone and whose only escape from her strict father and overbearing stepmother is through the stories she reads and imagines. Unhappy at home, she seeks independence, and at the age of seventeen runs away with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, another dreamer. She travels to Europe and surrounds herself with more poets and writers, including Lord Byron and John Polidori. On a stormy summer evening, Byron suggests a contest to see who can create the best ghost story. After nine months of daydreaming, 21-year-old Mary Shelley's terrifying tale is published, a novel that goes on to become a very well-known monster story.

Flora and the Penguin


Molly Idle - 2014
    Twirling, leaping, spinning, and gliding, on skates and flippers, the duo mirror each other's graceful dance above and below the ice. But when Flora gives the penguin the cold shoulder, the pair must figure out a way to work together for uplifting results. Artist Molly Idle creates an innovative, wordless picture book with clever flaps that reveal Flora and the penguin coming together, spiraling apart, and coming back together as only true friends do. Plus, this is a fixed-format version of the book, which looks nearly identical to the print version.

The Library


Sarah Stewart - 1995
    Elizabeth Brown doesn't like to play with dolls and she doesn't like to skate. What she does like to do is read books. And now that she's grown up, her collection has gotten so big all the shelves are collapsing. Her front door has disappeared entirely. What in the world will she do? The reclusive Elizabeth Brown surprises everyone wit her splendid solution. In charming verse and elegant watercolors Sarah Stewart and David Small celebrate one of America's grandest institutions. The Library is a 1995 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year and Outstanding Book of the Year.

Librarian's Night Before Christmas


David R. Davis - 2007
    A library cat and mouse contribute to the antics."--School Library Journal"This volume will definitely find a place in the hearts of librarians and library lovers."--Review of Texas BooksDue to low staffing, a librarian must spend her Christmas Eve stacking the shelves at a library in desperate need of renovations. After the strain of a long night that has left her feeling "like Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol," she is pleasantly surprised to see Santa and his elves coming to her rescue in a red bookmobile.

Vampirina Ballerina


Anne Marie Pace - 2012
    First of all, you have to find a class that meets at night. Then you have to figure out how to perfect your form when you can't see yourself in the mirror? And then there's wearing pink (not the most flattering of colors if you happen to be undead) and that nagging urge to take a little nip out of the other dancers. And worse of all STAGE FRIGHT!!!

Wave


Suzy Lee - 2008
    In this evocative wordless book, internationally acclaimed artist Suzy Lee tells the story of a little girl's day at the beach.New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book 2008

A New Green Day


Antoinette Portis - 2020
    On each spread, children will solve riddles about the familiar animals, plants and the weather that one child encounters outdoors throughout a whole day.

The Star-Spangled Banner


Peter Spier - 1973
    Among the highlights: a brief history of the anthem, a reproduction of Francis Scott Key's original manuscript, music for guitar and piano chords and many photographs.A Child Study Children's Book Committee: Children's Book of the Year, An American Bookseller Pick of the Lists.

Dewdrop


Kay O'Neill - 2020
    When the yearly sports fair nears, he and his friends—Mia the weightlifting turtle, Newman the musical newt, and three minnows who love to cook—get ready to showcase their skills to the whole pond! However, as the day of the fair gets closer, Dewdrop's friends can't help putting pressure on themselves to be the best. It's up to Dewdrop to remind them how to be mindful, go at their own pace, and find joy in their own achievements.

A Child's Garden of Verses


Robert Louis Stevenson - 1885
    In this collection of sixty-six poems, Stevenson recalls the joys of his childhood, from sailing boats down a river, to waiting for the lamplighter, to sailing off to foreign lands in his imagination.Tasha Tudor's watercolour paintings evoke a simpler time in the past, and celebrate two of the things she loves most — children and nature. Her talents are the perfect match for these inspiring poems, making this a handsome gift edition that will be cherished by families for generations.

Oh No! Not Again!: (Or How I Built a Time Machine to Save History)


Mac Barnett - 2012
    The overly ambitious little girl from Oh No! is back for more. But this time, she doesn't have a humongous problem, she has an EPIC crisis on her hands: a mere A on her history test! There's only one solution: travel back in time to 33,000 B.C. to make her wrong answer right! Mac Barnett and Dan Santat's laugh-out-loud sequel to the critically acclaimed Oh No! will be sure to tickle a prehistoric funny bone for fans new and neanderthal alike.

There's a Hair in My Dirt!: A Worm's Story


Gary Larson - 1998
    It was a cartoon that appeared for many years in daily newspapers and was loved by millions. (And was confusing to millions more.) But one day he stopped.Gary went into hiding. He made a couple short films. He played his guitar. He threw sticks for his dogs. They threw some back.Yet Gary was restless. He couldn't sleep nights. Something haunted him. (Besides Gramps.) Something that would return him to his roots in biology, drawing and dementia--a tale called There's a Hair in My Dirt! A Worm's Story.It begins a few inches underground, when a young worm, during a typical family dinner, discovers there's a hair in his plate of dirt. He becomes rather upset, not just about his tainted meal but about his entire miserable, wormy life. This, in turn, spurs his father to tell him a story--a story to inspire the children of invertebrates everywhere.And so Father Worm describes the saga of a fair young maiden and her adventuresome stroll through her favorite forest, a perambulator's paradise. It is a journey filled with mystery and magic. Or so she thinks.Which is all we'll say for now.What exactly does the maiden encounter?Does Son Worm learn a lesson?More important, does he eat his plate of fresh dirt?Well, you'll have to read to find out, but let's just say the answers are right under your feet.Written and illustrated in a children's storybook style, There's a Hair in My Dirt! A Worm's Story is a twisted take on the difference between our idealized view of Nature and the sometimes cold, hard reality of life for the birds and the bees and the worms (not to mention our own species).Told with his trademark off-kilter humor, this first original non--Far Side book is the unique work of a comic master.Now Larson can finally sleep at night.Question is, will you?(from the back cover)

Mr. Postmouse's Rounds


Marianne Dubuc - 2015
    Postmouse has loaded up his wagon and is ready to deliver the mail. From the lofty heights of the Birds' tree houses to the inky depths of Mrs. Octopus's ship, the intrepid letter carrier lets nothing stand in the way of his deliveries. Each spread features whimsically detailed interiors of creatures' homes, which readers will pore over for delightful surprises. This is a charming introduction to the postal system and an imaginative survey of different types of homes.