Intrigued, the boy runs out after her, leaving his shoes (and phone) behind, and into a world of sunshine, dewey grass, and warm sand. Filled with the pleasures of being alive in the natural world, Run Wild is an exquisite and kid-friendly reminder of how wonderful life can be beyond doors and screens.

    She doesn't? Try the fire department!With each page turn, this situation—relatable to any family—grows stickier and more desperate.• A wonderful blend of light wordplay, zany humor, and a timeless topic• Perfect for fans of The Day the Crayons Quit and If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't!• Great gift for parents, grandparents, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and educators who are looking for a funny, relatable tale to read out loud• Add it the the shelf with books like We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins, The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors by Drew Daywalt, and The Bad Seed by Jory John.

    As the flakes begin to fall, their wish comes true and the two cavort in the freshly fallen snow. When they are all tired out they return home to warm up by the fire with hot cocoa. Lively, bright watercolors capture the exuberance and enchantment children experience at the first snowfall. The author-illustrator team of Rain Song brings us yet another perfect read-aloud for any weather.

    He wonders what he can buy the dog who has everything and decides that the answer, of course, is nothing. This simple story features characters from the Mutts comic strips and is the first book for children.

    If you're a little cloud like Cloudette, people call you cute nicknames, and you can always find a good spot to watch the fireworks. But what about when you want to do something big, like help a giant garden grow, or make a brook babble?This charming book gets at the heart of what it means to make a difference no matter your size. Young children will find much to relate to in Cloudette as they follow her on her pursuit for greatness.

    The boy in his green frog hat splashes in puddles—“Hoppy, hoppy, hoppy!”—while the old man curses the “dang puddles.” Can the boy’s natural exuberance (and perhaps a cookie) cheer up the grouchy gentleman and turn the day around?

    Marilyn doesn’t have hers yet, but she can’t just go out and look for one. Your monster has to find you. That’s just the way it works. Marilyn tries to be patient and the kind of girl no monster can resist, but her monster doesn’t come. Could she go out and search for him herself? Even if that’s not the way it works?

    His mom comes up with a way to keep him entertained--by drawing a picture of herself and him going outside, playing in the rain, and splashing in a giant puddle. They have so much fun drawing themselves that they decide to venture out and make the most of the rainy weather.

    He even has a sign. So when a mouse taps on his door one day, Bear tells him to leave. But when Bear goes to the cupboard to get a bowl, there is the mouse -- small and gray and bright-eyed. In this slapstick tale that begs to be read aloud, all Bear wants is to eat his breakfast in peace, but the mouse -- who keeps popping up in the most unexpected places -- just won't go away!

    One night, when Ethan checks under his bed for his monster, Gabe, he finds a note from him instead: "Gone fishing. Back in a week." Ethan knows that without Gabe’s familiar nightly scares he doesn't stand a chance of getting to sleep, so Ethan interviews potential substitutes to see if they've got the right equipment for the job—pointy teeth, sharp claws, and a long tail—but none of them proves scary enough for Ethan. When Gabe returns sooner than expected from his fishing trip, Ethan is thrilled. It turns out that Gabe didn't enjoy fishing because the fish scared too easily.

    Like the Caldecott Medal-winning Officer Buckle and Gloria, Sparky stars a pet who has more to offer than meets the eye. When our narrator orders a sloth through the mail, the creature that arrives isn't good at tricks or hide-and-seek . . . or much of anything. Still, there's something about Sparky that is irresistible.Winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award

    "In the beginning there is light and two wide-eyed figures standing near the foot of your bed and the sound of their voices is love....A cab driver plays love softly on his radiowhile you bounce in back with the bumps of the city and everything smells new, and it smells like life."In this heartfelt celebration of love, Matt de la Peña and illustrator Loren Long depict the many ways we experience this universal bond, which carries us from the day we are born throughout the years of our childhood and beyond. With a lyrical text that's soothing and inspiring, this tender tale is a needed comfort and a new classic that will resonate with readers of every age.

    The thermometer is sinking toward zero, and the icicle hanging from the nose of General Toby’s statue is growing closer to the ground. The newspaper headline reads “COLD SNAP!” The people of the town are losing hope—and the feeling in their toes—until the mayor’s wife saves the day with a toasty treat.From the Hardcover edition.

    He sets off on a solitary mission, determined to prove the naysayers wrong. But when he arrives, equipped with a package of cupcakes as a gift, he sees nothing but a nearly barren planet. Finally, he spies a single flower and packs it away to take back to Earth as proof that there is indeed life on Mars. But as he settles in for the journey home, he cracks open his cupcakes only to discover that someone has eaten them all!Readers will love being in on the secret: Unbeknownst to the explorer, a Martian has been wandering through the illustrations the whole time and he got himself a delicious snack along the way.

    B. Lewis, Elizabeth Cody Kimmel's hilarious romp through the land of be-careful-what-you-wish-for offers a whole year's worth of holiday fun magic.This year, I was very specific in my letter to Santa Claus.Each year at Christmas, Joe writes a letter to Santa. But they've had a few misunderstandings in the past. Last year, for example, Joe wanted a fire-engine-red racecar with retracting headlights, and he did get one — but it was only three inches long. So this year Joe is really, really careful. He describes exactly what he wants — and on Christmas morning, guess what's waiting for him under the tree! Santa has brought him a living, breathing, black-and-white penguin named Osbert. Will anything in Joe's life ever be the same?