Afraid of the wild waves and the storm skies, he meets a fiddler crab with no bow and together they avoid facing their fears. Finally, though, he finds his star, his courage and his ocean self.

    Grouped in four progressive levels, Read and Share books - available individually for the first time - are specially selected for qualities that encourage literacy skills and a love of reading.Sixteen top-quality books with notes for extending reading fun inspire the confidence parents and children need to experience the joys of reading . . . together. Plus an informative Parents’ Handbook!What is Read and Share?—An expert selection of sixteen high-quality picture books by superb authors and illustrators, featuring a multicultural array of subjects, including poetry and rhymes, traditional songs, stories, and information books —Four progressive levels - Beginnings, Early Steps, Next Steps, and Taking Off - each including four fabulous picture books—Two full spreads inside each book offering suggestions and activities inspired by the story, designed to help parents and children get the most out of each book - and build a foundation for reading success—A separate 24-page, full-color Parents’ Handbook providing extensive practical information and detailed answers to many of the questions parents ask about encouraging their children’s literacy

    Somebody must be putting extra water in the bath. Is it Kangaroo? Or is it Goat or Wombat?Whoever it is, Mr Archimedes is going to find out.AWARDSCommended - 1981 Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards

    Children will love joining in with this fun rhyming story that is just right for beginner readers.

    She wants a birthday party but all the really big monsters turn up and they're really, really bad.

    He has an old trumpet that goes rooty-toot -And two lovely sisters who play on the flute -But Mr Magnolia has only one boot.In this wittily rhyming picture book, Mr Magnolia has a full and happy life except for one serious omission - a boot. But one day, he receives a mysterious parcel, and at last Mr Magnolia can splash in the puddles with everyone else!

    Humorous illustrations depict fourteen Australian animals, introduced in rhyme, along with the numbers from one to fourteen.

    On a visit to her grandfather's house by the sea, Stina goes outside to see a storm but is frightened by it until Grandfather finds her and shows her the best way to watch a storm is together.

    But there is a happy ending in store for "Kwela Jamela African Queen," and just in time.

    The perfect integration of words and pictures creates a coherent and delightful whole.When this charming book was first published in 1978, there was a widespread idea that it was too expensive and risky to publish a children's book in Canada. And so Margaret Atwood not only wrote and illustrated the book, she handlettered the type! The book was created in the old-fashioned way, using only two colors that mixed together to produce a surprisingly large range of tones and textures. The delightful result reminds us that technology hasn't necessarily made things better. This facsimile edition renders intact the unique pleasures of the original.

    She longs to see the wondrous sites in the city, a place she has heard about from Pieter the horse. Quite by accident, her wish comes true one day when she falls into the canal and floats downstream on a raft.

    Based on the wonderfully atmospheric and dramatic Cornish tale of Old Tom, the fisherman, and his cat Mowzer, who braved the wrath of the Great Storm-Cat to save their village.

    His rabbit, his bone and his ball are all chewed and soggy. And his smelly old blanket is disgusting. Kipper looks for somewhere more comfortable to sleep. The author also wrote "Threadbear", winner of the 1991 Children's Book Award and the 1991 Acorn Award.

    Crispin is the pig who has it all. And each Christmas he gets even more. But his toys always break or become boring. This year Santa has left Crispin a mysterious box that promises to be the "very best thing in the whole wide world." What could it possibly be?

    The cinematic presentation—with a touch of Bonnie and Clyde, a dash of “The Perils of Pauline”—proves that crime doesn’t pay and love conquers all. A visual treat with new details to discover again and again, here is absurd good fun for the whole family.