Medallion Honoree * From the Midwest Book Review: "The Pajama Elves" is a delightful, creatively presented holiday tale that shares a family tradition of giving children magic pajamas secretly tailored by Santa's sewing elves, so they can sleep snug in their beds on Christmas Eve. Hayden Edwards is a special pseudonym for author/illustrator Julie Szabo, combining the names of her two sons and husband. Told in verse narrative and creatively illustrated with combination photos/prints in color, "The Pajama Elves" is all about keeping the magic of Christmas alive for young children. The author describes it as follows: "'The Pajama Elves' allows people to adopt and personalize the tradition in many ways, and it can be shared with family members who live far apart from one another." Sensitively done, "The Pajama Elves" is an ideal contemporary response to unique challenges faced by parents of young children today.

    On her first night, she's wakened by the muezzin at the nearby mosque calling the faithful to prayer, and Yasmin watches from her bed as her grandmother prepares to pray. A visit with Grandmother is always special, but this time it is even more so. Her grandmother makes Yasmin prayer clothes, buys her a prayer rug, and teaches her the five prayers that Muslims perform over the course of a day. When it's time for Yasmin to board a plane and return home, her grandmother gives her a present that her granddaughter opens when she arrives: a prayer clock in the shape of a mosque, with an alarm that sounds like a muezzin calling the faithful to prayer. Maha Addasi's warm and endearing story is richly illustrated by Ned Gannon. Features a text in English and Arabic, and includes an author's note and glossary.Book Details: Format: Hardcover Publication Date: 9/1/2010 Pages: 32 Reading Level: Age 7 and Up

    The Milo & Jazz Mysteries stars two kid detectives-in-training who use STEM problem-solving skills as they race to unravel cases and save the day! Perfect for fans of Encyclopedia Brown, Cam Jansen and Nate the Great.The high school's star pitcher is missing his lucky socks, and his pitching is going to pieces! Can detective duo Milo and Jazz find the thief--before the big game? This ideal series for beginning readers making the transition to chapter books has incredible Super Sleuthing activities in each book, including hidden pictures, puzzles, mini-mysteries, and quizzes--plus free online activities.

    When Grandpa practices tai chi in the garden, Vinson asks to learn, hoping it will be like kung fu, full of kicks and punches. But tai chi’s meditative postures are slow and still, and Vinson quickly gets bored. He can’t understand why Grandpa insists on calling him by his Chinese name, Ming Da, or why he has to wear a traditional Chinese jacket to the Chinese New Year parade. As the parade assembles, however, he notices the great respect given to his grandfather and the lion dancers under his training. And when Vinson is offered a role in the parade, he realizes that being part Chinese can be pretty cool—and is ready to start learning from his grandpa’s martial-arts mastery in earnest.

    Einstein The Lazy Kitty, combines rhythmic writing and colorful illustrations to make this a short, fun book for all ages but it was designed with your toddler and early reader in mind. Although it can be viewed on a regular kindle, it is probably best viewed by a color reader or computer.

    The mystery of the sari can be magic for a child, winding and weaving, just like the connection between a child and its mother. The style, the motifs, the interplay of children, colors, and textures, create the rich, mood-filled, and dreamy world of

    There, as a boy, he learned to make baskets so tightly woven they could hold the rain. Even after being stolen away to a slave ship bound for America, he remembers what he learned and passes these memories on to his children - as they do theirs, so that. . . when your fingers talk just right that circle will go out and out again -past slavery and freedom, old ways and new,and your basket will hold the past . . .This powerful picture book, with its rhythmic text and evocative paintings, spirals through time, becoming a triumphant song - a rich story of a craft, a culture, and a people.

    A perfect way for Royals fans, and baseball fans everywhere, to share that magic night with their children and commemorate it themselves with beautiful illustrations and clever rhymes.

    Tatum came from modest beginnings and was nearly blind, but his passion for the piano and his acute memory for any sound that he heard drove him to become a virtuoso who was revered by both classical and jazz pianists alike. Included in the back matter is a biography and bibliography."

    Men and women are unable to find work. Children are going hungry. In her teacher's village of New York City, people are starving because they do not have money to buy food. But can one small girl in Africa's Cameroon like Kedi make a difference all the way across the great salt river in America?Inspired by true events, Mara Rockliff's gorgeous and accessible text matched with Ann Tanksley's vibrant and warm illustrations bring to life the remarkable story of one child's vision, passion, and dedication to make the world a better place.

    When a new girls' school opens in the village, a determined Razia must convince her father and oldest brother that educating her would be best for her, their family and their community. Razia's Ray of Hope is the latest inspiring story from the?CitizenKid collection. It is based on the true stories of the?students of the Zabuli Education Center for Girls just outside?of Kabul, founded by a generous and resourceful woman named?Razia Jan, a CNN hero, who also appears in the story.

    When Julian, his little brother Huey, and their friend Gloria decide to be "crime busters," they find themselves in one adventure after another.

    There's a problem outside and this cute bug is going to fix it by swapping colors. TThis is a fun and colorful, fully illustrated ebook, for ages 18 months and up.

    A young Hmong girl in a Thai refugee camp in the mid-1970s finds the story within herself to create her own pa'ndau.

    Usually stories are about other people but this story is about you. And usually stories are made up but this story is all true. It’s about the amazing adventure you had today with those bees. I know what you’re thinking: you’re thinking: I didn’t have an adventure with any bees today! Oh yes you did! But you can’t remember because that magic flower made you forget. Let me explain ... This story is one of the thirty-one stories that make up the critically acclaimed collection A Month of Bedtime Stories Available exclusively on Amazon for $2.99 (That's 9 cents per story!) Reviews of A Month of Bedtime Stories "A wonderful book well worth adding to any collection" - Book Reviews and Giveaways "I loved each one and never once was ready to put the book down" - Chodi Kid Books "These well-written and fast-paced stories are told with a touch of humor that both the child and the storyteller can enjoy" - Online Book Club Grab a copy today