Book picks similar to
The Princess Unicorn by Nona J. Fairfax


10
children-and-picture-books
kids-reading

Loving Hands: The Traditional Art of Baby Massage


Frédérick Leboyer - 1976
    The book explains the simple techniques of the massage by following a radiant young mother as she communicates to her children through the primal language of touch and sensation.

All That Ails You: The Adventures of a Canine Caregiver


Mark J. Asher - 2013
    The good-natured, smart mutt now spends his days as the house dog at SunRidge Assisted Living, comforting and doting on forty-five seniors. Wrigley has free run of the place—going where he senses he’s needed—but his preferred spot is beside his favorite resident, Marjorie Thompson.A big shift comes to SunRidge when a cranky curmudgeon named Walter Kepsen moves in across the hall from Marjorie. Having arrived reluctantly at the urging of his son, Walter can't stand Wrigley or anything else for that matter. But a dramatic event is about to occur that will shake SunRidge, and make the old man see the house dog in a very different light.Told in Wrigley’s voice, All That Ails You is an endearing story about the power of a dog’s love, when we need it most.

Do Her No Harm


Naomi Joy - 2020
    A best friend determined to right the wrongs of the past.On the 21st August Tabitha Rice disappeared without a trace. All the signs point to murder, but no signs point to a murderer. The easiest answer is her husband, Rick. But he protests his innocence and there is little proof he is the murderer.Annabella knows there is more to the story than what the police are telling. Tabitha was her best friend and she vows to uncover the truth.As Annabella delves further into the past, she uncovers sides to Tabitha that she never saw coming, and she finds herself asking the question... Was this murder? Or is there more to Tabitha Rice's story than meets the eye?

Gnome Wars - a short tale


Barbra Annino - 2011
    Doug has tried everything to get rid of the gnome but the little bugger refuses to leave. Now it's war. And Doug is just about at the end of his rope until he meets Trina, a kooky chick who claims to have the answer to all his problems.Have you hugged your gnome today?From the author of the Stacy Justice Mystery series.

Surf Ache


Gerry Bobsien - 2009
    It’s about the crazy impact this move has on the kids in the family, Ella and Creaky, and the resilience of young people to handle change. Ella is fifteen and finds herself in a new town having to start all over again leaving behind a full and happy life complete with best friend and boyfriend. In Newcastle, Ella doesn't know who to be or what to do but she slowly starts to make new friends. A dancer for most of her young life, Ella is thrown into a new world where surfing is the city’s obsession and she takes it on with all the joy of a new challenge. Through Ella’s newfound love of the sea, we learn a few secrets about her mum's controversial past as a gun surfer. Above all, this is a story about family and love and the secrets we keep. It's a book about girls doing things. Through Ella, we are infected with a passion for dance and surfing. This complete immersion in doing something you love is an important part of this book.

The Art of Us


Symone West - 2020
    Yet, something about Kayla allures him.Her fearless and artistic nature can either calm the monster inside or push it further.The more they get under each other’s skin, a connection develops that neither can explain. It brings forth an indescribable desire and the possibility of love. But monsters don’t always stay gone. They have a way of crawling out of the dark, threatening any speck of happiness.

Frankie Fish and the Sonic Suitcase


Peter Helliar - 2017
    Grandad Fish is cranky, and yells a lot, and has a creepy hook for a hand – plus he NEVER lets Frankie go inside his shed. But after a teensy tiny prank goes wrong at school, Frankie is packed off to Old-People Jail for the whole holidays. What Frankie doesn’t know is that Grandad has been building a home-made TIME MACHINE in the Forbidden Shed, and the old man has big plans to get his missing hand back. But when Grandad goes back in time, he changes history and accidentally wipes out Frankie’s entire family – Nanna, Mum, Dad, even his annoying sister Saint Lou. Somehow, everyone is gone but Frankie and Grandad! And it’s only a matter of time until Frankie disappears too...

Red Rocks


Rachael King - 2012
    When he stumbles upon a perfectly preserved sealskin, hidden in a crevice at Red Rocks, he's compelled to take it home and hide it under his bed, setting off a chain of events that threatens to destroy his family. Red Rocks takes the Celtic myth of the selkies, or seal people, and transplants it into the New Zealand landscape, throwing an ordinary boy into an adventure tinged with magic. With its beautiful writing and eerie atmosphere, junior readers will be thrilled and moved by this captivating story.

The Meaning of Marriage: A Couple's Devotional: A Year of Daily Devotions


Timothy J. Keller - 2019
    Coming to know and love your spouse is one of the most rewarding and wondrous things we can experience in life. But it is also one of the most difficult and painful. In this 365-day devotional, Timothy Keller and his wife of forty-three years, Kathy Keller, share powerful instructions on how to have a successful marriage. The Kellers draw from and expand upon lessons they first introduced in their book The Meaning of Marriage, offering stories, daily scriptures, and prayer prompts that will inspire anyone who wants to know God and love more deeply in this life.

Outer Banks: Lights Out


Alyssa Sheinmel - 2021
    The last thing JJ and John B want to do is spend their week watching Kooks in action, so they plan a fishing getaway to the notoriously dangerous Frying Pan Shoals—nicknamed “Graveyard of the Atlantic” for good reason.Turns out they aren’t the only adventure-seekers at sea. Soon after they set sail, the friends run into the captivating Savannah, who hitches a ride aboard the HMS Pogue when the weather worsens and her boyfriend leaves her stranded. As a violent storm sets in, the three realize the only place to safely ride out the squall is a creepy, abandoned hotel on the shoals’ lighthouse platform. Or is it abandoned? It doesn’t take long for the three teens to realize they may not be alone. . . .Further complicating the life-or-death adventure is a mounting attraction between JJ and the secretive Savannah—the closer JJ gets to her, the more he realizes he’s playing with fire. Even if they get out of the shoals alive, can a Pogue–Kook romance survive the high-stakes shores of the Outer Banks?

The Serpent in the Glass


D.M. Andrews - 2011
    Thomas, however, feels he's just an ordinary boy, but Darkledun Manor proves to be anything but an ordinary school...In this work of fiction the reader is transported into a world of myth as the young protagonist, Thomas Farrell, seeks to understand who his mysterious father was, and why he left him a strange glass orb containing a serpent. As the story progresses, Thomas and his friends become increasingly caught up in a world they never knew existed - a world beyond the standing stones.

Rejoice! Rejoice!: Britain in the 1980s


Alwyn Turner - 2010
    Not only have we already become nostalgic for them, but in many ways the decade does seem like a thoroughly foreign country. This book offers and in-depth history of the decade.

Independent Ed: Inside a Career of Big Dreams, Little Movies, and the Twelve Best Days of My Life


Edward Burns - 2015
    The Brothers McMullen went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 1995, and established the working-class Irish American filmmaker as a talent to watch. In the twenty years since, Burns has made ten more films (She’s the One, Sidewalks of New York, and The Fitzgerald Family Christmas), while also acting in big budget Hollywood movies (Saving Private Ryan), hit television shows (Entourage and Mob City), and pioneering a new distribution network for indie filmmakers online and with TV’s On Demand service (“why open a film in twenty art houses when you can open in twenty million homes?”).Inspired by Burns’s uncompromising success both behind and in front of the camera, students and aspiring filmmakers are always asking Burns for advice. In Independent Ed, Burns shares the story of his two remarkable decades in a fickle business where heat and box office receipts are often all that matter. He recounts stories of the lengths he has gone to to secure financing for his films, starting with The Brothers McMullen (he told his father: “Shooting was the twelve best days of my life”). How he found stars on their way up—including Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz—to work in his films, and how he’s adhered religiously to the dictum of writing what you know, working as if he was just starting out, and always “looking for the next twelve best days of my life.”Chronicling the struggles and the long hours as well as the heady moments when months of planning and writing come to fruition, Independent Ed is a must-read for movie fans, film students, and everyone who loves a gripping tale about what it takes to forge your own path in work and life.

The Brother Years


Shannon Burke - 2020
    In the Brennan house four kids sleep in a single room, and are indoctrinated into The Methods, a system of achievement and relentless striving, laced with a potent, sometimes violent version of sibling rivalry. The family is overseen by a raging bull of a father, a South Side tough guy who knocks them sideways when they don't perform well or follow his dictates. Rivals, enemies, and allies, the siblings contend with one another and their wealthy self-satisfied peers at New Trier, the famous upscale high school where the family has struggled to send them. Evoking their crucible of class struggle and peer pressures, Burke balances comedy, tragedy, and a fascinating cast of characters, delivering a book that reads like an instant classic--an unforgettable story of the intertwining of love and family violence, and of triumphant teen survival that echoes down through the years.

Just Get Home


Bridget Foley - 2021
    The teenager was heading back to her unhappy foster home, but then she’s thrown into a broken world. Roads crumble, storefronts shatter and people run wild.Dessa, a single mom, is enjoying a rare night out when it strikes. Cell towers are down, so without even knowing if her 3-three-year-old daughter is dead or alive, she races to get back across town.As danger escalates in the chaotic streets, Beegie and Dessa meet by a twist of fate. The two form a fragile partnership, relying on each other in ways they never thought possible, and learn who they really are when there’s only one goal: Just get home.