Olemaun is eight and knows a lot of things. But she does not know how to read. Ignoring her father’s warnings, she travels far from her Arctic home to the outsiders’ school to learn. The nuns at the school call her Margaret. They cut off her long hair and force her to do menial chores, but she remains undaunted. Her tenacity draws the attention of a black-cloaked nun who tries to break her spirit at every turn. But the young girl is more determined than ever to learn how to read. Based on the true story of Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, and complemented by stunning illustrations, When I Was Eight makes the bestselling Fatty Legs accessible to younger readers. Now they, too, can meet this remarkable girl who reminds us what power we hold when we can read.

    But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

    His cat, Milkshake, wakes him up and leads him to the kitchen where he finds something special. This is the beginning of Leo and Milkshake’s short adventure in the house and the back yard. This is a wonderful story for children.The story teaches children the importance of patience and love of others (they will meet a cat that does not always chase mice) and they will learn how Leo improvises, creatively using objects that he has learnt about.

    Puck of Pook's Hill is a fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906, containing a series of short stories set in different periods of English history.

    The first time Arthur encounters the bear, he is shoved in her cage as payback for stealing food. Restless and deadly, the bear terrifies him. Yet, strangely, she doesn’t harm him—though she has attacked anyone else who comes near. That makes Arthur valuable to the doctor in charge of getting the bear safely to London. So Arthur, who has run away from home, finds himself taking care of a polar bear on a ship to England.Tasked with feeding and cleaning up after the bear, Arthur’s fears slowly lessen as he begins to feel a connection to this bear, who like him, has been cut off from her family. But the journey holds many dangers, and Arthur knows his own freedom—perhaps even his life—depends on keeping the bear from harm. When pirates attack and the ship founders, Arthur must make a choice—does he do everything he can to save himself, or does he help the bear to find freedom?

    Learn from these books—and for heaven’s sake, do the opposite right now!

    In this poignant story, the counting rope is a metaphor for the passage of time and for a boy's emerging confidence in facing his blindness.

    When the town-folk send for St. George to slay the dragon, the boy needs to come up with a clever plan to save his friend and convince the townsfolk to accept him. This story first appeared as a chapter in Grahame's Dream Days and was first published as a separate book by Holiday House in 1938 with illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard.

    Adults as well as children look forward to attending an annual performance of The Nutcracker. To sweeten the anticipation and prolong the joy -- or just to establish a lovely tradition -- settle in with this charming retelling of a young girl's dreamy visit to the Land of the Sugarplum Fairy. The story is enhanced with magnificent color illustrations created especially for this edition by the late award-winning artist Don Daily. This high-quality, handsomely produced volume is destined to be a holiday favorite for years to come.

    When bombs begin to fall on his city, Ali turns to his pen, writing sweeping and gliding words to the silent music that drowns out the war all around him. Gorgeously illustrated with collage, pencil and charcoal drawings and, of course, exquisite calligraphy, this timely and yet universal story celebrates art and history but also offers young children a way to understand all they see and hear on the news. Silent Music is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

    This is a grand one, told with rightful pride by a boy who was there in the city of Philadelphia in 1777 and was lucky enough to play a role in the American Revolution. John Jacob Mickley, eleven years old, and his father were in the city when the Great Bell began ringing Brong! Brong! BRONG! from atop the State House to warn the citizens: "Redcoats! The Redcoats are coming!" And come the British did -- with their muskets and their cannons and their will to keep the colonies for their king. Looting they came and stealing any metal they could get their hands on to melt down for the making of more weapons. And the prize above all? The Great Bell itself -- metal for many a cannon! But the clever Pensylvanians (yes, the word was spelled like that then) had other plans for keeping the Bell safe from the British. Megan McDonald has aptly caught John Jacob's excited retelling of the story, and Marsha Gray Carrington has relished every wild and wooly moment of it in her pictures -- both funny and carefully researched.

     The story of an immigrant family alone in a big city. Close-ups of a mother, a son -- faces filled with heartache and joy. Plenty of action. Excitement. Melodrama. A Silent Movie.

    Children meet Bragi, the god of poetry, and the famous Valkyrie maidens, among other gods, goddesses, heroes, and giants. Illustrations throughout depict the wondrous other world of Norse folklore and its fantastical Northern landscape.

    . .the west. Soft Rain is confident that her family will not have to move, because they have just planted corn for the next harvest but soon thereafter, soldiers arrive to take nine-year-old, Soft Rain, and her mother to walk the Trail of Tears, leaving the rest of her family behind.    Because Soft Rain knows some of the white man's language, she soon learns that they must travel across rivers, valleys, and mountains. On the journey, she is forced to eat the white man's food and sees many of her people die. Her courage and hope are restored when she is reunited with her father, a leader on the Trail, chosen to bring her people safely to their new land.  Praise for Soft Rain:    "An eye-opening introduction to this painful period of American history."--Publisher's Weekly    "The characters themselves transform a sorrowful story of adversity into a tale of human resilience."--Kirkus Reviews    "This gentle child's-eye view will move readers enormously."--Jane Yolen

    What would you do if you found yourself living under the same roof of these up and coming rising stars of the entertainment world? Young, talented, and the type of girls you could only dream of, would you be able to keep your hands off them?