Theo is brokenhearted when he accidentally lets go of the string of his party balloon. As he watches it float out of sight, Theo wonders where his balloon might have gone. Luckily, his older brother Zeke knows everything about everything. Zeke explains that it is a little-known fact that all lost balloons end up in Chicago, the Windy City. Then he tells Theo about Frank, who is responsible for collecting all the balloons in the world. Theo is so touched by Frank's story that he decides to send him a message of hope the only way he knows how.
Mooncakes is the lyrical story of a young girl who shares the special celebration of the Chinese Moon Festival with her parents. As they eat mooncakes, drink tea and watch the night sky together, Mama and Baba tell ancient tales of a magical tree that can never be cut down, the Jade Rabbit who came to live on the moon and one brave woman's journey to eternal life.
In this delightful tale of the power of the imagination, Art's supplies come to life in the studio, creating mayhem and magic -- and art! Pastels, pencils and paints, crayons, brushes and markers, everything gets in on the act of creating a mess-terpiece of fun. Chris Tougas' brilliant illustrations and clever text explore the essence of the creative process in a way that children will understand.
Pierre, a pampered pooch, misses his friends, Sparky and Lou. But how will he ever find them? They live in a park on the other side of town. Pierre has a plan, and one afternoon while Miss Murphy naps, he slips out of their apartment and sets off to bring his friends home. Along the way, Pierre meets Old Wheezer and remembers Miss Murphy's words, "Dogs and people belong together." In the end, Pierre helps find a loving home for everyone.
Fred is a near-sighted dog who worries all the time. He worries the most about what kind of trouble Pete is going to get them into next. Unlike Fred, Pete is a happy, impulsive dog who believes something wonderful waits around every corner. Fred and Pete live with their human, Ron. When the dogs misbehave, Ron leaves them at home for the day. So the dogs decide to find their own way to the beach. Pete is sure they can get to the beach by themselves, meet up with Ron and all will be forgiven. Full of misgivings, Fred hurries after Pete, if only to try to keep him out of trouble. Follow Fred and Pete on an adventure where they hitch rides in anything with wheels, and optimism prevails.
Silas is a small boy who finds a unique solution to keeping up with his seven adoring grandparents. Most of the time, Silas loves having seven grandparents. Each of them has something unique and valuable to offer. They take him to amusement parks, museums, dog shows and camping. When Silas' parents go away on a business trip, all seven grandparents invite Silas to stay with them. However, one Silas can't be with seven different grandparents at once. How can he choose one without hurting the others' feelings? But Silas comes up with an especially good idea that makes everyone feel included and happy.
Finn loves to swim with the seals in a secret cove. He arrives at the cove one day and rescues a young seal tangled in netting. Finn wishes the seal could live on land. That night the seals sing. "No good comes from seal songs," says Finn's father. When Sheila, a mysterious girl no one has ever seen before, appears on the cannery docks, the fisher folk are uneasy. They believe the newcomer is a magical selkie, a shape changer.
Uncle Wally's Old Brown Shoe, inspired by the familiar nursery rhyme The House That Jack Built, follows the course of one very unusual shoe as it travels through a fascinating, imaginative world to encounter an assortment of quirky characters. The imaginative text and cumulative story are sure to enthrall young readers, as will the detailed illustrations. Children and adults will delight in finding the whimsical objects and hidden meanings in the layered colorful artwork, reminiscent of Wallace Edwards's first book, Alphabeasts.
Patterned on the popular carol, The Twelve Days of Summer takes readers on a joyous journey into summer, from the first discovery of three eggs in a sparrow's nest to the day when those eggs hatch. Readers will pore over the pictures, searching for that fifth bumblebee, that tenth crow, and for the thoughtfully chosen toy that turns up on each page: a parachute with the goatsbeard seeds, a fan with the ruffed grouse. This is a story to delight and engage children and adults alike.
No matter how hard he tries, Ian Goobie can't do the things that the other children in his class can do. Then he finds a rock, a rock that fits perfectly into his pocket, a rock that touches all his senses and whisks him away into a whole other world. From then on, as long as he has a rock in his pocket, Ian Goobie can begin to cope with his daily challenges. That is until he stuffs so many rocks in his pockets that his pants fall down right outside in the schoolyard.
Today, Maybe is a story about a little girl who is waiting for someone, a friend. She doesn't yet know who it will be. In a series of surprising and humorous encounters, several well-known characters of children's literature arrive at her door. But none of them are the one she is waiting for, and she graciously sends them all away. With her bird to keep her company and hope filling her heart, weeks and then months pass as she waits and waits. When there is a scratch at the door one night, certainty fills the little girl's heart, and she opens the door to discover true friendship is indeed worth waiting for.
Night is a boy who knows it's much more fun to play than go to sleep. When the sun sets, he travels through the night sky in a spaceship with his teddy. Night's favorite game is hide-and-go-seek, which he plays each evening with his older sister, Day. But why can't he ever find her? Night Boy is a unique playful picturebook about a brother and a sister named Night and Day. The rhythmic text and rich illustrations make for a bedtime story that is sure to lull children who say "I can't sleep" into dreamland. Through the personas of a brother and sister, Night Boy offers a unique explanation of how night turns to day astronomically.
It's a rainy day. Wellington is down in the dumps and can't resist the smell of his master's freshly made meatloaf. While his master snoozes, Welly devours every last bite. After he hides the empty pan, he eats the contents of the garbage can too. Honey, a sneaky kitty and Wellington's archenemy, threatens to tell on him. Welly's tummy begins to churn and out comes everything he has gobbled down. What a mess! But in this lively, rhyming picturebook, things have a way of turning out better than expected for Welly, and just this once he escapes being blamed for the missing meatloaf.
Jeffrey can't think of a thing to write, so he doodles instead, only to have his doodle begin to order him about. Jeffrey struggles with the situation until he discovers that the most strong-willed doodle is powerless against a well-told tale. Jeffrey and Sloth is bound to have children rushing for their colored pencils and their pens to see who and what they can create.
In poetry that winds and wends like a creek through a farmer's field, we journey through one lovely day in Buttercup's life. Whether she is ruminating on the mud beneath her feet or the moon and the stars in the blue-black sky, she draws us deep into her rich and wonderful world. Carolyn Beck spent her summers in fields and meadows. She spends as much time as she can at her cottage in the Muskokas. This is the second book she has worked on with her sister, Andrea. Carolyn lives in Toronto, Ontario. Andrea Beck, creator of the Elliot Moose series, loves animals. She had a beagle named Toby whose black spots reminded her of cow patches. She wishes all cows lived Buttercup's life. Andrea lives in Unionville, Ontario. She created this book using acrylic paint on watercolor paper.
Michael Maxwell McCallum lives in a world just like ours, but peopled by superheroes. When Michael's hero, Perfect Man, quits his job without warning, Michael isn't worried. He knows that Perfect Man will come back. He always does. So that September, when a new teacher shows up in his classroom, a teacher with a number of special powers, Michael figures it out right away. Mr. Clark is Perfect Man. Mr. Clark doesn't say yes and he doesn't say no to Michael's endless questions, but he does encourage Michael to find his own super powers.
Yankel loves to tell stories, as long as they are someone else's. He does not see the hurt that his stories cause, the way they spread and change. Then the rabbi hands him a bag of feathers and tells him to place one on every doorstep in the village. Yankel is changed by what happens and finds himself with his best story yet, one of his very own.
A girl and a boy watch a stranger build a dragon in the sand. The dragon must wait for the night tide to set it free. But there is danger on the beach. As the sea crawls closer, other children come. They jump and play and the dragon begins to dissolve beneath their feet. The boy and the girl must keep the dragon safe until the sea can free him.
Tova lives with her family on a small farm in the famous town of Chelm, a mythical village populated, according to Jewish folklore, by fools. Tova's farm has hens and even a rooster, but no cow. Her mother, Rivka, wishes they could afford to buy a cow, so they could have fresh milk and butter every day. One night Tova's father has a dream about how to get milk without actually owning a cow. He asks Tova to help him find a way to get milk from their hens, and the results are hilarious. Finally, to the family's joy and the hens' relief, the problem is solved by none other than the wise Rabbi of Chelm himself, and a little extra help from Tova.
Doors in the Air is the story of a boy who is fascinated by doors. He marvels at how stepping through a doorway can take him from one world to another. He is especially enthralled by the doors of his imagination, which he refers to as "doors in the air." He delights in discovering that when he passes through these doors, he leaves behind all feelings of boredom, fear and unpleasantness. Doors in the Air is a lilting journey through house doors, dream doors and, best of all, doors in the air.
Who better to introduce babies to the alphabet than Sheree Fitch? In Peek-a-Little Boo twenty-six babies and toddlers from all over the world romp and revel in the twists and turns of language, real and imagined. The story is as multicultural as the alphabet will allow it to be. The pictures are big, bright and bold. And the language is guaranteed to appeal to babies' ears and grown ups' tongues.
Combining evocative haiku, informative text and luminous illustrations, Great Lakes and Rugged Ground is a celebration, for our youngest readers, of more than four hundred years of Ontario's history. Each detail-rich illustration depicts a particular moment in the province's dynamic saga from first European contact, the War of 1812, the building of the railroad and the Rideau Canal, the early development of the industries that have made the province the backbone of the national economy, through the emergence of a unique Canadian cultural identity, the hardships of two World Wars and modern industrial development.
