Meow, more than ever, the world needs a furry hero–and his name is Sam Katz. Sam Katz is on the loose in this wildly original, glitter-sparkling book of 3-D scenes guaranteed to amaze and amuse children of all ages. Who is Sam Katz? Let’s put it this way: He is not your average humdrum Purina Cat Chow—munching, hairball-gacking pussycat. Everyday, Sam Katz’s owners leave him all alone in an apartment whose walls are hung with paintings of exotic scenes. Where does Sam go when his owners are away?
Why, he dives smack-dab into the action of the paintings, of course! From the steamy rain forest to the far-frozen north, from the hurly-burly of a boardwalk carnival to the peace and serenity of the mountain majesties, Sam Katz is one cat who doesn’t miss a scene. Children won’t want to miss out, either, as the text challenges them to explore each and every scene in full, and often hilarious, detail.
Peculiar, Missouri, is supposed to offer Claire Cain a reprieve from the horrifying dreams that have plagued her in the months since she became the victim of a brutal gang beating. The site of her father’s sabbatical is not supposed to be a place where girls turn up missing. And it’s not a place where Claire expects to discover a dead classmate, her corpse being feasted upon by the town’s rampant feral cats, the hordes of strays who behave very much like a gang themselves.
Peculiar, Claire soon learns, is a town brimming with dangers: spirits haunt the high school, take the form of fog in the cemetery. And everyone is too quick to assume that Serena Sims, the missing girl whose body is discovered in the woods by Claire herself, has died in an accident. Claire knows there’s more to it, though—and she vows to learn the truth of what happened to Serena, never anticipating that the spirit of Serena Sims has horrific plans of her own for Claire…or that she will discover an even more terrifying truth about herself along the way.
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” meets Because of Winn Dixie in this inspiring story of hope.
August “Auggie” Jones lives with her Grandpa Gus, a trash hauler, in a poor part of town. So when her wealthy classmate’s father starts the House Beautification Committee, it’s homes like Auggie’s that are deemed “in violation.” Auggie is determined to prove that she is not as run-down as the outside of her house might suggest. Using the kind of items Gus usually hauls to the scrap heap, a broken toaster becomes a flower; church windows turn into a rainbow walkway; and an old car gets new life as spinning whirligigs. What starts out as a home renovation project becomes much more as Auggie and her grandpa discover a talent they never knew they had—and redefine a whole town’s perception of beauty, one recycled sculpture at a time. Auggie’s talent for creating found art will remind readers that one girl’s trash really is another girl’s treasure.
One by one colorful birds land in a tree. Ten birds in all. Each one with its own song and as the pages turn, with the growing number of birds, so do their songs when combined! Children can learn the numbers one through ten with this stylish introduction to counting.
Follow this little ninja as he sneaks up on the family dog, swipes a cookie from his brother, and escapes from Granny’s kiss . . . only to be out-ninja’d by his younger brother’s sneak attack! Young readers will be drawn in by the fast-paced rhymes that parallel the little ninja’s quick moves, and will chant the refrain with glee! This humorous ode to stalking, sneaking, spying, and scheming is sure to be read over and over again, inspiring imaginary play for a new generation of ninjas.
In a country struggling with acceptance, hope can come in many different forms.
As a boy, Hector loved playing soccer in his small Johannesburg township. He dreamed of playing on a real pitch with the boys from another part of the city, but apartheid made that impossible. Then, in 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from prison, and apartheid began to crumble. The march toward freedom in South Africa was a slow one, but when the beloved Bafana Bafana national soccer team won the African Cup of Nations, Hector realized that dreams once impossible could now come true.
This poignant story of friendship artfully depicts a brief but critical moment in South Africa’s history and the unique role that sports can play in bringing people together.
