Recommended Reads

When Jilli and Jim see a big red structure being built next door, they imagine all kinds of frightening things before finding out the truth.

Mr. Perkins has a big surprise for the annual block party, but when the truck carrying it there breaks down, twins Jada and Jamal and their best friends, Josh and Carlita, propose a different form of transportation.

When young Boo is followed home by a dinosaur that only she can see, it causes a bit of trouble for her older brother, Sammy.

A possum and a muskrat become friends despite their many differences.

Fergus, the pet mouse in Miss Maxwell's classroom, stows away in a backpack on a field trip to the museum. He makes a new friend, Zeke, another mouse, who shows Fergus many interesting exhibits, but now he wonders how to get back to school.

Five very short stories told in a direct and ingenuous style, appealing because of their ease and the familiarity of the situations.

Have you ever wondered how a Harlem Globetrotters player can spin a basketball on one finger for so long? Or what a basketball is made of? Or how the laws of physics are also the laws of basketball? You're only a few four-point shots away from becoming a Science of Fun Stuff Expert on basketball!

Identical twins Ling and Ting celebrate their birthday by sharing gifts and making wishes.

It's the farmer's birthday. Minnie is giving him her last cream puff. Moo has knitted him a special sweater—very special. So special that one sleeve is longer than the other, and the sweater can sneeze. Even Elvis the Rooster is— Wait a minute. Where is Elvis?

When spring arrives, Mole and Mouse find a unique way to bird watch.

Jungle detective Murilla Gorilla has to find out who stole Ms. Chimpanzee's muffins, and, even though Murilla appears to be disorganized and forgetful, she has a good idea about how to track down the thief.

April Fools' Day is not a happy one for Wagner the mouse because his best friend, Pearl the rabbit, and other children and adults at school keep tricking him.

Looking forward to spending a seaside vacation with her family and sharing an adventure on the open sea as a fierce pirate dog, Poppy the Dalmatian loses her courage in the face of numerous bobbing boats, splashing waves, and scary sea creatures.

Sam's cousin from Mexico comes for an extended visit and teaches Sam and all the second graders to play soccer.

Describes nineteen of the fastest animals on the planet, including the cheetah, the sailfish, the peregrine falcon, and the Panamanian termite.

A father tells outlandish stories while trying to get his young son, who is a very picky eater, to eat foods he thinks he will not like.

Have you ever wondered what you could do to change the world? Find out how kids are helping the environment, inventing incredible medical devices, aiding the homeless, designing apps so other kids won't ever have to eat alone in the cafeteria, and more! Learn all about what they've come up with and how their ideas are changing lives in this story of four amazing kids everyone should meet!

Building, baking, folding, drawing, shaping ... making something with your own hands is a special, personal experience. Taking an idea from your imagination and turning it into something real is satisfying and makes the maker proud.

Eric's Grandma Minnie and Grandpa Max keep hearing someone knock at their door, night and day, but find no one there, so Cam tries to solve the mystery using her amazing memory.

After fox sisters Zelda and Ivy and their best friend Eugene watch the new Secret Agent Fox movie, they are inspired to do some detective work then practice their new skills when rain threatens their campout plans.