A little cat tries to understand the depth of his mother's devotion. And over and over, his mother reassures him of the most important fact of life, her unconditional love.

With rhyming text, this soothing bedtime book is an ode to baby birds everywhere and sleepy children home safe in their own beds. As a mother describes to her child how many species of birds nest, from pigeons on concrete ledges to owls in oak tree boles to swallows above barn doors. The soothing refrain of "you nest here with me" eases her little one and readers alike to slumber. Combining their poetic writing and their love of birding, mother and daughter Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple have written what is sure to become a bedtime classic.

Now in paperback - Phoebe Gilman and Joanne Fitzgerald's beautiful story about the transformative power of love. When a little hippo falls in love with an Egyptian princess, he hopes that a great magician can turn him into a human boy. Alas, even the magician can't perform such a feat! Instead, the magician turns him into a toy that the princess can playwith - a beautiful blue hippo on wheels. The princess adores her toy and takes him everywhere with her. But little girls don't play with toys forever. The princess grows up and yearns for a true love. Can the hippo make her wish come true? Based on a story by Joan Grant, The Blue Hippopotamus was Phoebe Gilman's final book. The illustrations by Joanne Fitzgerald were inspired by sketches Phoebe drew before her death in 2002. *A Governor General's Award nominee!

Max makes a million: When Max the dog finally sells his book of poetry, he is able to fulfill his lifelong dream of traveling to Paris. Oh-la-la: As he experiences Paris, the city of love, Max the millionaire poet dog knows he is missing something. Max in Hollywood, Baby: Max the millionaire poet dog and his Parisian poodle friend Crêpes Suzette leave Paris for the lure of glittering Hollywood. Can movie stardom be far behind?

The feisty young heroine of Little Frog and the Scary Autumn Thing is back with a new adventure--being a big sister! Little Frog is no longer the littlest frog. Some new family members--the spring polliwogs--are so much trouble for the former "Only Frog," and Little Frog is all out of sorts. But when that polliwog trouble becomes nothing compared to a real threat---boys with nets!--Little Frog has to remember all that she's been taught in order to save the tadpoles from disaster. This charmer of a sequel is by multi-award winning author Jane Yolen, author of On Bird Hill, Owl Moon and the How Do Dinosaurs...? books. The wonderful spring palette and adorable pictures are by illustrator of the first Little Frog, Ellen Shi. About the LITTLE FROG Series Fear comes in many shapes and sizes. Seasons change. Families change. And change can be a scary thing for a little mind exploring the complicated emotions of facing the unknown. With gentle sweetness, Little Frog makes them laugh and breathe a sigh of relief through life's natural cycles. Little Frog shows young children they can muster up courage in the face of all things strange and new. With a little love, patience, and acceptance, big fears can be turned into bigger discoveries. Praise for LITTLE FROG "Vivid autumn foliage is generally considered to be a thing of beauty, but those unfamiliar colors spell danger to a young frog. Yolen doesn't rush Little Frog's emotional turnaround. Shi's inviting mixed-media landscapes make it clear that the amphibian is never in danger...reasoned reactions to her own nervousness hint at ways readers might tackle their own fears." -- PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY "This book is great for new/older siblings. It is cute and relatable." -- GOODREADS

"Rich colors underscore the intensity of Little Frog's feelings...a low-key way of introducing the idea of change, in nature or otherwise." - KIRKUS REVIEWS Most things that are scary are just new... Little Frog and the Scary Autumn Thing helps families embrace the new and unknown through the story of one little frog learning that change doesn't have to be frightening--especially when families face it together! It's Little Frog's first autumn, and she doesn't like it one bit. It is not the green world she loves so much, but something scarier and ominous, filled with red and gold and yellow. And noise! WHIRRRRR. CHIRRRR. BAROOOOOOM. But encouraged by her Mama, who reminds her that "Most things that are scary are just new," Little Frog bravely sets out into this world. When her courage waivers, she starts to run and soon is lost, miserably lost. She finds her way to Papa Frog, and he shows her what Mama Frog means. In a warm and satisfying ending: At last, arm in arm, Little Frog and Papa Frog happily hopped and danced all the way home to The Pond where Mama Frog had made a fresh shoo-fly pie for dinner, something all three of them knew well. This charmer of a story is by multi-award winning author Jane Yolen, author of Owl Moon and the How Do Dinosaurs...? books. The wonderful autumn palette and adorable pictures are by newcomer Ellen Shi, who is not afraid of trying something new herself. About the LITTLE FROG Series Fear comes in many shapes and sizes. Seasons change. Families change. And change can be a scary thing for a little mind exploring the complicated emotions of facing the unknown. With gentle sweetness, Little Frog makes them laugh and breathe a sigh of relief through life's natural cycles. Little Frog shows young children they can muster up courage in the face of all things strange and new. With a little love, patience, and acceptance, big fears can be turned into bigger discoveries. Praise for LITTLE FROG "Vivid autumn foliage is generally considered to be a thing of beauty, but those unfamiliar colors spell danger to a young frog. Yolen doesn't rush Little Frog's emotional turnaround. Shi's inviting mixed-media landscapes make it clear that the amphibian is never in danger...reasoned reactions to her own nervousness hint at ways readers might tackle their own fears." -- PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY

Mrs. Lovewright is sure that a cat is just what she needs until she acquires a cat that has a mind of its own.

National Outdoor Book Award Winner for Outdoor Literature From the award-winning, bestselling author of Cod- the irresistible story of the science, history, art, and culture of the least efficient way to catch a fish. Fly fishing, historian Mark Kurlansky has found, is a battle of wits, fly fisher vs. fish-and the fly fisher does not always (or often) win. The targets-salmon, trout, and char; and for some, bass, tarpon, tuna, bonefish, and even marlin-are highly intelligent, athletic animals. The allure, Kurlansky learns, is that fly fishing makes catching a fish as difficult as possible. The flies can be beautiful and intricate, some made with over two dozen pieces of feather and fur; the cast is a matter of grace and rhythm, with different casts and rods yielding varying results. Kurlansky is known for his deep dives into specific subjects, from cod to oysters to salt. But he spent his boyhood days on the shore of a shallow pond. Here, where tiny fish weaved under a rocky waterfall, he first tied string to a branch, dangled a worm into the water, and unleashed his passion for fishing. Since then, his love of the sport has led him around the world's countries, coasts, and rivers-from the wilds of Alaska to Basque country, from Ireland and Norway to Russia and Japan. And, in true Kurlansky fashion, he absorbed every fact, detail, and anecdote along the way. The Unreasonable Virtue of Fly Fishing marries Kurlansky's signature wide-ranging reach with a subject that has captivated him for a lifetime-combining history, craft, and personal memoir to show readers, devotees of the sport or not, the necessity of experiencing nature's balm first-hand.

From David Baddiel, the brightest new star of children's books and winner of the LOLLIES award, comes a laugh-out-loud adventure for every child who ever wondered what it might be like to be a bit of an animal... Malcolm doesn't like animals. Which is a problem because his family love them. Their house is full of pets. What the house is NOT full of is stuff Malcolm likes. Such as the laptop he wanted for his birthday. The only bright spot on the horizon is the Year Six school trip, which Malcolm never thought his parents would pay for. And yet there he is, on the bus, heading to... oh no. A farm. Over the next days, Malcolm changes. He learns a lot about animals. More, in many ways, than he would like. He learns what it's really like to be an animal. A whole series of animals, in fact... It does make him think differently. And speak differently. And eat differently. And, um, smell differently. But will he end up the same as before? Because sometimes the hardest thing to become is... yourself.

“A satisfying read from a masterful stylist, this will appeal to any fan of nature writing or personal essays.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) Ever since her daughter rescued a fledgling rook several years ago, Esther Woolfson has been fascinated with corvids, the bird group that includes crows, rooks, magpies, and ravens. Today, the rook, named Chicken, is a member of the Woolfson family along with a talking magpie named Spike, a baby crow named Ziki, a starling, a parrot, and others. From their elaborate bathing rituals to springtime broodiness and their tendency to stash food in the most unlikely places, these corvids share bonds with Woolfson that would have been considered rare, if not impossible, before. Letting her experience speak for itself, Woolfson likens the fears and foibles of corvids to those of humans, taking into account the science of bird intelligence, evolution,song, and flight. She highlights their big personalities and capacity for affection: Chicken hates computers and machines, while she loves evening neck scratches on Woolfson’s knee. It is through this intimate lens that Woolfson invites us to reconsider what creatures can be human’s best friend. “Woolfson shares a house with a host of free–ranging birds who cache bits of brie and raw squid in jean cuffs and under rugs, who excavate holes in the kitchen wall, and who, ahem, are decidedly not housebroken. But are these lifestyles really so peculiar? Should we not applaud them?” — Orion Magazine “What makes Woolfson’s memoir such enjoyable reading (even for the non–birdobsessed) is that she is funny and knows it’s rather crazy to have a magpie, crow, starling or, more significantly, a rook named ‘Chicken’ running about your house.” —Bookslut

From big cats to elephants and indigenous communities, Wild Encounters is a must-have for nature lovers, conservationists, and anyone who is inspired by all that remains wild. David Yarrow travels from pole to pole and continent to continent to visit frozen Arctic tundras, vast African deserts, primordial rain forests, and remote villages, inviting us to truly connect with subjects we mistakenly think we have seen before. Yarrow takes the familiar—lions, elephants, tigers, polar bears—and makes it new again by creating iconic images that deliberately connect with us at a highly emotional level. For more than two decades, this legendary wildlife photographer has been putting himself in harm's way to capture the most unbelievable close-up animal photography, amassing an incomparable photographic portfolio, spanning six continents. Driven by a passion for sharing and preserving Earth's last great wild cultures and species, Yarrow is as much a conservationist as a photographer and artist. His work has transcended wildlife photography and is now collected and shown as fine art in some of the most famed galleries around the world. Featuring 160 of his most breathtaking photographs, Wild Encounters offers a truly intimate view of some of the world's most compelling—and threatened—species and captures the splendor and very soul of what remains wild and free in our world through portraits that feel close enough to touch.

While delivering the news to the other field mice, Charlie Meadows, who loves dancing with his shadow in the moonlight, narrowly escapes being eaten by the owl.

In "One Basket" by Edna Ferber, readers are treated to a collection of short stories that provide a delightful glimpse into the lives of various characters. Through Ferber's skillful storytelling, these tales explore the intricacies of human relationships, dreams, and the intricacies of daily existence. The book's narrative diversity spans from the bustling streets of New York City to the quiet rural settings, making each story a unique experience. Themes of love, ambition, and personal growth are woven throughout, painting a vivid picture of American life in the early 20th century. Edna Ferber's masterful prose captures the essence of the human spirit, offering a rich and emotional reading experience for all.

Everyone in Miss Thompson's fourth grade class loves The Bears' House - Fran Ellen Smith most of all. When Fran Ellen goes into The Bears' House , she can forget about how awful things are at home. At the end of the term Miss Thompson is giving the house away to someone in the class. Fran Ellen knows it won't be her? How is she going to get along without a place to hide? "Superb characterizations and uncommonly skilled writing draw the reader completely into the realities and fantasies of Fran Ellen's world and make this funny, touching story essential reading." ~Library Journal

"[In] this lovely valentine from Hoban to all beginning readers, a minor squabble with his best friend, Norman, has left Arthur all alone this wintry Valentine's Day [until] Norman's little brother saves the day, and the two best friends are reunited. This title will warm up any snowy, blustery day."—SLJ.

Neither Anne nor Emily remembered choosing the book at the library, but when as they read it, the boundary between their world and the one described in the book disappears. Suddenly they are in Sherwood Forest, where they join Robin Hood's band. The further adventures that await Anne, Emily, and their brother, Will, are the kind they had always dreamed about. They had yearned for magic as strong as the spell cast by the stories they loved best. But then an uninvited guest turns up at their parents' garden party. The sinister man snatches the book with the intention of using its powers for evil, and the siblings find themselves engaged in a battle to regain possession of the book. Richly detailed black-and-white drawings enliven this intriguing literary fantasy, which pays homage to some of the heroes of the author's childhood, among them E. Nesbit, Edward Eager, and Leo Tolstoy.

Surprise your mum with a chainsaw, be a bigger star than Tom Cruise, save the world with a plate of veggies, start your new life in a taxi, rescue your family with a tomato, send your dad into a panic with a tractor, do a good deed with a paper bag on your head pack your bags for a trip to the spleen, upset your auntie with ten kilos of chocolate, swap a bomb for three ice-creams on a train . . . and lots more.

Smudge Bunny is the story of Smudge, Dr. Siegel�s beloved pet rabbit and her journey to reach their home and family. In recounting her story, Smudge comes to realize that sometimes the paths in life that look like detours, are really just different ways to get to where we were meant to be all along. After enduring heartache and loss, Smudge ultimately finds happiness, hope, and the discovery that a true home is where, as the poet Robert Frost wrote, "... when you go there they have to take you in." This story is written at a child�s level with warmth and playfulness, and of course, a happy ending. We believe that readers who enjoyed Dr. Siegel�s adult books, for their humor, love, and healing, will also want to share this charming book with their children. The book is a wonderful gift for animal lovers as well, because it teaches the true spirit of kinship between humans and our favorite furry companions.

Bigger and fatter than all the other microbes in the valley. Wilton feels ostracised and out of place. But even more worryingly, their world has become unhealthy and toxic with mass illness and flash storms. Setting out to find out what is wrong, Wilton meets Algy, a tiny microbe small enough to sit on his shoulder (and take refuge in his guts) who accompanies Wilton on his quest. Taking a wrong turn in an effort to escape some killer fungus, they inadvertently end up outside - and discover (thanks to some helpful bacteria) that the world in which they live is actually one giant organism called Janet.