John McDonough

Although many things go wrong when Froggy decides to make money by setting up a lemonade stand, he still has fun with his friends.

A witch trying to pick a big pumpkin on Halloween discovers the value of cooperation when she gets help from a series of monsters.

Mr. Putter and his faithful cat Tabby love their neighbor Mrs. Teaberry and her dog Zeke. They are always bringing over yummy food-but all Mr. Putter and Tabby do in return is eat! Mrs. Teaberry's knitting party seems like the perfect time to return the favor. But when Mr. Putter goes to serve tea to the ladies at the party, things end up in quite a tangle!

Mr. Putter and his neighbor Mrs. Teaberry both like music. He likes the broken hearts and big round heroes of opera. She likes the broken hearts and big-haired stars of country music. One day Mrs. Teaberry has one of her famous ideas. She and Mr. Putter will form their own band. Mr. Putter is a good sport. He buys a little horn and practices for hours. Finally, he decides that everyone will be happier if he uses the horn to hold up his tomato plant....

Cynthia Rylant and Brendan Wenzel explore the beauty and tenacity of life. Life begins small, then grows. There are so many wonderful things about life, both in good times and in times of struggle. Through the eyes of the world's animals-including elephants, monkeys, whales, and more-Cynthia Rylant offers a moving meditation on finding beauty around us every day and finding strength in adversity. Brendan Wenzel's stunning landscapes and engaging creatures...

Mr. Putter doesn't share Mrs. Teaberry's enthusiasm for a class on 100 ways to cook beans. And yet-finding it hard to say no to his kind friend-he attends the class with her anyhow, expecting to be bored. But his cat Tabby and Mrs. Teaberry's dog Zeke soon bring more excitement to bean cooking than Mr. Putter could ever imagine-even in his wildest dreams.

Froggy wakes up to a beautiful day. The sun is shining. Butterflies and birds fill the air. To top it all off, he and his father are going for a bike ride. Froggy hops out of bed-flop, flop-and gets dressed-zap, zip, zoop! Then he shouts, "I'm re-e-a-d-y!" But before they can go, Froggy must find his helmet. Then he can't remember where he put his butterfly net. And he's getting hungry. Will Froggy and his father ever go bike riding? Young readers...

Painter and writer Calef Brown pours his boundless creative energy into his poetry and illustrations. In Flamingos on the Roof, Brown crafts 29 nonsense poems conjuring mythic and contemporary images of everything from gatorflies to light-bulb-topped birthday cakes. Kids will revel in the lively wordplay, while parents and teachers will recognize the value in teaching kids alliterative and assonant sounds.

Author of over 80 books for children, Jonathan London has received numerous awards, including IRA and Children's Book Council selections for his Froggy series. In Froggy's Best Babysitter, Froggy's parents are out for the night, and have left him with a brand new babysitter. Froggy tries to make her job easy by feeding his little sister dinner and giving himself a bath-but Froggy has a way of causing mischief no matter how simple the task.

Long ago, when the world was new, the ostrich's neck was so short that he couldn't reach the succulent berries in the trees, and he had to sit on the ground to eat bugs. All that changed on the fateful day when the crocodile awoke with a terrible toothache that no one dared to help her with-no one, that is, but a naive and compassionate young ostrich. Compromising his own safety to help a needy stranger, he was rewarded with a most amazing surprise....