Search results for ""Tilbury House,U.S.""

This is a story about love and sacrifice: Tamen’s mom, a nightshift nurse, finds a way to take him camping. For one magical night on the shore of a wilderness pond, the Milky Way in all its glory belongs to them.

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Rafael Guastavino Sr. was 39 when he left a successful career as an architect in Barcelona. American cities—densely packed and built largely of wood—were experiencing horrific fires, and Guastavino had the solution: The soaring interior spaces created by his tiled vaults and domes made buildings sturdier, fireproof, and beautiful. What he didn’t have was fluent English. Unable to win design commissions, he transferred control of the company to his American-educated son, whose subsequent half-century of inspired design work resulted in major contributions to the built environment of America. Immigrant Architect is an introduction to architectural concepts and a timely reminder of immigrant contributions to America. The book includes four route maps for visiting Guastavino-designed spaces in New York City: uptown, midtown, downtown, and Prospect Park.

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Each of the three seeds in this story—a cherry stone in Iran, an acacia seed in Australia and a lotus seed in China—survives a difficult journey through flood, fire or drought, then sprouts and ultimately flourishes.

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Musquon must overcome her impatience while learning to distinguish sweetgrass from other salt marsh grasses, but slowly the spirit and peace of her surroundings speak to her, and she gathers sweetgrass as her ancestors have done for centuries, leaving the first blade she sees to grow for future generations. This sweet, authentic story from a Maliseet mother and her Passamaquoddy husband includes backmatter about traditional basket making and a Wabanaki glossary.

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Alone, cold, and frightened, Zoo Sap cries, and his cries attract the forest animals. Beginning with beaver and ending with the great bald eagle, the animals rush to protect the baby and shelter him from the cold until his father returns for him. New, expanded 10th-anniversary edition of this classic that has sold more than 30,000 copies. · New features include an author’s note explaining the seasonal movement of the Passamaquoddy people; a pronunciation guide to the Passamaquoddy names of the animals in the story; and a QR code that will let readers link to the audio recording of Allen Sockabasin telling the story in the Passamaquoddy language. A beguiling bedtime story and a profound expression of reverence for the natural world. Lexile Level 620 Fountas and Pinnell Text Level L

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When the Earth disappears behind the moon, Collins loses contact with his fellow astronauts on the moon’s surface, with mission control at NASA, and with the entire human race, becoming more alone than any human being has ever been before. In total isolation for 21 hours, Collins awaits word that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin have managed to launch their moon lander successfully to return to the orbiter—a feat never accomplished before and rendered more problematic by the fuel burn of their difficult landing. In this singularly lonely and dramatic setting, Collins reviews the politics, science, and engineering that propelled the Apollo 11 mission across 239,000 miles of space to the moon. Fountas & Pinnell Text Level U

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Narrated in the poetic voice of the estuary itself, and accompanied by natural-history sidebars about estuary plants, animals, and cycles, THE SECRET BAY is another topnotch nature book from the author and illustrator of the award-winning, bestselling The Secret Pool. A stand-alone book and a stunning companion volume to Ridley and Raye’s award-winning Secret Pool. Ridley deftly augments the estuary’s lyrical narrative voice with sidebars about the plants, animals, and natural processes of an estuary. Raye’s gorgeous watercolors reveal new features and hidden treats with each reading. Back matter includes The Estuary Food Web, Great Escapes (how estuary animals avoid predators), and an author’s note about the challenges facing estuaries. A perfect book for the budding naturalist and for his or her parents and teachers. Fountas & Pinnell Level S Lexile 1180

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When a downcast Sergio gets home from a bad day at school, his wise mother listens sympathetically to his tale of woe and then suggests an experiment. Placing a bowl of marbles next to Grandfather’s old balance scale, she asks him to go back to the beginning of his day and remember each good and bad thing that happened. For each bad thing, he places a marble on the right-hand pan of the scale; for each good thing he places a marble on the left-hand pan. Sergio is amazed to discover that even on a day that felt awful, the good outweighed the bad.

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Here Amy Newbold conveys nineteen artists’ styles in a few deft words, while Greg Newbold’s chameleon-like artistry shows us Edgar Degas’ dinosaur ballerinas, Cassius Coolidge’s dinosaurs playing Go Fish, Hokusai’s dinosaurs surfing a giant wave, and dinosaurs smelling flowers in Mary Cassatt’s garden; grazing in Grandma Moses’ green valley; peeking around Diego Rivera’s orchids in Frida Kahlo’s portrait; tiptoeing through Baishi’s inky bamboo; and cavorting, stampeding or hiding in canvases by Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, Franz Marc, Harrison Begay, Alma Thomas, Aaron Douglas, Mark Rothko, Lois Mailou Jones, Marguerite Zorach and Edvard Munch. And, of course, striking a Mona Lisa pose for Leonardo da Vinci. As in If Picasso Painted a Snowman, our guide for this tour is an engaging beret-topped hamster who is joined in the final pages by a tiny dino artist. Thumbnail biographies of the artists identify their iconic works, completing this tour of the creative imagination.

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Scorpions and brown recluse spiders are fine as far as they go, but if you want daily contact with venomous creatures, the ocean is the place to be. Blue-ringed octopi, stony corals, sea jellies, stonefish, lionfish, poison-fanged blennies, stingrays, cone snails, blind remipedes, fire urchins—you can choose your poison in the ocean. Venoms are often but not always defensive weapons. The banded sea krait, an aquatic snake, wriggles into undersea caves to prey on vicious moray eels, killing them with one of the world’s most deadly neurotoxins, which it injects through fangs that resemble hypodermic needles.

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More than 99 percent of all life forms have gone extinct during the 3.6-billion-year history of life on Earth. Other organisms have changed dramatically, but not our extreme survivors. Evolution may have altered their physiology and behavior, but their body plans have stood the test of time. How have these living links with Earth’s prehistoric past survived? The search for answers is leading scientists to new discoveries about the past—and future—of life on Earth. The survival secrets of some of these ancient creatures could lead to new medicines and treatments for disease. Written in a lively, entertaining voice, Extreme Survivors provides detailed life histories and strange “survival secrets” of ten ancient animals and explains evolution and natural selection. Extensive back matter includes glossary, additional facts and geographic range for each organism and a geologic timeline of Earth. F&P Level V

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Worried about the drought that has caused a big decrease in honey production, his dad is irritable and remote, seemingly unable to offer the acceptance that Jonathan yearns for. But one sleepless night Jonathan joins his mother in the kitchen making beeswax candles for sale, and discovers an outlet for his artistic talents that will make a big contribution to the family finances. Bee-fact sidebars buzz through this human story about a child trying to please his father. In this expanded paperback edition, an “About Bees” appendix offers further natural history about these vital and fascinating insects. Helps us see that sensitive, artistic boys have their own special place. Fountas & Pinnell Level O

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Baby golden tortoise beetles pile poop on their backs to create a shield as protection from predators. Silver-spotted skipper caterpillars can shoot their poops 40 times their own body length to conceal their true locations. Baby hoopoes squirt their poops into the eyes of attackers -- and who wants feces in their faces? Baby Ozark blind cave salamanders use gray bat guano for food. The bottom (!!) line: Ever-inventive nature finds a thousand uses for poop. Nothing goes to waste (!!). This book is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser with a lot of information to share.

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Also included are a compendium of caribou facts and a new afterword about caribou in the twenty-first century. Journey into the magical world of the caribou, North America s own reindeer. A Tilbury House classic with 30,000 copies sold Expanded paperback edition includes a haunting new afterword by biologist Mark McCollough, describing the condition of the great arctic caribou herds in the age of climate change. Both an alphabet book and a child's nature book.

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The girl in this story sees it happening, but she would never do these mean things herself. Then one day something happens that shows her that being a silent bystander isn’t enough. Will she take some steps on her own to help another kid? Could it be as simple as sitting on the bus with the girl no one has befriended (and discovering that she has a great sense of humor)? Resources at the end of the book will help parents and children talk about teasing and bullying and find ways to stop it at school.One child at a time can help change a school. Since its release in May 2004, this book has sparked Say Something weeks in schools from Maine to Shanghai. It has been turned into plays, distributed to hundreds of kids at conferences, read by principals on large screens, and rewritten by students in several schools (Do Something! is a favorite title). Most importantly, Say Something has helped start countless conversations among kids and adults about teasing. We’re celebrating with this new edition, updated with a new cover and an author’s note. Fountas & Pinnell Level O

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Mia and Tayja pretend to be princesses on a perilous journey, but there’s one thing they don’t have to pretend. They know in their hearts that they’re real sisters despite being adopted. Playful and sweet, Real Sisters Pretend celebrates the wonderful variety of modern families, in which the only essential ingredient is love.

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Calvin’s dictionary is proud to be carried everywhere Calvin goes—the breakfast table, school then home again—because Calvin is determined to find the perfect word to attach to his annoying older brother. The word isn’t exactly revenge, mayhem, bewilderment, subterfuge, pulverise or even retaliation, though all those words are close and very tempting. When Calvin finally finds the right word for his rascally brother, his dictionary is surprised and delighted, and readers will enjoy celebrating the triumphant discovery of Calvin’s perfect word along with his dictionary.

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Edward Hopper’s monster lurks outside the nighthawks’ diner. James Whistler’s monster rocks in her chair. Monsters invade masterpieces by Dorthea Tanning, Paul Cezanne, M.C. Escher and many other artists, and the monster emerging from Claude Monet’s Water Lilies is unforgettable. Our guide for this romp through re-imagined masterpieces is an engaging hamster, while thumbnail biographies of the artists identify their iconic works.

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What is the most important thing to remember about stargazing? When to do it, who to do it with, what to look for? It’s none of those! This picture book’s spare, lyrical text offers many possible ways to do stargazing: with a friend, with family or alone; on a moonless night, or with a full moon, or even with some clouds; on the beach, lying in the grass or standing on a snowy hill. There is only one rule of stargazing, which is saved for the end, and that is just to do it! Magical illustrations show polar bears, whales and other animals stargazing too, and in the final illustration, diverse kids and animals gaze at the night sky together. Back matter about the constellations completes this bedtime story with its underlying message of love and respect for nature.

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This is a book about mindfulness. About relishing the magic of the here and now. About enjoying the extraordinary unfoldings of an ordinary day. Moving from morning to night, the narrator becomes, by turns, boy or girl, of ever-changing ethnicity and ability, inhabiting city, country, or suburb. They are all children everywhere, opening themselves to the gift of time.

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Big lies are told by governments, politicians and corporations to avoid responsibility, cast blame on the innocent, win elections, disguise intent, create chaos and gain power and wealth. Big lies are as old as civilisation. They corrupt public understanding and discourse, turn science upside down and reinvent history. They prevent humanity from addressing critical challenges. They perpetuate injustices. They destabilise the world. The modern age has provided ever-more-effective ways of spreading lies but it has also given us the scientific method, which is the most effective tool for finding what is true. In the book’s final chapter, Kurlansky reveals ways to deconstruct an allegation. A scientific theory has to be testable and so does an allegation. BIG LIES soars across history: alighting on the “noble lies” of Socrates and Plato; Nero blaming Christians for the burning of Rome; the great injustices of the Middle Ages; the big lies of Stalin and Hitler and their terrible consequences; the reckless lies of contemporary demagogues, which are amplified through social media; lies against women and Jews are two examples in the long history of “othering” the vulnerable for personal gain; up to the equal-opportunity spotlight in America. “Belief is a choice”, Kurlansky writes, “and honesty begins in each of us. A lack of caring what is true or false is the undoing of democracy. The alternative to truth is a corrupt state in which the loudest voices and most seductive lies confer power and wealth on grifters and oligarchs. We cannot achieve a healthy planet for all the world’s people if we do not keep asking what is true.”

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Black lives matter. That message would be self-evident in a just world, but in this world and this America, all children need to hear it again and again, and not just to hear it but to feel and know it. This book affirms the message repeatedly, tenderly, with cumulative power and shared pride. Celebrating Black accomplishments in music, art, literature, journalism, politics, law, science, medicine, entertainment and sports, Shani King summons a magnificent historical and contemporary context for honouring the fortitude of Black role models, women and men, who have achieved greatness despite the grinding political and social constraints on Black life. Frederick Douglass, Toni Morrison, Sojourner Truth, John Lewis, Langston Hughes, Louis Armstrong, Maya Angelou, Aretha Franklin and many more pass through these pages. An America without their struggles, aspirations and contributions would be a shadow of the country we know. A hundred life sketches augment the narrative, opening a hundred doors to lives and thinking that aren’t included in many history books. James Baldwin’s challenge is here: “We are responsible for the world in which we find ourselves, if only because we are the only sentient force which can change it". Actress Viola Davis’s words are here too: “When I was younger, I did not exert my voice because I did not feel worthy of having a voice. I was taught so many things that didn’t include me. Where was I? What were people like me doing?” This book tells children what people like Viola were and are doing, and it assures Black children that they are, indisputably, worthy of having a voice. Have I Ever Told You Black Lives Matter? is a book for this time and always. It is time for all children to live and breathe the certainty that Black lives matter.

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In this sequel to the tour de force children’s art-history picture book If Picasso Painted a Snowman, Amy Newbold conveys nineteen artists’ styles in a few deft words, while Greg Newbold’s chameleon-like artistry shows us Edgar Degas’ dinosaur ballerinas, Cassius Coolidge’s dinosaurs playing Go Fish, Hokusai’s dinosaurs surfing a giant wave, and dinosaurs smelling flowers in Mary Cassatt’s garden; grazing in Grandma Moses’ green valley; peeking around Diego Rivera's orchids in Frida Kahlo’s portrait; tiptoeing through Baishi’s inky bamboo; and cavorting, stampeding, or hiding in canvases by Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, Franz Marc, Harrison Begay, Alma Thomas, Aaron Douglas, Mark Rothko, Lois Mailou Jones, Marguerite Zorach, and Edvard Munch. And, of course, striking a Mona Lisa pose for Leonardo da Vinci. As in If Picasso Painted a Snowman, our guide for this tour is an engaging beret-topped hamster who is joined in the final pages by a tiny dino artist. Thumbnail biographies of the artists identify their iconic works, completing this tour of the creative imagination.

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The child is scared, but will not be afraid. She believes in a higher power watching over them, keeping them safe--her astronaut. As she narrates, readers get a tender glimpse into a life on the front lines, one filled with love and trauma, fear and hope. A much needed perspective from Ukrainian author and illustrator.

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Alone, cold, and frightened, Zoo Sap cries, and his cries attract the forest animals. Beginning with beaver and ending with the great bald eagle, the animals rush to protect the baby and shelter him from the cold until his father returns for him. New, expanded 10th-anniversary edition of this classic that has sold more than 30,000 copies. · New features include an author’s note explaining the seasonal movement of the Passamaquoddy people; a pronunciation guide to the Passamaquoddy names of the animals in the story; and a QR code that will let readers link to the audio recording of Allen Sockabasin telling the story in the Passamaquoddy language. A beguiling bedtime story and a profound expression of reverence for the natural world. Lexile Level 620 Fountas and Pinnell Text Level L

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We invite you into this charming picture book about a single dad (a rarity in the picture book world) and his little boy, who turns out to be very wise. From their secret handshake to their mutual problem-solving, this father and son have winning ways. Written with lessons that apply to any family with young children, the book is distinctively told from a father's perspective, and built on how a son and dad listen to and learn from each other. This is a tale of how to conquer frustration no matter what the problem.

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What can you see beneath an old, old pier on the edge of a cold sea? An ugly wolffish munching a live sea urchin, a hermit crab switching shells, a garden of anemones, a starfish eating a clam, a 35-pound hundred-year-old lobster guarding his domain, and more strange and wonderful creatures than you can imagine….

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In early April, as Owen and his sister search the hickories, oaks, and dogwoods for returning birds, a huge group of birds leaves the misty mountain slopes of the Yucatan peninsula for the 600-mile flight across the Gulf of Mexico to their summer nesting grounds. One of them is a Cerulean warbler. He will lose more than half his body weight even if the journey goes well. Aloft over the vast ocean, the birds encourage each other with squeaky chirps that say, “We are still alive. We can do this.” Owen’s family watches televised reports of a great storm over the Gulf of Mexico, fearing what it may mean for migrating songbirds. In alternating spreads, we wait and hope with Owen, then struggle through the storm with the warbler. This moving story with its hopeful ending appeals to us to preserve the things we love. The backmatter includes a North American bird migration map, birding information for kids, and guidance for how native plantings can transform yards into bird and wildlife habitat.

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His mom had packed his lunch bag with two burritos, a bag of corn chips, some carrots, and an apple. Once a week she tucks in a slice of her special lemon pound cake. Rafael saw Kevin, a new kid in his class, sneak his lunch bag from underneath his desk and tuck it in his backpack. But how can he do something about the theft without picking a fight? Inspired by his mother's advice to “Use your mouth before your fists,” Rafael bides his time, but other kids' lunches are disappearing,too. On an errand with his mom, Rafael sees Kevin carrying a bundle of laundry into a motel room, and his mom tells him Kevin's family might be one of the families who lost their homes in the recent wildfires. Rafael rethinks his anger. The next day, instead of accusing Kevin, Rafael invites him to share his lunch, letting Kevin know he's been caught, but offering friendship as well as lunch.

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For Muslim people around the world, Ramadan is a month-long time for prayer, fasting, and charity. This "month of blessing" is not viewed as a time of hardship but instead as a time to develop self-discipline and increase awareness of and compassion for the poor and the hungry. It is a time to deepen connection with Allah through prayer and community. For this much-anticipated month, Muslim people gather together in homes, shops, and restaurants to break their fasts and pray. Islam uses a lunar calendar, so the timing of Ramadan depends on the cycles of the moon. Ramadan lasts a lunar month: from new moon to full moon and back to new moon. Ramadan always begins on the first night of the new moon of the ninth month of the year. Because the lunar calendar's months are shorter than the solar calendar's months, Ramadan appears to "move" from year to year. As a result, fasting (no food or water) during the winter months is not quite so much a challenge as fasting during long, hot summer days. It is the custom to start the day with a pre-dawn meal called suhoor, then not eat or drink again until after the sun has set. That post-daylight meal is called iftar. Sharing these pre-dawn and post-sunset meals is an important part of community and family bonding, which is part of why Shirin feels a bit left out. Ramadan is as important to many Muslims as Christmas and Easter are to many Christians, and Passover, Yom Kippur, and Rosh Hashanah are to many Jewish people. Ramadan ends with a gift-giving celebration called Eid ul-Fitr, which means "festival of breaking the fast." Moon Watchers could promote conversations about: Sibling rivalry Making ethical decisions Food, culture, and religious holidays Lessons that can be learned from the experience of fasting The role of the lunar calendar in Islam and other religions Diverse family traditions and practices for holidays Fountas and Pinnell Level R

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How does a boy come to live alone in an apparently deserted city? Are they separated by distance or by time? Does the man dream the boy? Does the boy dream the man? Is a blank paper in a floating bottle an invitation to imagine our futures? Is the man’s flying boat an encouragement to the boy to dream? Are the man and the boy the same person—the boy dwelling in the man’s memory? Is a message in a bottle the earthbound dreams of the elderly? Is a flying boat the unconstrained dreams of the young? This wordless, many-layered 80-page picture book invites all these interpretations and more. The intricately detailed illustrations reveal new wonders with each viewing. Neither children nor adults will ever tire of this wonderful testament to imagination, memory, and dreams.

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Alone, cold, and frightened, Zoo Sap cries, and his cries attract the forest animals. Beginning with beaver and ending with the great bald eagle, the animals rush to protect the baby and shelter him from the cold until his father returns for him. New, expanded 10th-anniversary edition of this classic that has sold more than 30,000 copies. ? New features include an author's note explaining the seasonal movement of the Passamaquoddy people; a pronunciation guide to the Passamaquoddy names of the animals in the story; and a QR code that will let readers link to the audio recording of Allen Sockabasin telling the story in the Passamaquoddy language. A beguiling bedtime story and a profound expression of reverence for the natural world. Lexile Level 620 Fountas and Pinnell Level L

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After 13 years of struggling in the music business, Robert Reilly found himself broke and on the edge of despair. The specter of success in the music business had become a monster about to ruin his family life. Something had to change, or something was going to break beyond repair. A chance conversation with a neighbor led him to apply, somewhat half-heartedly, for a job at the county prison. Although he hated the thought of a “real job,” a regular salary of $40,000 with benefits, and paid time off seemed like a small fortune. “Amazingly, I somehow got hired. So, in an effort to do the right thing and put my family first, I left the madness of the music business and entered the insanity of the U.S. prison system.” Robert Reilly served a seven-year term as a prison guard in Pennsylvania and Maine. Entering America's industrial prison system in search of a way to support his young family, the struggling musician found himself in a looking-glass world where, often, only the uniforms distinguished guards from prisoners. Life in Prison chronicles the horrors of a place where justice is arbitrary, outcomes are preordained, and the private sector makes big money while the public looks away. This is Reilly's story of doing time. To call the experience sobering would be the ultimate understatement: “As time crawls by, I become jealous of the inmates leaving the prison. I start to slip; I start to feel like I'm losing my faith. Any trace of innocence that I thought I still had starts to evaporate. I begin to feel trapped, imprisoned, locked in a dark heartbreaking world, just like an inmate.”

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In this reassuring picture book, young readers see children who have two households—whether because of divorce, separation, or other circumstances—experiencing life’s ups and downs with both parents — secure in the knowledge that Mom will always be Mom, and Dad is forever Dad.

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Born in a paper mill town in Maine's western foothills, Muskie was one of six children of a Polish immigrant and a Polish-American mother whose English was worse than her husband's. His arc through his formative years was singular and unpredictable, an American story that looks plausible only in hindsight.Commemorating the centenary of his birth, this biography of Ed Muskie through his two terms as Maine's governor tells how the son of an immigrant tailor grew up to become one of the most consequential politicians in American history.

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What followed was a rare and remarkable demonstration of animal behavior. This celebrated story, beautifully depicted in Jennifer O'Connell's mesmerizing paintings, will make you wonder about animal emotions and the unique connections we can have with animals-even whales. Fountas & Pinnell Level M

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After several missed kicks and a trampled base keeper, no one wants Davey on the team. But maybe, just maybe, there's a solution that will work for everybody. F&P Text Level N Genevieve Petrillo has been teaching elementary students in New Jersey for 34 years. David DeNotaris was in her classroom many years ago, and this is a true story.

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Her other neighbors bemoan the "Goat Lady's" rundown house and barnyard animals, but the children see how she cares for her goats, they hear her stories, and they come to love her. For many years Noelie has provided goat's milk for people who need it and has sent her extra goat kids to poor people in poor countries through the Heifer Project. The children's mother paints a series of portraits of the "Goat Lady," and her art show at the local town hall helps the rest of the community see Noelie's kindness and courage. F&P Text Level Q

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Wilderness is central to the image of Maine most of us carry in our minds. In this extraordinary collection nearly forty writers, poets, artists, and photographers bear witness to the central role it plays in Maine, its importance to our understanding of nature, to our sense of who we are in the world, to our very souls. And some of them devote practical thinking to how we might recover and nurture wilderness in the future.At this time of major changes in land ownership in the North Woods and of development pressures and sprawl threatening the rural landscape of southern and central Maine, these voices for wilderness could not be more relevant.

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Bunting has a knack for spotting the unusual in a photograph, or some minor detail that, in fact, tells a major story about the how and why. From granite quarry operations to an itinerant cobbler in a sailing scow to hootchie-kootchie dancers at the state fair to deepwater ships, his page-long captions place these images in social and economic context--but this is not dry history. His research has uncovered a wealth of fascinating, often quirky detail (did you know that mummy wrappings were imported from Egypt for Maine papermaking?), and he makes frequent forays into the Maine storytelling tradition.

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This remarkable book chronicles the efforts of biologist Steven Kress to rejuvenate a once-flourishing puffin colony on Egg Rock, an island off the Maine coast, with puffin chicks from Newfoundland. With their large, colorful beaks, their upright posture, and their big, dark eyes, it's easy to see why puffins are popular all over the world. But for the past hundred years, puffins along the coast of Maine have been threatened with local extinction. Biologist Stephen Kress decided to try to bring puffins back to Maine with an experiment that had never been attempted before. Stunning color photographs on every page capture each step of this wildlife success story. As you learn about The Puffin Project, you'll also learn all about puffins how they are so wonderfully adapted to their ocean environment, how they catch fish, socialize, nest in burrows, and raise their young.

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Alexander can’t decide on a Halloween costume, so he winds up as a pumpkin; he can’t decide what to wear to school, so he misses the bus; he can’t decide what school lunch to eat, so he winds up with tuna casserole. Alexander’s breakthrough comes on his birthday, when he asks for a sundae with everything but then realizes that chocolate swirl is all he wants. After that, Alexander finds his own decision-making style: not as deliberate as his mother or as quick to decide as his father, but somewhere in between. And when he tells his mom he wants a baby brother, he learns that sometimes “you get what you get, and that can be OK too.”

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Inspired by Tilbury House’s award-winning, Kirkus-starred book The Secret Pool (2013). A lyrical narrative voice (the voice of the Milky Way galaxy itself) is augmented by sidebars filled with amazing facts and insights about our galaxy, and by extension, our universe. Features Mike Taylor’s extraordinary night sky photography and breathtaking NASA images of the births and deaths of stars and galaxies. Combines a read-aloud bedtime story with accessible, scientifically accurate sidebar features. The perfect book for a budding stargazer or astronomer. The Tilbury House Nature Book series brings the natural world to life for young readers. Each book aims for the highest standards of scientific accuracy and storytelling magic.

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Joshua and his grandfather love being together. More than anything else they love fishing. But Grandpa gets ill and is in the hospital a long time. When he gets out, he and Joshua share one more fishing adventure, and Grandpa promises Joshua that he will always be near. “Think of it this way,” Grandpa says. “Today, you and I are like two fish swimming together in this lake. When I die, things will be different. I won’t be a fish anymore, but I’ll become something even better. My love will be like the water in the lake. You might think I’m not with you, but we’ll be closer than ever because you’ll be surrounded by my love.” Long after Grandpa dies, Joshua comes to understand that Grandpa kept his promise—and that love and its memory survive death. When grown-up Joshua goes fishing with his daughter, he teaches her what Grandpa taught him: “She knows we never have to feel alone or afraid because we are surrounded by a love that lasts forever.”

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With those opening lines, we’ve already encountered similes using like, similes using as and metaphors. Personifications, idioms, hyperboles, allusions and much more lie ahead. But this isn’t a writing guide, it’s a picture book story about a little monster who oozes personality. The first pages leave us guessing but children will soon work out, to their delight, that Moofy’s a cat. And what else could this furball of mischief be? Fun is the order of the day but an unobtrusive banner on each page lets interested readers know which figure of speech is being featured. This is a book a young reader and future writer can grow with.

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Enormous jellyfish and fish with blood like antifreeze are just a few of the creatures captured in their unique habitat by underwater photographer Bill Curtsinger. This new edition is fully updated and traces the impacts of climate change and ice-shelf melt on the abundant life in the waters beneath a frozen desert. F&P Level W

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Mrs. Snowden tells the kids that T = True, H = Helpful, N = Necessary and K = Kind. If what you’re about to say isn’t any of these things, she tells them, you shouldn’t say it. Later that day, when Tyaja is about to criticise her friend Dhavi’s new haircut, she is stopped by four little elves sporting the letters T, H, N and K, who reinforce Ms. Snowden’s lesson and remind Tyaja how friends should treat friends. Tyaja learns that she is the “I” in THiNK!

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Dan Tavis’s humorous illustrations crank up the delight, and a child wanting to learn more will find it in the natural-history backmatter. Pat Brisson employs a variety of verse forms in the book, and she shows how it’s done in a back-of-book feature called “A Peek into the Poet’s Toolkit.” Common Critters is a three-tool STEAM book with delightful reading, natural history, and language skills rolled into one.

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