Avast and heave to, mateys! Pirate Bob can tell you all about being a pirate: how to wait for the rogue’s moon to hide behind a cloud before overtaking a ship full of treasure, how to make friends without losing your loot, and how to tell if the scar on your nose itches because it senses gold or because it senses danger nearby.

Reading Level: Ages 5-9
Hardcover: 32 Pages

To Katie, it seems as if her mother has always been her mother, with her grocery lists, her purse full of bills to pay, and her boring, sensible shoes. But when her mother reveals that she once was a girl who bossed her little brother, wore firefighter boots to bed, and dreamed grand ballerina dreams, Katie realizes that she and her mother might be alike after all.

Reading Level: Ages 3-7
Hardcover: 32 Pages

From School Library Journal:
"This fond tribute to loving mothers and daughters everywhere promises to become a bedtime favorite."

When a new baby arrives, it might look like all she does is sleep and eat. But babies are fascinating—as this lovingly created volume proves! It answers such important questions as: What do babies eat? What does all that baby babble really mean? What games do babies love to play? And what does it mean when they cry (as they so often do)?

The perfect gift for any child with a new baby in his life—whether he welcomes the baby with frowns and sighs or open arms.

Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 Pages

To a small child, a mother’s hands are almost magical. Mommy’s hands can draw and bake, comfort and cuddle, point out the stars in the night sky and plant a beautiful garden. This charming book, told from the point of view of three different young children, is sure to bring smiles of joy and recognition to both moms and their little ones.

Reading Level: Ages 2-5
Hardcover: 32 Pages

Dr. Smart Pig is a famous inventor, but he doesn't have any friends. His brothers were eaten by the Big Bad Wolf, and now he's all alone. Halloween is coming up, and he doesn't have anyone to go trick-or-treating with. Suddenly, Dr. Pig has an idea. He can invent a friend—a pig who is bigger and better and absolutely wolf-proof! But things don't turn out quite as expected, and soon Dr. Pig realizes he's created a monster—an enormous porker who hogs the show but ultimately proves that true friendship comes in all shapes, sizes, and appetites. Who ate the Big Bad Wolf? Porkenstein, that's who!

Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 40 Pages

The moon of the singing grass has come and gone three times, and still there is no rain. Mishoo's prehistoric clan is starving, her little sister's arms like twigs. Can a Dream Catcher bring them rain? Mishoo's mother had been the clan's Dream Catcher. She spoke with spirits, trying to catch a dream of rain. Now she is a spirit herself. She tells a sleeping Mishoo: "You are Dream Catcher. You must go to the cave of the she-tiger." Mishoo dares to go-and there discovers rock that looks like dripping animal fat, rock like giant fangs from the saber-toothed tiger. Something stirs inside her. And as she picks up a charred stick from the fire and begins to draw the animal she sees buried in the stone, she wonders, "Am I catching spirits or being caught myself?"

Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 40 Pages

Here is the untold story of Henry, a simple farmer who stumbles upon some extraordinary finery and a whole new attitude. Who would have guessed that a change of attire would bring out his truly regal nature? Yet Henry’s transformation may cause trouble in the barnyard.

Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 Pages

Sophie finds an old doll, Rose, in the attic. Sophie and Rose become inseparable, and the longer they are together, the more mishaps come Rose's way. When Sophie tries to comb Rose's hair, clumps come out; Rose falls off a sill, where Sophie has placed her, and chips her nose; she is placed facedown in melting chocolate, which gets into the cracks of her cheeks. But for every calamity that befalls Rose, Sophie just loves her more.

Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 Pages

From Booklist:
"Lasky captures the special love that can bond a child and a doll... A book that any doll lover will want to look at over and over."

When the influenza epidemic strikes Duluth, Minnesota, in 1918, Marven's parents know they must send their son far away to keep him safe from the disease. So ten-year-old Marven boards a train headed for a logging camp in the great north woods, not knowing if he will ever see his family again.

In the north, Marven finds a new world of towering trees, endless expanses of snow, and lumberjacks as big as grizzly bears. A city boy, Marven feels very alone among the enormous woodsmen. But then he meets Jean Louis, the burliest jack of all. Marven of the Great North Woods is a true story about a small Jewish boy and a bearish French-Canadian lumberjack—and how they became friends under the most unusual circumstances.

Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 48 Pages

ALA Notable Book, 1997
National Jewish Book Award, 1997

The pumped-up mythical figure cursed by his superhuman strength narrates his glorious story in this rock 'em, sock 'em picture book. The son of Zeus and a mortal woman, Hercules suffers the wrath of Zeus's jealous wife, Hera. From wrestling serpents in his crib to slaying a lion with his sword, Hercules bravely fends off any evil challenges that Hera sends his way. But victory does not come without tragedy, and Hercules also faces a number of emotional battles as he struggles with his god-mortal identity.

Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 Pages

When old Gamma Lee decides to leave the green, peaceful valley where she's lived all her life, her neighbors think she's crazy. "This is the best place in the world!" they always say. But how can Gamma Lee know it's the best place in the world if she’s never been anyplace else? So she packs up her belongings, takes along her faithful mule, and heads up the mountains to a place she has always heard about—the Gates of the Wind. When she finally arrives, Gamma Lee is ready to build a house and settle in—until she meets the mountaintop's only inhabitant, a fierce wind that doesn't want company. How will she manage to make a life for herself and her mule when all the wind wants is to blow them right back down to the valley?

Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 Pages

This is the true story of a year in the life of a North American pond, and of two six-year-old girls who go there to play each day. A fascinating season by season study of the pond’s wildlife, from frogs and crayfish to water liilies and lady’s slippers, this is also an enchanting tale of childhood.

Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 Pages
Paperback: 32 Pages

Smithsonian Magazine, Best Children's Books

In a forest long ago, there were people and bees and many bears. Although the people were friendly with the bees and had once enjoyed an abundance of honey, now the children grew up without ever knowing the taste of the honeybees' gold. The people knew that the bears were somehow the reason for the loss, but they did not know how to bring the honey back. For who had ever understood the ways of bears? It was only Cloud Eyes, the young dreamer, who could, bring the bears, the bees, and the people together to share the earth's sweet gifts. Kathryn Lasky tells how he did so in an original tale that flows with traditional cadences. Barry Moser's stunning drawings evoke the mystery of the dreamer's quest.

Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 Pages

If there’s one thing that a little girl named Phoebe likes to do more than anything else, it’s to visit her aunt, also called Phoebe, who lives on Marlborough Street in Boston. No matter what time of year it is, Aunt Phoebe always has something wonderful planned. In the summer they ride the swan boats in the Public Garden, or wade in the fountains, or fly their kites over the Charles River. In winter they have tea at a fancy hotel, or ice skate on the duck pond, or simply watch the falling snow blanket the old houses in Back Bay.

Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 Pages

Elzibah Swan lives on Boston's Beacon Hill in a tall brick house that her great-grandfather built. Her life is ordered and comfortable, and when her grandchildren come to visit, it is even sometimes exciting. But after the children leave, Elzibah is restless and discontented, feeling that life is passing her by. So on the morning of her seventy-fifth birthday, she tells her cat, Zanzibar, that she has decided to learn something new. ''Zanzibar," she announces, "I am going to learn how to swim." If Zanzibar is not startled by this announcement, others are. But Elzibah is determined. She buys an emerald green swimsuit with pictures of water lilies on the skirt, starts swimming lessons—and soon wonderful things begin to unfold for her.

Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 Pages

Abbey spends every summer with her parents and her grandmother on an island, where the leisurely activities include swimming in the ocean, picking blueberries, and finding the constellations.

Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 Pages

From School Library Journal:
"Readers will treasure this intergenerational portrait."