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In 1325, when Ibn Battuta was just 21, he bid farewell to his parents in Tangier, Morocco, and embarked on a pilgrimage to Mecca. It was 30 years before he returned home, having seen much of the world

A comical yet thought-provoking story, Norman, Speak! follows a boy and his family who adopt a dog that just can’t seem to learn the things other dogs do. Overwhelmed by dogs in need at the local anim

A Chinese peasant girl, Choon-yi, is visited by the ghost of her father, who tells her to paint the "fire car" that rides the rails he helped build, and her painting comes alive to transport home the

Teddy can’t believe how fast his life has changed in just two years. When he was twelve, his father took off, and then his mother married Henry, a man Teddy despises. But Teddy has no control over his

Even though Valli spends her days picking coal and fighting with her cousins, life in the coal town of Jharia, India, is the only life she knows. The only sight that fills her with terror is the monst

Orphaned and plagued with the grief of losing everyone he loves, 15-year-old Abdul has made a long, fraught journey from his war-torn home in Baghdad, only to end up in The Jungle ? a squalid, makeshi

?I’ll help you get dressed,” said Stella.?No,” said Sam. ?I can do it by myself.”But Sam takes a roundabout route to getting dressed and, as usual, his big sister Stella is there to help . . . but thi

Our Lady of Guadalupe is the most important religious icon in the Americas. This lavish pop-up tells her story and that of Juan Diego, the humble Mexican peasant to whom she appeared on a hill in Tep

In 1946, Viola Desmond bought a movie ticket at the Roseland Theatre in Nova Scotia. After settling into a main floor seat, an usher came by and told her to move, because her ticket was only good for

Harvey and his little brother, who is a lot taller than he is, are normal boys playing in the slushy streets of early spring when they suddenly learn that their father has died of a heart attack. Eve

Young Tommy hasn't been to the town of Low for two years - not since his mother's death. And it's been two years since he's seen little Baby Bridget, the girl with the trillium-shaped eyes. But now To

This is the story of real-life pirate queen Zheng Yi Sao, who took control of the South China seas in the early 19th century and became known as one of the most powerful pirates in history.The most po

When a circus train derails in 1925, a lion escapes and finds shelter in a four-hundred-acre park in the middle of a big city. No one knows about the creature except for Sadie Menken, the feisty daugh

A Year Without Mom follows 12-year-old Dasha through a year full of turmoil after her mother leaves for America. It is the early 1990s in Moscow, and political change is in the air. But Dasha is more

Phoebe helps her dad set up telescopes on the sidewalk outside his store. It’s a special night — Saturn and Mars are going to appear together in the sky. But will Phoebe be able to see them with all t

When a new book arrives at the library with a secret code written inside, Derek, with the help of his friends, follows the clues from one novel to the next and makes a discovery that may help him get

When his mother doesn't come home from her work shift, Curtis does what he can to take care of himself and his five-year-old brother while trying to hide her absence from his teachers so that they don

When both his parents die suddenly in a car crash, fourteen-year-old Michael is forced to leave the only home his has ever known and move hundreds of miles away to his strict uncle's--a place where he

Ray Liu knows he should be happy. He lives in a big suburban house with all the latest electronic gadgets, and even finds plenty of time to indulge in his love of gaming. He needs the escape. It’s tou

When Stella was small she thought she was a turtle, that trees could talk, and that words were like ants running off the pages of her books. She couldn’t tie her shoes, but she could survive a wild sa

A whoosh from her grandfather’s blowgun causes Luna, the moon, to tumble from the sky and fall to pieces in the dark ocean. To save herself, she enlists the help of little fish to glue her back

A whoosh from her grandfather’s blowgun causes Luna, the moon, to tumble from the sky and fall to pieces in the dark ocean. To save herself, she enlists the help of little fish to glue her back

Fifteen-year-old Miriam is having stupid arguments with her mother, is bored to death in class, and is trying to get excited by the same old parties with the same old friends in the same old town. She

For Kariuki, life in a small village in Kenya is one great adventure. The best part of his day is the walk home from school, when he is free from both his bullying headmaster and his mother’s long lis

Mary Ann Alice McCrank was named for the pretty church bell in the steeple of St. Martin's Church in Martindale. She has the soul of a poet, and Mickey McGuire Jr. is in love with her. Mary Ann Alice

In this hilarious and charming story, a boy wishes his dad had a regular job instead of being Happy the Clown — but when his dad announces he is going back to his old job of being a lawyer, the boy so

This is the true story of a Short-eared Owl that plummeted onto the deck of an oil rig in the North Sea, one hundred miles from shore. Weak and tired, it huddled on the deck until riggers provided it

On a crisp fall day, Pinny decides to go for a walk. She packs a sweater, her rain hat, a book, a snack and her treasure pouch. Set for adventure, Pinny’s day includes a windy game of tag with her fri

Todd knows that his baby sister’s snuggly is good for keeping things close and safe, so when he wears it to school one day, it seems like a great idea to use it to carry things for his friends. On the

A young boy wakes up to the sound of the sea, visits his grandfather’s grave after lunch and comes home to a cozy dinner with his family, but all the while his mind strays to his father digging for co

Ten-year-old Beverly is an ordinary girl with an extraordinary best friend. Her name is Kabungo, and she lives in a cave on Main Street. No one knows where she comes from or who she really is, but lif

While on a voyage far from home, a ship’s master sees a girl laughing in the sea. A wise old woman tells him where to find her, and also tells him that he must hide her shadow. Convinced that he loves

Doctor Kiss is quite prepared to say yes when she finds a letter asking her to come to the aid of a young knight who has been injured in battle. She waits until after her usual goodnight kisses and hu

A young girl and her grandfather set out one morning to find the perfect branch for Grampa to carve. Grampa says he’s going to make a flute, but the girl is doubtful. She has been to a concert in the

In this charming book of short poems in Spanish and English, a young boy and girl describe their world and their day-to-day experiences ? the boy’s street is like the trunk of an almond tree and the n

In this wonderful addition to the ever-beloved Stella and Sam books, Sam decides to teach Fred, the dog, some new skills, including swimming, cooking, rolling over and painting. Of course, Fred finds

Marie-Louise Gay published Stella, Star of the Sea more than ten years ago. It was an immediate hit, and since then she has written and illustrated four more books featuring the engaging, red-headed h

Playful, whimsical, and wry, Margaret Atwood’s story about two children who live up in a tree has attained classic status. When this charming book was first published in 1978, conventional wisdom stat

Mustafa and his family traveled a long way to reach their new home. Some nights Mustafa dreams about the country he used to live in, and he wakes up not knowing where he is. Then his mother takes him out to the balcony to see the moon — the same moon as in their old country. In the park, Mustafa sees ants and caterpillars and bees — they are the same, too. He encounters a “girl-with-a-cat,” who says something in a language that he can’t understand. He watches an old lady feeding birds and other children playing, but he is always looking in from the outside and he feels that he is invisible. But one day, the girl-with-the-cat beckons to him, and Mustafa begins to become part of his new world.Marie-Louise Gay’s remarkable ability to write and illustrate from the perspective of a young child is movingly exhibited in this gentle, thoughtful story about coming to feel at home in a new country.