by Lynne Cherry (1st+)
Two men enter the rainforest and one of them points at the Kapok tree then leaves. The other man begins to chop at the tree with his axe. Pretty soon he begins to get tired and decides to take a break under the tree and have a little nap. While he is dozing the rainforest animals who call the Kapok tree their home whisper facts into his ear hoping to get through to him that the Kapok tree is important to them and that he should not chop it down. When he wakes up, what will he do? Will he leave it alone or continue chopping? Find out when you read The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry.
Magic Tree House #6 (2nd+)
by Mary Pope Osbourne
Jack and Annie are on another adventure to find something for Morgan. This time they find themselves in the rainforest and eventually on the Amazon river fighting snakes, crocodiles, and pirahnuas. Can they get Morgan’s item and still be able to find the tree house hidden among the 150 feet tall trees? Find out when you read Magic Tree House book #6, Afternoon on the Amazon.
by Mark Teague (3rd+)
Floyd and Wendall are the best of friends who always walk to school together in the morning. They have one problem though, they can never make it to school on time. When Wendall suggests taking a shortcut, they find that they go through quiet an adventure but are finally able to make it to school on time. Now, every day they try a new shortcut which gets them to school on time but find out what they go through to do so. Read The Secret Shorcut by Mark Teague.
retold and illustrated by Glen Rounds (2nd+)
There are three billy goats by the name of Gruff. One is small, one is medium, and the third is large. One day they come upon a bridge which they must cross in orderto get to the nice fresh grass on the other side, but hidingunder the bridge is an ugly mean troll who wants to eat them. Can they get across the bridge and if so, how canthey do it? Read the Three Billy Goats Gruff retold byGlen Rounds to find out.
by John Bianchi (1st+)
Princess Frownsalot has never been happy and makes everyone around her unhappy too. She always has a frown on her face and when it gets stuck that way, her family brings in Dr. Helmut Von Katzinbottin to try and help her. His solution is to do a smile transplant with the cat. What happens when this goes wrong though? Find out when you read Princess Frownsalot by John Bianchi.
by Natalia M. Belting (1st+)
Do you believe that at one time bears had long tails like a squirrel until the fox tricked the bear and his tail was frozen off? Do you believe that the turtle ended up with a shell like the one he has because his shell was broken by a rock and then magically glued back together? These and more legends can be found in this story of The Long-Tailed Bear and Other Indian Legends by Natalia M. Belting.
retold by Richard Vaughan (K+)
This is the legend of how the sky became the sky with twinkling stars called the Big Dipper. At one time the sky was so low that the people were hitting their heads on it and decided that it would not do to have the sky so low. The people decided to get long poles and push the sky up further. When they did this however, they did not realize that some of their boys had chased deer into the sky and they were still in it when they pushed it up higher. The legend says that those boy and the deer who were in the sky became the bright stars known today as the Big Dipper. To read this legend and find out about the lifting of the sky read Lift the Sky Up retold by Richard Vaughan.
by Hanneke Ippisch (1st+)
All of the animals of the woods are coming from near and far for a meeting. This isn’t just any meeting however, they are all coming together to honor the brave bear. Read this wonderful tale, Spotted Bear: A Rocky Mountain Folktale, to find out how the spotted bear earns and receives his spots.
Magic Tree House #24 (2nd+)
by Mary Pope Osbourne
Jack and Annie are on a new mission to find the last piece of writing they need to locate for Morgan in order to help someone again. This time they are headed to the year 1609 in San Francisco. When they arrive they find themselves in the middle of the great earthquake of San Francisco in which the town was completely destroyed and had to be rebuilt. Will they be able to locate this writing they need and get back to their time? Find out when you read Earthquake in the EarlyMorning.
by Judy Cox (1st+)
Groundhog is supposed to be asleep until February 2nd when he will step outside and see what the whether is like. But this time he just cannot sleep, he keeps tossing and turning. Soon he decides to take a walk and see if it might help him become tired. While out walking he finally gets to see Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas being celebrated but when he finally makes it to sleep it doesn’t seem like he gets to sleep very long. What will he find when he steps out of his burrow, will he see his shadow and hide leaving six more weeks of winter or will it be Spring time. Find out when you read Go To Sleep, Groundhog!
by Syd Hoff (K+)
Poor Grizzwold! His home is being destroyed as the trees are being cut down but there is nothing he can do about it. So, Grizzwold sets out to find a new home but as he finds each new place he is told that he is not wanted there. Can he find a new home where he is wanted and can be safe? Find out when you read Grizzwold by Syd Hoff.
by Laura Numeroff (K+)
What happens if you promise a pig a party? Well, she is going to begin asking for more things. Find out what else pig asks for in order to throw her grand party when you read If You Give a Pig a Party by Laura Numeroff.
by Michael Garland (1st+)
Miss Smith is the best storyteller ever. Her students can’t wait to get to class each day to just hear the stories she reads from her Incredible Storybook. Her stories come to life and take them on all kinds of adventures. The one rule is that you cannot interfere or do anything that might change the story. If this happens then the story and all of the characters will not be able to return to the book, and they must. So, when Miss Smith reads the story of Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World her students find themselves in the Amazon among dinosaurs. But what happens when one of her students breaks the rule and interferes? Find out when you read Miss Smith Reads Again by Michael Garland.
by Susanne Bettiger (1st+)
Oscar, the crab gets so nervous when he is around others that his tongue gets all twisted and his words come out jumbled together. One day when he reads a favorite poem to the class and he gets the words jumbled, the class laughs at him. Oscar runs away from school where he finds Doctor Octopus who is a speech fixer. Oscar works with Doctor Octopus on his word jumbling and eventually is able to speak with others without getting all tongue twisted. Read this story of confidence and follow along with Oscar as he defeats his problem of getting tongue twisted.
by Janell Cannon (2nd+)
Verdi, is a young spry snake who can’t understand the other snakes who all just lay around during the day. He believes them to be old and lazy. As the other snakes explain, he will one day be just like them and they were not always like they are now. Verdi is yellow colored and the older snakes are green. They try to tell him that he will begin to grow and will turn green also but he does not believe them. He soon realizes though that they are correct and he does everything he can to try and rub the green off because he does not want to become a big lazy snake like the others. Does he succeed or does he injure himself in the process? Read Verdi to find out.
by Lynne Cherry (1st+)
