Books with author Alexandra Day

"Take good care of the baby, Carl."Mother knows she can trust Carl, a large and lovable Rottweiler, to watch over baby Madeleine. What she doesn't know is that the minute she's gone, Carl and the baby gallop off on adventures. In this collection of six of Alexandra Day's popular Carl stories, Carl and the baby explore a department store, a park, and even a masquerade ball―and always make it back before Mother knows they're gone. Carl and Madeleine's joyful romps, told mainly through lush, wordless spreads, are gathered together here for the first time, and will delight children and all those who take care of them.

Mom started a scrapbook years ago, but when she leaves the house, Carl and baby Madeleine decide to update it with their own mementos. Carl's many fans will welcome this charming glimpse inside his world, based on some real and not so real experiences in the author's life. This almost wordless fantasy includes winning entries from the Carl's Scrapbook contest.

First published in 1988 and now back by popular demand, Good Dog, Carl illustrator Alexandra Day’s Frank and Ernest is the entertaining tale of a bear and an elephant who learn to run a diner. The charming illustrations of the Deco-era diner and the novelty of its animal employees will appeal to children, but the diner slang that Frank and Ernest learn and use will delight parents and children alike. Frank and Ernest will reveal the meaning of “burn one, take it through the garden and pin a rose on it,” “a stack with Vermont and a blonde with sand,” as well as “guess water,” “balloon juice,” and “million on a platter.” As in her popular Carl books Day excels at visual jokes and loving detail, but in Frank and Ernest the text is as delightful as the pictures. In skillfully executed paintings Day depicts a diner that is sure to evoke nostalgia among old-timers. Children should enjoy adding these novelties to their vocabularies, and making the connections that inspired the descriptions is good fun. Kirkus Reviews Clever and original, this playful romp serves up its message with a smile. It’s bound to become standard fare…. School Library Journal Frank, appearing as Elephant, and Ernest, as Bear, answer an ad for someone to run human-shaped Mrs Miller's diner for her. Bibliophiles that they are, the friends research the lingo of the diner restaurant trade, and with grace and aplomb they serve a "bow-wow. . . red" (hot dog with ketchup), "nervous pudding," (Jell-O"), and "white cow" (vanilla milk shake"). Alexandra Day's paintings render a mannerly world of measured language and punctilious decorum. Mrs. Miller returns safely from her trip, and we are enveloped in nostalgia--it was all so recent, so very long ago. Peter F. Neumeyer. - Professor Emeritus University of California, Berkeley. Author and recipient of the Ann Devereaux Jordan Award by The Children's Literature Association.

Carl is back in his ninth adventure!Children barking at a squirrel in a tree? Carrying sticks in their mouths? Begging for food? Who could be responsible for such silly shenanigans except everybody's favorite baby-sitter, Carl, who takes a group of neighborhood children on a lively game of Follow the Leader. Readers will want to follow Carl's exploits through town and country again and again, and Alexandra Day's lush autumnal landscapes are the perfect setting for the funny goings-on in the game.

PURA BELPRÉ HONOR BOOK ALA NOTABLE BOOK “Powerful and timely.” —Booklist (starred review) “An important, must-have addition to the growing body of literature with immigrant themes.” —School Library Journal (starred review) Twelve-year-old Jaime makes the treacherous and life-changing journey from his home in Guatemala to live with his older brother in the United States in this gripping and realistic middle grade novel.Jaime is sitting on his bed drawing when he hears a scream. Instantly, he knows: Miguel, his cousin and best friend, is dead. Everyone in Jaime’s small town in Guatemala knows someone who has been killed by the Alphas, a powerful gang that’s known for violence and drug trafficking. Anyone who refuses to work for them is hurt or killed—like Miguel. With Miguel gone, Jaime fears that he is next. There’s only one choice: accompanied by his cousin Ángela, Jaime must flee his home to live with his older brother in New Mexico. Inspired by true events, The Only Road is an individual story of a boy who feels that leaving his home and risking everything is his only chance for a better life. It is a story of fear and bravery, love and loss, strangers becoming family, and one boy’s treacherous and life-changing journey.