Books with author Catherine Ham

In this high contrast board book, playful images of friendly animals hop and splash, tweet and purr in captivating, contrasting black and white illustrations that will engage babies and toddlers and make this a favorite read-aloud book for young readers. Hip, Hip is a fun way to encourage language and vocabulary development while sharing a book with your child!

This is activity material for ages 8 and up, and a book for independent reading with the core vocabulary at 2nd-3rd grade level (US), or around reading level 4. When I was in the 3rd grade, I found in our attic an old British tabloid with a spread laying out the basics of palmistry, or palm reading. I promptly learned the 2 pages by heart, and the next day in school my meteoric rise to popularity began. Friends and foes, and their grandmas lined up to have their palms read. While my family humorously dismissed my new-found talent, some kids and family friends were in awe and authentically grateful. Fast forward some decades: I didn't become a fortune teller, and have never even visited a "psychic," but those 2 magazine pages gave me something that lasted beyond a few months of fortune-telling stardom. It was my first experience of learning a knowledge system on my own, and applying it in real life. It was also the first time I was thinking on my own about people's psychological and behavioral traits and comparing my observations with the interpretations drawn from that system.Later I invested time into studying palmistry for real, with Indian palmists, and comparing it with the Western system. It was purely a hobby: I have never used this art as a basis for any real-life decisions, or practiced it as a commercial pursuit. Recently it occurred to me that my son and any kid - boy or girl - may enjoy playing with the palmistry system, and may be able to reap the same benefits I did as a child. Afte r all, quite randomly, I ended up having an expert-level training in something I don't use: I'd better share it before I forget everything!This book is based on the actual traditional Indian system of palmistry. I have not added anything from outside that system. My only contributions are: - avoiding any gloom and doom in the interpretations of the lines and signs; - avoiding any references to class or social status, as well as any fixation on 'wealth'; - avoiding any grownup content if you know what I mean; - focusing on empowering content - such as finding and growing your talents, developing self-confidence, making good choices, and so on. I don't offer any judgement regarding whether palmistry works or not - it's up to my readers to decide! My readers and I make sure we respect both those who believe in esoteric arts (as long as they are not charlatans), and those who don't. We don't laugh at other people's beliefs. The way I present the palmistry system is straightforward, with no unnecessary humor or simplification, just like I would teach an adult (so as an adult you may enjoy it too!) We'll start by drawing a strong line between the fortune-telling activity of modern-day psychics/clairvoyants (we'll learn a new word - 'charlatans'!) and the traditional system of palmistry with a history going back thousands of years to ancient India. Then I will lay out the theory, and we'll practice using my hand, and then the hands of my best friend Katie, and of my son Eric. Along the way we'll learn a few random facts from history, culture, and mythology. Here are the benefits of playing with this book: • It's an activity that requires no toys, supplies, or guidance; • It will prompt kids to think about their own and their friends' traits of character, behavior and its consequences from a non-didactic angle - just exploring a mysterious ancient art rather than being told what behavior works and what doesn't; • It can help a kid learn about the talents, careers and achievements of family members and friends; • It will help kids develop critical thinking in distinguishing real expertise from charlatanism, and learn their family's position on esoteric arts; • It may boost a kid's social popularity, just as it did mine!

It’s Christmas season and all the Santa Pups--Hope, Jingle, Charity, and Noble--want is to be appointed Santa’s Helpers and earn their own magic crystals that grant children's Christmas wishes. So the Pups decide to secretly go to the town of Pineville to prove they are ready. When they arrive, they start granting joyful wishes to the townspeople, using a crystal they borrowed. But the Santa Pups’ adventure goes horribly wrong after they accidentally give Carter, a young boy who has lost his Christmas Spirit, his wish to make Christmas go away. And if the Pups don’t reverse the spell soon, Christmas will be gone forever! This action-packed junior novel is filled with Christmas spirit and includes 8 pages of full-color photos of the adorable Santa Pups!

When her horse show performance goes horribly wrong, Nina wonders if a Halloween ghost could be involved in this fourth book in a contemporary middle grade series in the tradition of Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague.Nina Peralt’s boarding and lesson barn will be putting on a horse show this fall, and she can’t wait to show off how well she and her pony, Breezy, have been doing lately! Bonus: the cute older brother of one of her fellow riders will be helping out as jump crew. Unfortunately, once the show starts, everything goes wrong for Nina in the most embarrassing ways possible. Could something supernatural be to blame? New Orleans is always a little spooky around Halloween, but this year Nina slowly becomes convinced she’s being haunted by the ghost of an angry ancestor. Can her Pony Post pals help her banish her fears and live down her terrible show day?

This is a Level 2 Reader book: 4-6 simple sentences per page,1st-2nd grade vocabulary, large type, lots of colorful pictures on every page. Great for kids who have started reading on their own. Everyone enjoys adventure stories about secret vaults, sunken ships, and pirate treasures, but what about real-life treasures and treasure hunters? What are the biggest treasures ever found, and how do modern-day treasure hunters work? What if I have found a treasure: Does it belong to me?We answer all these questions! The reader will learn about the hidden hoards of Vikings, and Romans, and an ancient ship loaded with gold that ended up under the ocean sand. Who discovered those treasures? And how? From pirate ships and the Spanish treasure fleet to the Titanic - there are tons of gold, coins, precious artifacts, and adventures in our book!And treasure hunters! Some of them try to steal the treasures, some generously donate them to a museum, and one of them threw his treasure out! Well, if you are a gopher digging your underground tunnel, what use do you have for a bag of coins taking all that tunnel space you need to store your roots and grain for winter?...

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Based on the bestselling game, Plants vs. Zombies, Save Your Brains! introduces young readers to Crazy Dave and the fun-dead! The zombies are coming! If you want to save your brains, you'll need to know which plants to use. Don't worry-Crazy Dave is here to help guide you. I Can Read books are designed to encourage a love of reading. Plants vs. Zombies: Save Your Brains! is a Level Two I Can Read book, geared for kids who read on their own but still need a little help.

When all of Haley’s time goes to training her pony, keeping an eye on the prize causes problems in this third book in a contemporary middle grade series in the tradition of Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague.For months, Haley Duncan has been saving up to ride with her pony Wings in a clinic with a world-famous event rider. On top of that, she wants to make sure Wings is as fit and ready as he can be, which means extra trot sets before school and training and cleaning tack all weekend. So what if Haley’s friends complain that she doesn’t have time for them anymore? So what if she has to miss her very first ever school dance, or skip a favorite family tradition, or leave early from her BFF’s first boy-girl party? Everyone will get it when they see her in the Olympics someday. But when Haley’s overscheduled existence and exhaustion causes an accident, she may have to say good-bye to her dreams…

When you're reaching for the stars, nothing can hold you back.Star Calloway is fourteen years old, and she's the most famous pop star in the world. Her album has topped the charts, her video is all the rage, and she's about to start her world tour. There's only one thing that keeps her life from being perfect: Star's parents and baby brother have been missing for two years, and no one knows what happened to them.Still, Star knows her family would want her to be happy, and performing means everything to her. But with so many mysterious things going wrong in preparation for the tour, could the show be over before it begins?

Seventeen-year-old Nicole dreams of spending the rest of her life with her boyfriend Nate. So when she finds herself on her way to Paris to study abroad without him, she’s less than thrilled. Paris is filled with cars that move at the speed of light, edible snails, and a language that Nicole can’t speak or read. Worst of all, Nicole feels lost without Nate. She’s not sure she’s capable of finding joie de vivre on her own, but with the help of some new friends—and a certain handsome Frenchman— Nicole might find Paris as sweet as a café au lait after all.

Maddie worries she might be giving up too much—especially Cloudy, her pony—in this fifth book in a contemporary middle grade series in the tradition of Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague.It’s almost Maddie’s birthday, and while snooping around for her hidden gifts (a family tradition), she stumbles across something that makes her think her mother is getting transferred again by the Air Force—this time overseas! Oh, no! What will that mean for Maddie and her pony, Cloudy? On top of that Maddie’s best friend Bridget has just broken up with her boyfriend, and it seems that Cloudy is the only thing that makes her feel better. Why does Maddie always have to be the one who’s making sacrifices?

Brooke brings her pony to summer camp in this second book in a contemporary middle grade series in the tradition of Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague.Brooke Rhodes is excited to go to sleepaway riding camp for two weeks with her Chincoteague pony, Foxy. However, camp doesn’t turn out to be quite as fun as Brooke expected. The other girls all know each other already, and they don’t seem interested in bringing a newbie into their group. Besides that, they’re all riding tall, fancy, super well-trained show horses—not scruffy young Chincoteague ponies. Then Brooke overhears that this might be the last summer for the camp. She asks for help from her online Pony Post friends—Maddie Martinez, Hayley Duncan, and Nina Peralt—but she still has to wonder: will everyone work together to save the camp, or will this summer be their last hurrah?