Books with author Helen Cooper

This is the story of a little girl called Bridget. Bridget is very hungry, but because Mum is so busy looking after Bridget’s little brother, she hasn’t even noticed! So Bridget steals a biscuit from the shed. It’s a dog biscuit, not meant for humans. But the biscuit tastes good, and Bridget feels so much better, until Mrs. Blair tells her that eating dog biscuits turns humans into dogs!When Mrs. Blair’s dog winks at her, Bridget becomes even more worried, and when the Butcher calls her a “good little pup” she is convinced that she is turning into a dog.Is it really happening, or is it all in Bridget’s imagination?

Helene Cooper is "Congo," a descendant of two Liberian dynasties-traced back to the first ship of freemen that set sail from New York in 1820 to found Monrovia. Helene grew up at Sugar Beach, a twenty-two-room mansion by the sea. Her childhood was filled with servants, flashy cars, a villa in Spain, and a farmhouse up-country. It was also an African childhood, filled with knock foot games and hot pepper soup, heartmen and neegee. When Helene was eight, the Coopers took in a foster child-a common custom among the Liberian elite. Eunice, a Bassa girl, suddenly became known as "Mrs. Cooper's daughter." For years the Cooper daughters-Helene, her sister Marlene, and Eunice-blissfully enjoyed the trappings of wealth and advantage. But Liberia was like an unwatched pot of water left boiling on the stove. And on April 12, 1980, a group of soldiers staged a coup d'État, assassinating President William Tolbert and executing his cabinet. The Coopers and the entire Congo class were now the hunted, being imprisoned, shot, tortured, and raped. After a brutal daylight attack by a ragtag crew of soldiers, Helene, Marlene, and their mother fled Sugar Beach, and then Liberia, for America. They left Eunice behind. A world away, Helene tried to assimilate as an American teenager. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill she found her passion in journalism, eventually becoming a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. She reported from every part of the globe-except Africa-as Liberia descended into war-torn, third-world hell. In 2003, a near-death experience in Iraq convinced Helene that Liberia-and Eunice-could wait no longer. At once a deeply personal memoir and an examination of a violent and stratified country, The House at Sugar Beach tells of tragedy, forgiveness, and transcendence with unflinching honesty and a survivor's gentle humor. And at its heart, it is a story of Helene Cooper's long voyage home.

A magical tale for very young readersSandmare is a horse drawn in the sand on a beach by a girl named Polly and her father. Pleased with their creation, Polly laments the inevitability of the Sandmare’s being washed away by the tide. But Polly makes a wish that the Sandmare could run free – and at the same time the Sandmare wishes herself, so the wish is very strong. After Polly has left, the Sandmare is able to stand up and run free. Now she must reach the stars, or at sunrise she will turn back into sand. How can she do this? The first step will be to find the girl named Polly . . . The exciting adventure that ensues is accompanied by numerous lively drawings by Ted Dewan.Well-known for her award-winning picture books, Helen Cooper displays her immense talents in the very different realm of the early chapter book with this charming new fantasy.