Books with author Mark Freeman

On a visit to the National Zoo, First Kids Cammie and Tessa find themselves taking home an unwanted Madagascan hissing cockroach. They name her Maddie, but before long Maddie goes missing! Once she is returned, the FBI realizes that the bug has been bugged. Someone wants access to top secret White House business. . . . As always, suspects are plentiful. With First Dog Hooligan's help, the First Kids are on the case.

Twelve-year-old Rory Mudd has problems. Her spaced-out mom is into yet another weird business. She's selling little marbles that smell funny, for something called Cinnamon Seminars. The strangest people are showing up at her house to smell the horrible stink bombs. Rory just concentrates on taking care of Gerbil City, her menagerie of pets. But when Rory's beloved dog, Agnes, bites the mayor's daughter, the real trouble begins. The Department of Animal Control is after Agnes, and Rory must figure out how to save her. Could the stink bombs actually come in handy?

Willie the Wingless Wonder, a little crow whose wings never grew, is hunting for food one day in The Dark Forest when he meets Chris the Cross-Eyed Caterpillar. They soon become best friends and spend the summer playing together with Inky the Cat. Willie wonders where Chris' mother is and Chris tells him she's dead; she made a little house for herself in the fall, went to sleep for the winter, disappeared in the spring and never came back. When summer is over and Chris makes a house and goes to sleep too, Willie wonders all fall and winter if he'll ever see his friend again. When spring arrives, Willie thinks Chris has died, but is in for a big surprise! Using simple metaphors, this story helps children understand that death is not the end by teaching them about the renewal of life.