Books in Picture puffins series

Inspired by a real event, this is the fictional tale of a little girlwhose parents win Wayne Gretzky's hockey stick at an auction. When thechild begins to play with it, she becomes her team's star. Meanwhile,"The Great One" goes into the greatest slump of his career. Realizing he needs the stick more than she does, the girl returns it to him, andGretzky gets over his thousand-goal hump.Peter Maloney andFelicia Zekauskas really did win a Gretzky hockey stick at an auction,and The Great One subsequently did go into a slump. The authors haveturned their adventure into THE book for young sports fans, with cleverrhyming verse, witty pictures, and a heartfelt theme about what it means to give. They will donate a percentage of proceeds from this book tothe New York Presbyterian Hearst Burn Center for Pediatric Burn Care,which held the original auction.American Bookseller made the duo's first book, Redbird at Rockefeller Center, a fall 1997 Pick of the Lists, and called it "reminiscent of Dr. Seuss classics." With The Magic Hockey Stick, they've done it again!

Romance, mystery and intrigue revolve around the Seahorse Cafe, where the beautiful Pearl Trout falls in love with Corporal Bert the Soldiercrab. But Reeftown is in danger, and soon Pearl, Bert, and Pearl's brother Finneus must journey through the ocean depths to find the source of the deadly poison that is destroying the coral reef. "Graeme Base's witty rhymes and dynamic, radiantly colored illustrations, should keep both reader and audience immensely entertained."—Publishers Weekly."Base will surely delight his many fans with this latest high-color, high-action, high-density composition, with a high-minded ecological message"—School Library Journal

A variety of animals parade by in this familiar jumprope alphabet song.The antics never quite quit as a parade of animals sell their wares in this wildly illustrated version of the familiar alphabet ditty and ball-bouncing game. Young readers will delight in meeting such characters as Barbara, the bear with balloons for sale in Brazil; New York Ned, the newt who owns a noodle emporium, and finally the zipper-selling Zambian zebra and zebu, Zelda and Zach.

Winner of a Caldecott HonorA shy Japanese boy having difficulty adjusting to school is misjudged by his classmates. Chibi has been an outcast since that frightening first day of school when he hid under the schoolhouse. Afraid of the teacher and unable to make any friends, Chibi passes his free time alone — alone at study time, alone at playtime, always a "forlorn little tag-along." But when Mr. Isobe arrives, the teacher sees things in Chibi that no one else has ever noticed... "A shy mountain boy in Japan leaves his home at dawn and returns at sunset to go to the village school. Pictures and text of moving and harmonious simplicity." —Saturday Review

In this book with your little eye, take a look and play I spy - so starts the classic story from best-selling author/illustrator team, Janet and Allan Ahlberg. Each Peach Pear Plum introduces favourite fairy tale characters, such as Tom Thumb and The Three Bears and, with a poem on each page hinting as to what is hiding in the picture, children are encouraged to participate and follow the story themselves.

A is for what? A is for salad, and B is for Viking. Welcome to the wacky world of Mike Lester, where nothing is as it seems. Is A really for salad, or is it for the alligator eating a bowl of mixed greens? And maybe B is for the beaver wearing a Viking helmet. You'll have to look twice to figure out what each letter really stands for in this irreverent alphabet book. Learning your ABCs has never been so much F-U-N.Mike Lester “turns the alphabet picture book on its hoary head . . . the book is hilarious, right down to its view of X and Y: 'not important. Never use them'." US News and World Report

No one does fairy tales like James Marshall! Here, his bold and witty illustrations add life to Barbara Karlin's retelling of the well-known story of the dirty girl with the wicked stepsisters. But this isn't your average Cinderella-hearty and robust, she's a hard worker with a heart of gold. Filled with grinning rats, a wacky fairy godmother, and a whole coachful of laughs, this is the story we all know and love, seen in a refreshing new way. "Will take its rightful place on the fairy-tale shelves, but won't sit there for long!" (Booklist, starred review)

A companion to the Caldecott Honor Book Moja Means One: Swahili Counting Book Jambo Means Hello introduces children to the Swahili alphabet with helpful pronunciation keys, while presenting East African culture and lifestyles through an easy-to-understand narrative and vivid illustrations. A Caldecott Honor Book* “A lyrical song of Swahili life.”—School Library Journal, starred review