Books published by publisher Cricket Books

Scary stories are a perennial favorite among youngsters, and Robert D. San Souci obliges them with 13 more spine-tingling horror stories in Triple-Dare to Be Scared. Each elegantly crafted vignette draws readers into the life of a young person like themselves just as a bad decision or an act of fate brings the characters face-to-face with the supernatural. Each story hurtles through twists and turns toward a surprise ending much more compelling than in a traditional spook story. “Second Childhood” wonders where to take shelter from a recently awakened child-ghost? (Answer: Not its former home!) “Plat-Eye” features twins who learn why they should be afraid of a big, bad shapechanger who’s paying a little too much attention to them. “Far Site” expands a video game into something much larger — and more frightening! “Field of Nightmares” turns an innocent baseball game on old man Fletcher’s field into a fight for life. These exciting stories feature children of various ethnicities taking on all manner of threats from beyond the grave — and beyond logic — while David Ouimet’s creepy illustrations add that extra twinge of terror.

Winfred Rembert grew up in the 1950s in rural Georgia as the child of sharecroppers whose lives were little better than slavery. As a young man, he was nearly lynched, and served seven years in jail and on a chain gang. Yet he constantly found ways to create, to invent, to uplift. As a child, he made toys from pieces of junk at the town dump. In prison, he watched a leather worker and learned to carve and paint the leather himself. Now, in his own voice and through his powerful paintings, he shares with a new generation of young people his story and his passionate commitment to self-improvement.Reminiscent of the work of Jacob Lawrence and Horace Pippin, the paintings? rich, deep colors and poignant details powerfully narrate a story of personal courage and exceptional talent. At the same time, Rembert shows how the civil rights movement was not just a matter of famous speechs and marches, but was a product of the bonds of the black community and the unbreakable spirit of individuals

In addition to the jokes, cartoonist and artist Paul Brewer provides insights into what makes a joke funny, why we love to laugh and make others laugh, how to be more successful in doing that, and lots of great tips on how to remember jokes, how to tell them, and even how to invent your own. Each chapter ends with a half-joke, so that readers can test their growing skills by making up a punch line to fit the situation in the set-up of the joke. There?s no right answer, so kids can challenge themselves and each other to write the funniest joke.All of the classic joke formats are included, along with the author's suggestions for mastering each type. Sections are accompanied by full-page cartoons, and spot art throughout the book punctuates the jokes with visual humor. The 17 ½ tips at the end of the book offer lots of help to the reader in developing confidence and a personal style of telling jokes, as well as nuts-and-bolts guidelines for writing funny jokes. The last ?1/2 tip? is an illustration for which the reader can write a punch line.

More than anything second grader Robert wants a dog, but he can’t persuade his parents to agree. A pet-sitting service is the compromise, and the adventures begin as his first client is a classmate with a pet tarantula. Robert takes on birds, cats, and even a rabbit who turns out to be an escaped TV star. One day a stray dog shows up in Robert’s backyard, and his parents give him permission to take care of it until it’s adopted. The task turns out to be more than he bargained for. Uplifting and funny, this story will have readers rooting for this endearing, less-than-perfect child whose heart is in the right place even when the rest of him isn’t.

Everyone knows that a computer's "undo" command can erase a mistake. Gib Finney has been given a device that allows him to do the same thing - in real life. At first, the possibilities seem endless. Flunk a test; take it over again. Keep swinging at the same pitch until you finally hit the winning home run. But when his younger sister is gravely injured in a traffic accident for which he feels responsible, Gib has to figure out which events in a two-day period should be changed in order to ensure that the accident never takes place. Did it all begin when Gib and his friend Ash set out for the carnival? Or when he argued with Rainy Frogner about the salt in their science experiment? Or when he shot the spitball at his math teacher? Gib finds himself "correcting" far more than he intended to, and the consequences quickly become impossible to predict.

**Published by Cricket House Books ISBN 9781625009920** "Civil Disobedience" was written by the American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau advocated active disobedience to unjust laws; he argued that one should not allow the government to overrule their conscience. He was partly motivated by the unethical issues of his time, such as slavery and the Mexican-American War.

“What’s smarter than a talking bird?” A spelling bee. “How did the convict use his computer to escape from prison?” He hit the escape key. “What does Harry Potter use to correct his magic?” The spell-checker. This follow-up to the popular You Must Be Joking contains a fresh assortment of jokes, riddles, and knock-knocks. There's also hilariously fractured song, movie, and book titles arranged by such topics as “Laptop Laughs,” “Screams of Laughter,” and “Fiddle with Riddles.” But these jokes aren't just for reading: author/illustrator Paul Brewer includes 11-1/2 tips that show future comedians how to prepare and perform their own stand-up routines. In addition to memorizing jokes from books, he encourages young comics to make up their own. He also suggests they watch old movies and television shows to study the comic styles of greats like Charlie Chaplin, Groucho Marx, and Lucille Ball. This blend of practical advice — “Use crazy cartoon voices, facial expressions, hand gestures, and walks” — witty artwork, and plenty of jokes is a must-have for budding comics or any young reader who enjoys a good laugh.

In Cartwheel to the Moon, Emanuel di Pasquale takes us to Sicily, the Mediterranean island where he was born. His beautiful, lyrical, sensitive poems recall the smell of the fig trees, the sound of the fountains, the beauty of the old villages surrounded by mountains. As X. J. Kennedy says in his foreword, "These are poems that seem to reach out and grasp real things. Di Pasquale weaves words into music that stays with you."Di Pasquale has long been a favorite poets of children and anthologists, and now readers have a chance to see his works collected in a book of his own. His poems have been included in several anthologies, including Knock At a Star,X.J.Kenndy, ed and Call Down the Moon, Myra Cohm Livingston, ed.

Originally published in Taiwan by Grimm Press, this beautifully illustrated modern fable will delight children with its charming portrayal of two friends. Ben Bear is renowned for his perfect pizzas. Chris Croc is famous for his mouthwatering cakes. When the richest man in the world buys a slice of Chris's pizza, he decides to go into business. But as soon as he sets up his roadside stand, Ben sets up one of his own across the street, and the neighbors turn into fierce rivals. Slow business and creeping hunger force the two chefs to come up with a solution that shows that friendship is the best possible nourishment.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is a popular 1876 novel about a young boy growing up in the antebellum South. The story is set in the town of "St Petersburg", inspired by Hannibal, Missouri, where Mark Twain grew up. In the story's introduction, Twain notes:Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or two were experiences of my own, the rest those of boys who were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual-he is a combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of architecture.Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tom_Sawyer

Peter Pan is J. M. Barrie's most famous work, in the form of a 1904 play and a 1911 novel, respectively. Both versions tell the story of Peter Pan, a mischievous little boy who can fly, and his adventures on the island of Neverland with Wendy Darling and her brothers, the fairy Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys, the Indian princess Tiger Lily, and the pirate Captain Hook. The play and novel were inspired by Barrie's friendship with the Llewelyn Davies family. Barrie continued to revise the play for years after its debut; the novel reflects one version of the story.

Robert’s return to third grade isn’t as auspicious as he had hoped. When his classmates start laughing at him, he decides it’s because of his curly hair, which has grown long over the summer. He convinces his friend Paul to give him a haircut, with disastrous results. Then he begs his brother Charlie to repair the damage, which makes things worse. It doesn’t help when Robert decides to wear a baseball cap to school; that just creates new problems! Ever hopeful that things will somehow turn out right, Robert invites all of his friends to a Halloween party, boasting that his father has some great scary tricks. Sure enough, the other kids have a wonderful time being scared, but since Robert knows all of his father’s tricks — or thinks he does — how can he have the fun of being scared, too? In this fourth book in the best-selling series, Paul Brewer’s witty illustrations and Barbara Seuling’s sensitive text put their less-than-perfect little hero to the test, in the process capturing the uncertainties and unexpected joys of growing up.