Books in Sunburst Books series

Once again, Margot Zemach brings new life to a traditional story: the tale of the three wishes granted to those who are kind and compassionate. In Zemach's interpretation, a poor woodcutter and his wife are working in the forest when they hear a faint voice calling: "Help, someone help me!" They promptly rescue an imp whose tail is caught under a fallen tree, and in return he rewards them with three wishes. "Wish wisely, my friends," the imp says in parting. Prophetic words indeed.It soon looks as if this windfall will be nothing but trouble for the woodcutter and his wife. The legendary dilemma they face--which involves a long string of sausages--is subtly dramatized in Zemach's simple text and wry yet heartfelt pictures. She takes particular joy in showing how, in the end, the woodcutter and his wife get just what they wanted all along.Margot Zemach won the Caldecott Medal for "Duffy and the Devil" and was the United States nominee for the 1980 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for illustration.

Charles Perrault's Puss in Boots has been an irresistible magnet for countless illustrators ever since this classic French tale was first published in 1697. So the question arises: Do we really need another edition of Puss? Presented with Fred Marcellino's magnificent interpretation of this nimble new translation of the authentic text, book lovers young and old are apt to decide that this Puss in Boots belongs on their shelf of special favorites.Long regarded as the preeminent designer of book jackets in America, Fred Marcellino provides an unstinting visual feast in his first full-color picture book. The eadventures of that rascal, Puss, and his master, the miller's sonare portrayed in a lavish series of illustrations that range from sumptuous grandeur to comedy both boisterous and sly.

"Leon Garfield is unmatched for sheer, exciting storytelling." -- Lloyd AlexanderA swarthy villain, nearly seven foot tall and presumed hanged, seems to wake from the dead in the presence of young Bartholomew Dorking. Having outwitted the noose, Black Jack enlists the unwilling boy to be his companion. Together they weave their way through the seamiest parts of old London, a traveling circus, and a private madhouse where forgotten lunatics are chained in empty rooms, and from which Bartholomew rescues Belle, a girl who may not be mad at all. Culminating in a ground-shaking climax, this strange and rich novel, whose 1979 film adaptation was shown at the Cannes International Film Festival, will enrapture readers young and old.

Nana was calling down the stairs for him to come up and help Meggie with her hair...He could hear Aunt Jill squealing over the color of his mother's new eyeshadow.It was girls' night out, and even though Brad wasn't one of the girls exactly, sometimes he sure as heck felt like it.Bradley, who lives with his mom, sister, aunt, and grandmother, is your average baseball-obsessed sixth-grader. Except there's nothing average about Bradley's looks. He's incredibly handsome-- "babelicious," according to the girls in his class. And when he's unexpectedly offered the chance to earn big money by modeling for a local department store, he shrugs off his reservations about such a "wimpy" profession. He can finally step into the role of man of the house by helping to pay the bills-- even if it means having his picture plastered on the biggest billboard in town. And that's when the trouble begins, because it's easy to get bigheaded when you're twenty feet tall.

"Doctor De Soto, the dentist, did very good work." With the aid of his able assistant, Mrs. De Soto, he copes with the toothaches of animals large and small. His expertise is so great that his fortunate patients never feel any pain.Since he's a mouse, Doctor De Soto refuses to treat "dangerous" animals--that is, animals who have a taste for mice. But one day a fox shows up and begs for relief from the tooth that's killing him. How can the kindhearted De Sotos turn him away? But how can they make sure that the fox doesn't give in to his baser instincts once his tooth is fixed? Those clever De Sotos will find a way.

"Leon's Story is a powerful, wonderful thing!" -- Nikki GiovanniI remember that as a young boy I used to look in the mirror and I would curse my color, my blackness. But in those days they didn't call you "black." They didnt say "minority." They called us "colored" or "nigger." Leon Tillage grew up the son of a sharecropper in a small town in North Carolina. Told in vignettes, this is his story about walking four miles to the school for black children, and watching a school bus full of white children go past. It's about his being forced to sit in the balcony at the movie theater, hiding all night when the Klansmen came riding, and worse. Much worse.But it is also the story of a strong family and the love that bound them together. And, finally, it's about working to change an oppressive existence by joining the civil rights movement. Edited from recorded interviews conducted by Susan L. Roth, Leon's story will stay with readers long after they have finished his powerful account.

C D C ? = See the sea?E-R I M ! = Here I am!U F B-D I-S = You have beady eyes.To figure out William Steig’s word puzzles, you need merely read the letters, numbers, and symbols aloud. If at first the messages are unclear, there’s a clever picture accompanying each to give you hints. Originally published in 1984 with black-and-white drawings, this title is given new life in this full-color edition painted by Mr. Steig. Also included for the first time is an answer key at the end.

Duffy and the Devil was a popular play in Cornwall in the nineteenth century, performed at the Christmas season by groups of young people who went from house to house. The Zemachs have interpreted the folk tale which the play dramatized, recognizable as a version of the widespread Rumpelstiltskin story. Its main themes are familiar, but the character and details of this picture book are entirely Cornish, as robust and distinctive as the higgledy-piggledy, cliff-hanging villages that dot England's southwestern coast from Penzance to Land's End.The language spoken by the Christmas players was a rich mixture of local English dialect and Old Cornish (similar to Welsh and Gaelic), and something of this flavor is preserved in Harve Zemach's retelling. Margot Zemach's pen-and-wash illustrations combine a refined sense of comedy with telling observation of character, felicitous drawing with decorative richness, to a degree that surpasses her own past accomplishments. Duffy and the Devil is a 1973 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year and Outstanding Book of the Year, a 1974 National Book Award Finalist for Children's Books, and the winner of the 1974 Caldecott Medal.