Books published by publisher Purple House Pr

Sherry Alston was never told about her half-sister, Miranda. Yet soon after Sherry arrives at her Aunt Judith's house, she somehow begins to learn of the dead girl's secrets. Lindsey and Tammy, who live next door, decide to keep an eye on Sherry. Gradually, they too begin to feel Miranda's presence. As the unexplainable incidents multiply, Miss Judith convinces her brother to try communicating with his daughter's spirit through a medium. Tammy and Lindsey, suspicious of the famous medium, unmask her powers only to find that there are deeper mysteries still. This is a haunting story of two half-sisters, trying to declare their need for love and recognition. The eerie mood of mystery that surrounds the Alston family is perfectly captured in Trina Schart Hyman's illustrations. Trina illustrated children's books for over thirty years, receiving the Caldecott Medal for Saint George and the Dragon. A new afterword provides an in-depth look at the author's life.

I, King Rupert Pickle XIV, hereby declare that all the characters and events chronicled in this tale are true and authentic. All the people portrayed by the author lived at the time of the Pickle-Chiffon Pie Olympics held in June of 1348. The Olympic events reported in the story (dragon wrestling, the giant climb, the moat swim, etc.) actually took place and the winners accurately reported herein. None of the names were changed, nor were locations altered. I have affixed my royal seal and do hereby attest to the accuracy of this statement. (Well, sort of.) Rupert XIV

Andy was in town getting a block of ice for his mother's ice chest, a heavy iron point for his father's plow, and a bag of horehound candy for Grandpa when he saw the circus poster! If only he could buy a ticket to see the clowns but "Great snakes, boy," said Grandpa, "don't go bothering people for money. If you want a ticket to the circus, go to the circus ground and get yourself a job. They'll pay you with a ticket to the big show." Follow along as kind-hearted Andy rises at daybreak, pedals his way to town seeking a job, while helping family and friends along the the way. Will he make it in time? Will there be a job with the circus for Andy? Will he earn a ticket to the big show? Ellis Credle penned this humorous classic nearly fifty years ago. It's been delighting readers for generations, while exemplifying the values of self-reliance and kindness to others.

"Wait a minute!" Mr. Shaw said. "You want to take me back to the nineteenth century, to marry somebody there?" His daughter Susan must be mad! Only a girl suffering from hallucinations would make a request like that, on top of a wild story about a good witch, an elevator that travels to 1881, a vanquished scoundrel, a dug-up treasure, and a distressed nineteenth-century family named Walker. Better humor her, Mr. Shaw thinks, until I can get her to a doctor. Susan is not mad. Her story is true. She and her new best friend Victoria Walker just know that when their parents meet it will be love at first sight, and the two families will become one. But nothing happens the way it should. Their parents meet and don't fall in love. Domineering cousin Jane forbids more meetings. The treasure disappears overnight. The vanquished scoundrel returns, with sinister plans. Everything is spinning out of control! So why does an old photo show that Susan's and Victoria's dream comes true?

In this classic tale from 1967, Mrs. Pine decides to visit her sister in New York. Mr. Pine tells her that he can take care of the house while she is away. "Housework is easy," he says. But he soon changes his mind. The house gets messier and messier and, oh no, Mrs. Pine is coming home tomorrow!Children of all ages will enjoy this third book in the Mr. Pine series.

In a snow covered village, while children all sleep, the Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher, lands with a leap! All the sprinkles he snitches, it's his Christmas fun, but without sprinkles the baking cannot be done! The villagers panic, but says Little Nat, "I'll track down the Snitcher wherever he's at!" Will Nat find the Snitcher? Will the Snitcher relent? Will the cookies be baked? Will the Snitcher repent? Will Nat lose the trail? We he fall through the ice? If Nat finds the Snitcher, will the Snitcher be nice? These questions are answered for all to enjoy!

When twelve-year-old Johnny Littlehorn's father returns from the front lines, after WWII is over, and announces they're spending the summer in France, Johnny doesn't want to leave their Wyoming ranch. But what starts off as a boring trip soon turns into a frightening adventure. A sinister man trails Johnny throughout Paris and follows him to his uncle s village of St. Chamant. With the help of his new friends, Suzanne and Charles, Johnny follows a winding trail that leads to a fugitive spy, a German pistolet hidden in a loaf of bread and a stolen fortune. Before long, he s learning French, helping his oncle Paul build an avion, and unraveling an evil Nazi plot! Original illustrations by Richard Floethe. New cover by Jamin Still, take a look at more of his work jaminstill.com

Long before my mother was born, her aunts owned a store in a small village in Maine. They had a smart gray horse who pulled a shiny black buggy when they went out riding. Prince was the finest horse in town. But no one remembers who took care of that beautiful animal while the aunts were working in their store: perhaps it was a sneaky trader who tried to steal him, perhaps it was a one-legged harmonica player who taught him to dance; perhaps it was two children who once saved Prince's life. Jacqueline Briggs Martin, author of Caldecott winner Snowflake Bentley, really did have two great-aunts who owned a horse like Prince. In The Finest Horse in Town she recreates life in a small American town as it might have been at the turn of the 20th century. Susan Gaber's extraordinary watercolor paintings make the people and events in these three stories truly come alive.

"Suffering codfish! Somebody's after me," Mr. Whiskers groans. And somebody is. It all starts on a gray February day in Cranberryport, when Mr. Whiskers admits to Maggie and Grandmother that he has never, ever, received a valentine. Then two days later, a big lacy valentine arrives for him, full of cupids, lovebirds, hearts and flowers. "How sweet," says Maggie. "Revolting," says Mr. Whiskers. The next day three more fancy valentines arrive for Mr. Whiskers, and he begins to get worried...particularly when he hears that a lady in green has been asking for him all over town. Then more valentines arrive and Mr. Whiskers is terrified! Should he hide or leave town? How Mr. Whiskers solves the mystery of his secret admirer and enjoys a Happy Valentine's Day after all makes this another appealing story in the much loved Cranberryport series. Originally printed in 1986, this tale is back for all to enjoy along with Grandmother's delicious recipe for Cranberry Upside-Down Cake!

Princess Bedelia was as lovely as the moon shining upon a lake, as graceful as a leaping cat, and she was also extremely practical. When a dragon moved into her neighborhood demanding a princess to devour, Bedelia's practicality and self-preservation kicked into gear. "Rubbish!" she said. "Dragons can't tell the difference between princesses and anyone else. Use your common sense. He's just asking for me because he's a snob." She proceeded to defeat the bothersome dragon, outwit her conniving suitor, and rescue a prince sleeping under a spell while locked away at the top of a tall, magical tower with no stairs. Well ahead of its time when written back in 1969, this twist on the standard princess fairy tale gives young girls and boys a clever heroine to admire. Indeed, the author wrote this story for his grandson, Ben. Friso Henstra collaborated with Jay Williams on nine picture books for children. In 1969 his quirky, memorable illustrations in The Practical Princess won the prestigious Golden Apple Award at the Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava, one of the oldest international honors given to children's book illustrators.

40th Anniversary Edition of Mr. Pines Mixed-up Signs and the adventures of our beloved, intrepid sign painter Mr. Pine. Mr. Pine made signs. He made signs that said STOP. He made signs that said GO. He made signs that said FAST. And signs that said SLOW. When the signs in Little Town were old, the mayor said, "we need all new signs." Mr. Pine painted all new signs in one week. "I will put them up," he said, but he could not find his glasses. He put the signs up anyway. The signs were all MIXED-UP! Little Town was all mixed-up! Where were Mr. Pine's glasses? Who had his glasses? How did he solve the problem of all those mixed-up signs?

Written back in 1942, TWIG is now available in color on the Kindle Fire!Twig was just a plain, ordinary little girl who lived on the fourth floor of a "high sort of house" in the city. The back yard behind that house was Twig's little world. It was a bare little world, with nothing but a dandelion and a stream of drainpipe water to make it beautiful; with nobody but Old Boy, the ice-wagon horse, Old Girl, the cat, and the Sparrows, to keep Twig company.But one day, out in the alley, Twig found an empty tomato can, with pictures of bright red tomatoes all round it. When it was upside down, it looked like a pretty little house, just the right size for a fairy! Twig stood it upside down next to the dandelion, not far from the stream. And this is the story of what happened in and around that little house one Saturday afternoon.A story full of magic, full of fun, full of fantasy interwoven with reality, and full of the kind of tenderness which belongs most particularly to the very young. A story both boys and girls will love.