Books published by publisher AMERICAN PUBLISHING COMPANY

You hear your door come crashing down—those birthday monsters are in town! And they're going to wreak havoc in the most extraordinarily rude ways. What fun! From Boynton on Board, the more-than-20-million-copy-bestselling series of extra-big, extra-fat, and extra-fun board books, here is BIRTHDAY MONSTERS. Featuring Sandra Boynton's lively rhyming text and inimitable illustrations, this story about a madcap crew of lovable party crashers will appeal to kids and adults alike.

A campy calendar for those with an insatiable thirst for thrills. It’ll reel you in, one juicy, twisted story after the next. Featuring the news headlines that catch your eye, and then keep you up at night, A Year of True Crime offers day after day of gruesome intrigue to pique your morbid curiosities. There are gritty tales about the 1990’s Clown Killer (on the loose until 2017), and the Rotenburg Cannibal, who lured victims online in the early aughts. Plus, trivia, like the inspiration behind the Silence of the Lambs’ Buffalo Bill (he was a fictional amalgam of numerous serial killers) and games: Match the criminals to the film inspired by their crimes. Here are all the gory details—serial killers, cannibal fetishists, occult followers, and innocent hitchhikers who didn’t stand a chance—with a tabloid-style page design, and photographs throughout. For fans of Law & Order: SVU, Serial, and pulpy tabloids, this gift will hit all the right spine-chilling notes.

A New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe and Indie Bestseller! Playful spaniels completely covered with snow—“There’s no such thing as ‘bad’ weather.” Two happy dogs sleeping, one on top of the other— “Sometimes you need a pillow. Sometimes you are the pillow." The bulldog who’s headfirst in her bowl—“Every meal is THE BEST MEAL EVER.” Cynthia L. Copeland has a gift for discovering those sorts of simple, timeless lessons. She did it when her children were younger with Really Important Stuff My Kids Have Taught Me. Now she distills all-new wisdom from her lifelong love of dogs. Really Important Stuff My Dog Has Taught Me is tender, funny, warm, and utterly inspiring. Pairing an irresistible photograph with just the right sentiment, every page delivers a life lesson that appeals as much to our hearts as our minds. It reminds us again and again of what’s important, like love: “Be there when others need you.” Compassion: “Even the smallest act of kindness matters.” Perseverance: “Keep going until you find your way home.” A healthy sense of self: “Make it squeak until someone pays attention.” Living in the present moment: “Scratch where it itches, when it itches.” And that happiness is a choice: “Leap higher than you have to.”

Snuggle up at bedtime with a book that’s indestructible! Baby takes a bath. Splash! Baby puts on pajamas. Cozy! Baby gets kisses. Night-night! Indestructibles is the trusted series for easing little ones into story time. Beloved by babies and their parents, Indestructibles are built for the way babies “read” (i.e., with their hands and mouths) and are:Rip Proof—made of ultra-durable tight-woven materialWaterproof—can be chewed on, drooled on, and washed!Emergent Literacy Tool—bright pictures and few or no words encourage dialogic readingPortable—lightweight books can go anywhere, perfect for the diaper bag and for travelSafe for Baby—meets ASTM safety standards

What won’t we try in our quest for perfect health, beauty, and the fountain of youth? Well, just imagine a time when doctors prescribed morphine for crying infants. When liquefied gold was touted as immortality in a glass. And when strychnine—yes, that strychnine, the one used in rat poison—was dosed like Viagra. Looking back with fascination, horror, and not a little dash of dark, knowing humor, Quackery recounts the lively, at times unbelievable, history of medical misfires and malpractices. Ranging from the merely weird to the outright dangerous, here are dozens of outlandish, morbidly hilarious “treatments”—conceived by doctors and scientists, by spiritualists and snake oil salesmen (yes, they literally tried to sell snake oil)—that were predicated on a range of cluelessness, trial and error, and straight-up scams. With vintage illustrations, photographs, and advertisements throughout, Quackery seamlessly combines macabre humor with science and storytelling to reveal an important and disturbing side of the ever-evolving field of medicine.

The Force is strong with this series! Introducing a line of workbooks that marries the iconic popularity of Star Wars with the unique mix of editorial quality, fun presentation, and rigorous educational standards that Workman applied to the BRAIN QUEST Workbooks. Twelve titles launch the series―three each for Pre-K through 2nd Grade―and dig deep into core subjects, including numbers, ABCs, phonics, and reading readiness for younger grades, and math, reading, and writing for the older ones. The material, which aligns with national Common Core State Standards, is designed to reinforce essential concepts and lessons taught in schools. Any child, not just fans of Star Wars―but yes, those fans will be especially delighted (as will reluctant learners)―will love the “A” is for Anakin approach to phonics. Kids will practice learning numbers by counting and circling X-wing starfighters and clone troopers. Master place values by sorting groups of Wookiees. There are math problems―Yoda is holding 7 lightsabers. 5 of the lightsabers are blue. The rest are green. How many green lightsabers is he holding? And Language Arts―Circle the correct homophone in this sentence: Luke is a Jedi knight/night. Featuring favorite characters like Luke Skywalker, Queen Amidala, Yoda, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, and other creatures, monsters, Jedi, and Sith, the workbooks are filled with thousands of original illustrations drawing from all six Star Wars movies and the expanded Star Wars universe.Learn well, you will.

Sometimes kids just need a good tickle. Maybe your child is grumpy, or frustrated, or looking for a little extra attention. Well, we have the cure. Reach for Tickle Time!—and like magic, everyone’s bright and sunny and giggling again. Based on the wildly popular song from Boynton’s wildly popular Rhinoceros Tap CD, Tickle Time! is pure irrepressible Boynton, lively in tempo, nimble in rhyme, and filled with irresistible fuzzy cats that cavort from page to page. Plus a few birds, who aren’t the cavorting type. Here’s a book to turn to again and again, because it’s guaranteed to elicit giggles:If you’re feeling blue and you don’t know what to do there is nothing like a TICKLE TIME to make you feel like new. Whether you tickle high or tickle low, tickle fast or tickle slow, it’s the gitchy-gitchy-goo that makes everything worthwhile.

A year of page-turning pleasure for browsers and book lovers. Celebrate the joy of books and the delights of browsing in this entertaining calendar inspired by James Mustich’s 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die. With the insight of a bookseller and the enthusiasm of a devoted reader, Mustich shares hundreds of titles that range from the obscure to the immortal, the ancient to the contemporary. From Books for Every Mood and Literary Quizzes to Unforgettable First Lines, Intriguing Quotations, and Book Club Recommendations, the calendar’s compelling features cover books for every age and of every subject, style, and genre. It makes addictive reading in itself, and will be sure to add dozens of new titles to any reader's bucket list. So many books in just 366 days!

The Force is strong with this series! Introducing a line of workbooks that marries the iconic popularity of Star Wars with the unique mix of editorial quality, fun presentation, and rigorous educational standards that Workman applied to the BRAIN QUEST Workbooks. Twelve titles launch the series―three each for Pre-K through 2nd Grade―and dig deep into core subjects, including numbers, ABCs, phonics, and reading readiness for younger grades, and math, reading, and writing for the older ones. The material, which aligns with national Common Core State Standards, is designed to reinforce essential concepts and lessons taught in schools. Any child, not just fans of Star Wars―but yes, those fans will be especially delighted (as will reluctant learners)―will love the “A” is for Anakin approach to phonics. Kids will practice learning numbers by counting and circling X-wing starfighters and clone troopers. Master place values by sorting groups of Wookiees. There are math problems―Yoda is holding 7 lightsabers. 5 of the lightsabers are blue. The rest are green. How many green lightsabers is he holding? And Language Arts―Circle the correct homophone in this sentence: Luke is a Jedi knight/night. Featuring favorite characters like Luke Skywalker, Queen Amidala, Yoda, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, and other creatures, monsters, Jedi, and Sith, the workbooks are filled with thousands of original illustrations drawing from all six Star Wars movies and the expanded Star Wars universe.Learn well, you will.

Announcing the completely revised and updated edition of The Wine Bible, the perennial bestselling wine book praised as “The most informative and entertaining book I’ve ever seen on the subject” (Danny Meyer), “A guide that has all the answers” (Bobby Flay), “Astounding” (Thomas Keller), and “A magnificent masterpiece of wine writing” (Kevin Zraly). Like a lively course from an expert teacher, The Wine Bible grounds the reader deeply in the fundamentals while layering on informative asides, tips, amusing anecdotes, definitions, glossaries, photos (all new for this edition), maps, labels, and recommended bottles. Karen MacNeil’s information comes directly through primary research; for this second edition she has tasted more than 10,000 wines and visited dozens of wine regions around the world. New to the book are wines of China, Japan, Mexico, and Slovenia. And through it all the reader becomes ever more informed—and, because of the author’s unique voice, always entertained: “In great years Pétrus is ravishing, elegant, and rich—Ingrid Bergman in red satin.” Or, describing a Riesling: “A laser beam. A sheet of ice. A great crackling bolt of lightning.”

Brain Quest is beloved by kids, trusted by parents, used and recommended by teachers. It’s the curriculum-based, fast-paced, question-and-answer game that challenges kids on the stuff they need to know, when they need to know it. It’s the brand that says “It’s fun to be smart!” And it delivers. For the fourth edition every deck is thoroughly revised and includes 20 percent new material. The content aligns with national and state standards and is overseen by the Brain Quest Advisory Board, a panel of award-winning educators, each a recent state teacher-of-the-year award winner or a recipient of the prestigious Milken Educator Award. The covers and cards have a refreshed design, giving Brain Quest a cooler, updated look.Book Details:Format: Special FormatPublication Date: 5/1/2012Pages: