Books published by publisher Simply Read Books (2006-06-02)

The fourth book in bestselling author Lee Edward Födi’s Kendra Kandlestar series of magical chapter books! According to Een legend, a Kazah stone grants a wizard the power to catch an echo of the past—and a glimpse of the future. But when Kendra Kandlestar is given her own cracked and broken Kazah stone, she soon discovers that it’s capable of so much more. Now, with her faithful companion Honest Oki by her side, Kendra is sent on an unimaginable journey across the cosmos, finding herself amidst worlds that are strange and bewildering—and at the same time all too familiar. Trapped in this adventure, Kendra finds herself faced with choices that just may unravel the mysterious history of the Eens—and destroy their future. What will Kendra choose?

Thumbelina is as pretty and delicate as the flower she was born in, and no bigger than her mother’s thumb. She grows older, but no taller in their happy home until she awakens one morning to a terrible surpise: an ugly mother toad has kidnapped her and wants Thumbelina to marry her even more awful toad son. So begins Hans Christian Andersen’s classic story of hardship, adventure, and friendship in a wild and wonderous world filled with helpful fish, braggy June bugs, and a mysterious mole. Thumbelina may be small, but her life is full of big adventures in this beautiful picture book illustrated with the modern paintings of Kelly Vivanco.

Astral projection, gremlin-attacks, and teleportation are just a few of the reasons for academic absence creatively illustrated in this book. Eerie Dearies is an unusual book that offers a carefully crafted & alphabetized selection of twenty-six beautifully illustrated excuses for being awol from school. Faded and well-used book covers serve as compelling backgrounds to each of these delicately rendered acrylic paintings, creating an atmosphere akin to an old and dusty collection of darkly humorous myths. This bizarre and astonishing ABC book contains 26 illustrations of absent school girls by Vancouver artist Rebecca Chaperon. Chaperon’s fine art paintings capture the misadventures of various heroines from literary works while portraying the tale of a female protagonist within a slightly surreal landscape. Her images entertain the mind with possible narratives, while haunting us with underlying emotions. In Eerie Dearie ephemeral landscapes are populated with intriguing figures, at once pale and wan and amusingly dramatic. The perfect peculiar ABC!

O'Shae is an awesome octopus, who happens to also have two extra arms. With his best friend Shelton the Shark by his side, he discovers as hard as it at times for others to accept your differences, embracing what sets you apart can truly make you sensational! Dive in to see what the amazing things that can happen to O'Shae, once he starts believing in himself!

In the classic nursery rhyme, "Pussycat, Pussycat," the Pussycat travels to London to visit the Queen. But Dan Bar-el's vivid, dreamy text tells the rest of the Pussycat's adventures, from France where he sails down the Seine, to far North where he sees pods of grey whales, and the sands of Egypt where he charts the stars and visits the pyramids. Each trip takes readers to far-flung, magical places of the world, but also deeper into the Pussycat's heart, as we learn what he wishes for, what stops his sorrow, where he hides when he is scared, and what happens if he gets lost. Rae Mate's gorgeous oil paintings illuminate the emotion of the story, a perfect tale to comfort and soothe, as well as spark imaginations. See the book trailer! youtube.com/watch?v=H6oGSzEjlTU&feature=youtube_gdata_player