Books published by publisher purple pie press

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.

It was bedtime. Chris and his father sat down side by side on Chris's bed. They talked of Chris's friend Alexander, the red horse with green stripes. "Alexander was a pretty bad horse today," Chris said. "He wouldn't eat his cereal. He wouldn't sit up at the table and he spilled his milk." "That's too bad," said Chris's father. "What else happened?" The ensuing conversation of Alexander's bad day makes for an entertaining read, along with its priceless ending. Originally published in 1964.

It's strange enough when Susan Shaw disappears without a trace on a wintry March afternoon. It's stranger still when her uninformative note is found in the hallway of her apartment building, along with a black cat that no one has seen before. And it's strangest of all when she suddenly appears again, wearing clothes that are eighty years out of date, and tells a wild story about an old woman with a fly-away hat, an elevator that travels into the past, and a distressed family that only she can save.Who is going to believe such a tale? Certainly not her father. But Susan is determined to prove to him that it's all true. And she has other plans for him as well...Who, in fact, could believe such a tale? Even the author, who takes part in the story, has his doubts. But just as those doubts are all laid to rest, the mystery thickens once more. This time it's a double disappearance...Read the sequel, All in Good Time, on the Kindle too!

45th Anniversary Edition. When it came to imagination, Benjamin Dilley was right up there with Einstein, Steve Jobs, and whoever came up with the idea for Disneyland. There wasn't anything Benjamin couldn't imagine, except maybe an honest politician or the idea of kissing a (ugh!) girl. Well, he could have if he'd wanted to I suppose but, gee, a guy has to draw the line somewhere! Just about anything else was subject to his delightfully developed imagination, either in full color, black and white, 3D, with sound or without. As you will learn upon reading the story, this included a hippo dressed as an army general, a goat driving a sports car and a genie in (and out of) a bottle just to name a few. Remember the days when you could do that? I still do it all the time, but folks seem to look at me a little strangely. They tend to say things like, "A little old for that kinda stuff, aren't you, pops?"

Mr. Pine lived on Vine Street in a little white house. "A white house is fine," said Mr. Pine, "but there are FIFTY white houses all in a line on Vine Street. How can I tell which house is mine?"Mr. Pine had a big problem. But he solved that problem in his own special way. Mr. Pine's Purple House, first published in 1965, was a favorite children's book for many years. When it went out of print fans requested the return of the intrepid Mr. Pine. Well, Mr. Pine is back again, with his dog and his cat, his brushes and ladders, and lots of purple paint!50th Anniversary Edition

Blood, Vampires, Conspiracy, Mystery, A Thrilling Story Like You've Never Read Before.Half vampire Prudence frantically awakens inside a coffin in modern-day Maine, her Victorian life nothing but the distant past. Milo and Charlotte Davenport, the only remaining members of a family sworn to protect her grave befriend her as Prudence suffers through hellish flashbacks and faces deadly threats which terrorize her existence. Humans and vampires both race to kill her. But why? Constant threat looms, as does her own will toward self-destruction. There is no safe place left in the world. Will the truth save her from herself and help her save her newfound friends or will it send her spiraling out of control and closer to imminent death?Sparkly "Twilight" Vampires? I don't think so; this is not a story for the squeamish or faint of heart. This is a tale of both physical and psychological horror is "The Vampire Diaries: The Originals" meets the gruesome world of "The Underworld Trilogy."The Blood Rite SagaThe Blood Empire: One Episode out of FiveThe Blood Princess: Five Episodes out of FiveThe Blood Prince: Zero Episodes out of FiveThe Blood Queen: Zero Episodes out of FiveThe Blood King: Zero Episodes out of FiveThe Blood Throne: Zero Episodes out of Five

Alvin Fernald is back! Not only back, but he finds himself in the middle of a brand new mystery as exciting and hilarious as The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald.Alvin reaches back to the Civil War, at least figuratively, to bond with a boy who buried a national treasure in order to save it. With the aid of the Pest (Alvin's sister Daphne), and his best friend Shoie, Alvin solves a secret message to reveal the whereabouts of the treasure. This is living history, bound with laughs galore.Clifford B. Hicks has written another classic which both kids and adults will enjoy!