Grades 1-4

A boy, looking to go to the other side, hops into a bear's boat for what he is assured will not be too long of a journey. Hours later, the bear continues to assure the boy that They. Are. Not. Lost.  Sometimes unforseen anomalies arise, you know.

Days later the two have run out of sandwiches.

A simple, quiet adventure story perfectly tailored for a bedtime read-aloud, A Boy and a Bear in a Boat recalls cozy, character-rich classics with plenty to think about, yet is one of a kind and quite quirky.

Grades 2-5

If you thought Justin had a worrisome and difficult third-grade year, just wait until you read about his summer at Camp GoldenBrook.

After third-grade, Justin is determined to stop worrying so much - until he finds out he's going to a camp that is probably going to kill him - if his flip-flops don't do the job first.

Fans of Alvin Ho or the Wimpy Kid series will love Justin's humorous attempts at bravery, and find Justin to be a welcome friend.

Reading Level: Ages 3 - 11

Magritte sees a hat in a shop window and, even though it refuses to stay on his head, he can't resist buying it. Then the adventures begin in this surreal picture book introduction to the surrealist painter's art.

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Reading Level: Grades 3-6

Lenny is pitchforked into a death defying race to save the world when best friend Casper purchases  the Heidelberg Handlebar Number Seven mustache.

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Books by Tom Angleberger

Grades K-3

A truly original, silly, funny, and downright cool picture book about a girl named Chloe, a loose-change finder who ends up lost in the woods after a dizzyingly long merry-go-round ride... where she meets a huge lion. (The lion is really a dragon, not a lion. Illustrator Adam Rex has been fired for replacing the lion with a "cooler" dragon. Sorry. The remainder of the book will be handled by a true illustrator who can follow directions. Apologies for this interruption.)

Reading Level: Grades 2 - 5

After he was seriously injured in a fall from a high wire, Luciano Anastasini needed to come up with a new circus act for himself. That is when five, unwanted "problem" dogs on death row in the pound (and later five more) came along and together they found what their purpose in life was meant to be.

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Reading Level: Grades 3-5

If you found a hole out in the grass while exploring, and inside the hole was a meteoroid, and poking out of the meteoroid was a button, you'd probably push it, wouldn't you? (I would.  Zita did.)

You'd probably freak out when your best friend Joseph got sucked into into this weird vortex thing after you pushed the botton... and then when you pushed the button again, YOU got sucked in, plopping out onto an alien planet. (I would. Zita kind of did.)

Reading Level: Grades 2 - 3

Bramble is a horse at a riding school, but she finds going around in circles all the time boring so she starts to act up. Finally the owner of the school decides to sell Bramble, but a horse as clever as Bramble isn't going to accept just ANY new owner.

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Reading Level: Grades 3 - 6

When Lily's mother realizes that the mothers in novels for children her daughter's age all die horrible deaths she becomes obsessed with avoiding that fate, especially since Lily has now been a main character in four Pals in Peril novels.  Unfortunately in her desperate attempt to avoid anything that might endager her life, she throws herself quite literally right into the arms of zombies, ghosts and vampires.  Can the Pals rescue her before it is too late and she becomes just another fictional mother statistic?

Reading Level: Ages 4 - 10

This 3-D insect book will either make you want to reach out and touch the bugs or run away screaming!

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More books by Barry Rothstein