Alphabooks or Christmas in Camelot

Alphabooks

Author: Julie Aigner Clark

Learning the alphabet has never been more fun than with these 26 mini board books. Real-life photos and illustrations of everyday objects help teach Baby about each letter, and every mini board book can be stored and carried in a colorfully decorated Alphabooks box.

Books about: Patton on Leadership or Organizational Culture and Leadership

Christmas in Camelot (Magic Tree House Series #29)

Author: Sal Murdocca

The Magic Tree House series has become a staple for inspiring kids to read. Christmas in Camelot is a very special Magic Tree House book. Here, author Mary Pope Osborne uses the literary skills for which she’s known to create a longer, more in-depth story featuring the characters kids have come to love. The result is magical: a fast-paced but detailed, easy-to-read story. Jack and Annie go on a quest to save Camelot, a quest that will prove to a beleaguered King Arthur that children and imagination really can make a difference.


From the Hardcover edition.

Ralph Mouse Collection or Olivia

Ralph Mouse Collection: The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Runaway Ralph, Ralph S. Mouse (Cleary Reissue Series)

Author: Beverly Cleary

All your favorite Ralph Mouse tales in one boxed set — just in time for the holiday season!

Children's Literature

A motorcycle riding mouse named Ralph will capture children's hearts and imaginations in the three books that make up this collection. Readers first meet young Ralph in his home at the Mountain View Inn, where he dreams of adventures beyond his tiny mouse hole. Ralph meets a young hotel guest named Keith with a toy motorcycle and exciting things start happening. Children who get attached to Ralph in the first book will be happy to follow him as he seeks adventures at camp and at school in the author's two follow-up books. Ralph is, at turns, resourceful and daring, curious and scared, and friendly but cautious; much like many of the readers of his tales. This collection, which includes The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Runaway Ralph, and Ralph S. Mouse, takes readers into a fantastic world, where it is easy to believe that an enterprising mouse can really ride a motorcycle. 2002, HarperTrophy/HarperCollins, $17.85. Ages 7 to 11. Reviewer: Jeanne K. Pettenati AGES: 7 8 9 10 11

Look this: Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings or How to Be a Working Actor

Olivia

Author: Ian Falconer

Have fun with Olivia:

• dressing up
• singing songs
• building sand castles
• napping (maybe)
• dancing
• painting on walls
• and -- whew! -- going to sleep at last.

Publishers Weekly

Equal parts endearing and impetuous, Ian Falconer's acclaimed star, Olivia, appears in an unabridged board book version of the Caldecott Honor title. In our Best Books citation, PW wrote, "With a masterful use of black line, a minimum of details, a judicious use of the color red and a few choice words, Falconer invents an unforgettable porcine heroine."

Children's Literature

Olivia is a masterpiece of simplicity that portrays the complex, imaginative psyche of children. Olivia's boundless energy tests her mother's patience and her little brother's endurance, while wrapping herself into the reader's heart. Deciding what to wear takes a full page of choices, all executed in charcoal and gouache with highlights of red. With humor and honest emotions, Olivia is "every child" who accepts Degas, Jackson Pollock and Maria Callas as equals. Her bedroom walls reflect her Pollock phase, which causes Mom to say, "Time out!" When Olivia negotiates with her mother over the number of books to be read at bedtime, every parent smiles. Olivia is a Caldecott Honor Book that proves the maxim that "less is more." 2000, Antheneum, $16.00. Ages 4 up. Reviewer: Jan Lieberman

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 3-From the articles of clothing strewn across the front endpapers of this droll account of Olivia's escapades, readers may surmise that this porcine heroine is no ordinary youngster. Olivia is constantly on the move, dreaming big dreams and meeting every challenge head-on. She doesn't just get dressed, she tries on every outfit in the closet. She doesn't just dance, she envisions herself as a prima ballerina bowing before an adoring audience. When her mother teaches her to build sand castles, Olivia creates a towering structure that closely resembles the Chrysler Building in New York City. When she views a Jackson Pollack painting in the museum, she immediately concludes that she can do better and proceeds to try her hand at painting a wall at home. Her efforts earn her time out and a bath. The text is brief, funny, and sometimes ironic in relation to the highly amusing illustrations. The only touches of color in the pictures, executed in charcoal and gouache, are the bright reds of the clothing or objects used by Olivia. There are often many renderings of the young pig on each large white background, effectively demonstrating her boundless energy. Even at day's end, she is still going strong, negotiating the number of books to be read at bedtime. For a lively storyhour featuring feisty females, pair this with Kevin Henkes's stories about Lilly.-Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT |

People Magazine

High energy piglet Olivia excels at all kinds of things, especially wearing people out. A charming tale sure to strike a chord with the grade school set.

The Christian Science Monitor - Karen Carden

Not only is this one terrific picture book, but it's Falconer's first...Illustrations are stunning, done in stark black and white with splashes of true red. Together, the words and pictures evoke smiles, giggles, and a rare but thrilling sense that this book may be absolutely perfect.

Time - Richard Corliss

Falsoner, whose work has appeared on New Yorker covers, has given her [Olivia} so much porcine panache that she would win over even the strictest parent. Most of the time.

Kirkus Reviews

Even before her story begins, readers are following Olivia as she leaves a trail of clothes that she has eschewed in favor of the outfit du jour for her auspicious entrance on the title page. Rarely have readers seen a pig with such joie de vivre and panache. The brief, declarative text is an unadorned introduction to a character who will gain instant recognition and quickly be taken to heart. The story very simply follows the irrepressible Olivia (along with her somewhat forbearing family) through a typical day from morning to night, with excursions to the beach and the art museum. A delicious irony is established between the spare, deadpan text and the ever-ebullient and excessive Olivia. "Olivia gets dressed. She has to try on everything," says the text. Thus begins a parade of 17 outfits and 17 poses on a double-page spread. While young readers will love picking their favorite among the 17, by far the funniest is Olivia in her pantyhose. Much of Olivia's personality is conveyed through her generous, expressive, and slightly quizzical mouth, as she ponders a Degas at the museum or suffers the indignity of a "time out" after re-creating a Jackson Pollock on her bedroom wall. Characterizations are deftly accomplished with minimal line. Illustrations are rendered in charcoal and gouache in black, white, velvety gray with lipstick-red accents. Flawless decisions in composition and page design, generous white space, and a few exaggerated perspectives add much to the book's distinction. Although the most visual weight is given to Olivia, just waiting on the sidelines is Olivia's little brother Ian. New fans of Falconer can only hope Ian will soon star in his own book.

Cajun Night before Christmas or Little House

Cajun Night Before Christmas

Author: Howard Jacobs

This Cajun Christmas classic is in full-color. Take the traditional story of jolly old St. Nicholas, dress him in muskrat from his head to his toes, pile his skiff high with toys, and hitch it to 8 friendly flying alligators.

Look this: Ghost Train to the Eastern Star or Streetwise Ireland Map Laminated Country Road Map of Ireland Folding Pocket Size Travel Map

Little House (9-Book Boxed Set)

Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder

The set includes: Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years.

Little House in the Big Woods

Wolves and panthers and bears roam the deep Wisconsin woods in the late 1870's. In those same woods, Laura lives with Pa and Ma, and her sisters, Mary and Baby Carrie, in a snug little house built of logs. Pa hunts and traps. Ma makes her own cheese and butter. All night long, the wind howls lonesomely, but Pa plays the fiddle and sings, keeping the family safe and cozy.

Little House on the Prairie

Pa Ingalls decides to sell the little log house, and the family sets out for Indian country! They travel from Wisconsin to Kansas, and there, finally, Pa builds their little house on the prairie. Sometimes farm life is difficult, even dangerous, but Laura and her family are kept busy and are happy with the promise of their new life on the prairie.

Farmer Boy

While Laura Ingalls grows up in a little house on the western prairie, Almanzo Wilder is living on a big farm in New York State. Almanzo and his brother and sisters work at their chores from dawn to supper most days — no matter what the weather. There is still time for fun, though, especially with the horses, which Almanzo loves more than anything.

On the Banks of Plum Creek

Laura's family's first home in Minnesota is made of sod, but Pa builds a clean new house made of sawed lumber beside Plum Creek. The money for materials will come from their first wheat crop. Then, just before the wheat is ready toharvest, a strange glittering cloud fills the sky, blocking out the sun. Soon millions of grasshoppers cover the field and everything on the farm. In a week's time, there is no wheat crop left at all.

By the Shores of Silver Lake

Pa Ingalls heads west to the unsettled wilderness of the Dakota Territory. When Ma, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and baby Grace join him, they become the first settlers in the town of De Smet. And Pa begins work on the first building in what will soon be a brand-new town on the shores of Silver Lake.

The Long Winter

The first terrible storm comes to the barren prairie in October. Then it snows almost without stopping until April. Snow has reached the rooftops, and no trains can get through with food or coal. The people of De Smet are starving, including Laura's family, who wonder how they're going to make it through this terrible winter. It is young Almanzo Wilder who finally understands what needs to be done. He must save the town, even if it means risking his own life.

Little Town on the Prairie

The long winter is over. With spring come socials, parties, and "Literaries." There is also work to be done. Laura spends many hours each day sewing shirts to help send Mary to a college for the blind. But in the evenings, Laura makes time for a new caller, Almanzo Wilder.

These Happy Golden Years

Laura is teaching school, and it's terrifying! Most of the students are taller than she is, and she must sleep away from home for the first time. Laura is miserable, but the money is needed to keep Mary in a college for the blind. And every Friday — no matter what the weather — Almanzo Wilder arrives to take Laura home to her family for the weekend. Laura and Almanzo are courting, and even though she's not yet sixteen, she knows that this is a time for new beginnings.

The First Four Years

Laura and Almanzo Wilder have just been married! Their life on a small prairie homestead begins with high hopes. But each year seems to bring unexpected disasters — storms, sickness, fire, and unpaid debts. These first four years call for courage, strength, and a great deal of determination. Always, though, there is love, especially for the newest member of the family — baby Rose.

Elmos 12 Days of Christmas or Love You Forever

Elmo's 12 Days of Christmas

Author: Sarah Albe

What does a Sesame Street Christmas celebrate? How about: Three French friends, two yummy cookies, a red monster up in a tree, and lots more! Sing and laugh along with this hilarious Sesame Street version of the favorite Christmas carol.

Love You Forever

Author: Robert Munsch

A young woman holds her newborn son
And looks at him lovingly.

Softly she sings to him:

"I'll love you forever

I'll like you for always

As long as I'm living

My baby you'll be."

So begins the story that has touched the hearts of millions worldwide. Since publication in l986, Love You Forever has sold more than 15 million copies in paperback and the regular hardcover edition (as well as hundreds of thousands of copies in Spanish and French).

Firefly Books is proud to offer this sentimental favorite in a variety of editions and sizes:

We offer a trade paper and laminated hardcover edition in a 8" x 8" size.

In gift editions we carry:

a slipcased edition (8 1/2" x 8 1/4"), with a laminated box and a cloth binding on the book

and a 10" x 10" laminated hardcover with jacket.

And a Big Book Edition, 16" x 16" with a trade paper binding.

Boston Globe - David Maloof

The one book that has the most meaning to me.

Green Eggs and Ham or Dr Seusss ABC

Green Eggs and Ham

Author: Dr Seuss

Back in 1957, Theodor Geisel responded to an article in Life magazine that lamented the use of boring reading primers in schools. Using the pseudonym of "Dr. Seuss" (Seuss was Geisel's middle name) and only 223 words, Geisel created a replacement for those dull primers: The Cat in the Hat. The instant success of the book prompted Geisel and his wife to found Beginner Books, and Geisel wrote 44 books in this series. These affordable hardcover books combine large print, easy vocabulary, and large, bright illustrations in stories kids will want to read again and again. Grades 1 - Grades 2.

Dr. Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book

Author: Dr Seuss

With Dr. Seuss as your guide, learning the alphabet is as easy as A, B, C.  

Nubs or The Last Straw

Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine and a Miracle

Author: Brian Dennis

Nubs, an Iraqi dog of war, never had a home or a person of his own. He was the leader of a pack of wild dogs living off the land and barely surviving. But Nubs's life changed when he met Marine Major Brian Dennis. The two formed a fast friendship, made stronger by Dennis's willingness to share his meals, offer a warm place to sleep, and give Nubs the kind of care and attention he had never received before. Nubs became part of Dennis's human "pack" until duty required the Marines to relocate a full 70 miles away--without him. Nubs had no way of knowing that Marines were not allowed to have pets.

So began an incredible journey that would take Nubs through a freezing desert, filled with danger tofind his friend and would lead Dennis on a mission that would touch the hearts of people all over the world.

Nubs and Dennis will remind readers that friendship has the power to cross deserts, continents, and even species.

Publishers Weekly

Larson and Nethery, who collaborated on Two Bobbies, team up with Dennis to tell the moving story of the Marine major’s friendship with a wild dog he befriended at a border fort in Iraq. Dennis named the dog Nubs because his “ears had been cut off to make him a dog of war” (a statement never explained). Though Nubs futilely attempts to follow Dennis when he departs the fort, the two grow closer on subsequent visits, until the dog (now wounded) treks 70 miles through the snow to find Dennis. When the major is ordered to “get rid of the dog, or else,” he raises money to have Nubs transported to his San Diego hometown, where human and dog eventually reunite. Some spreads feel cluttered with narrative passages, e-mail sidebars, and multiple images; the photographs, gleaned from several sources, are of varying quality and resolution (understandable given the circumstances under which most were taken). But these do not diminish the emotional impact of the saga, which should appeal to fans of Owen and Mzee and other stories of animals that triumph against the odds. Ages 3–up. (Nov.)

Kirkus Reviews

Major Dennis discovered Nubs, a mongrel with hacked-off ears, at a border fort in Iraq while serving there in the Marine Corps. Although he visited the fort infrequently and stayed only a few days at a time, Dennis and the feral dog bonded as the soldier shared his food and bed with the loyal animal. Often they even stood guard duty together. One winter day, when the Marines traveled 70 miles north across the frigid desert to headquarters, Nubs followed, arriving there, thin and footsore, two days later. Determined not to leave him behind again, the Marines adopted him, and eventually Dennis raised the money to have Nubs shipped back to America. Few will not be moved by the concluding photograph. Told in brief text augmented by Dennis's facsimile e-mails and illustrated with clear color photos, this story presents a view of the Iraq war that makes it accessible to very young gradeschoolers, a welcome addition to collections serving that audience and especially useful for children of soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Informational picture book. 5-12)

The Last Straw (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series #3)

Author: Jeff Kinney

The highly anticipated third book in the critically acclaimed and bestselling series takes the art of being wimpy to a whole new level.

Let’s face it: Greg Heffley will never change his wimpy ways. Somebody just needs to explain that to Greg’s father. You see, Frank Heffley actually thinks he can get his son to toughen up, and he enlists Greg in organized sports and other “manly” endeavors. Of course, Greg is able to easily sidestep his father’s efforts to change him. But when Greg’s dad threatens to send him to military academy, Greg realizes he has to shape up . . . or get shipped out.

Greg and his family and friends, who make the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books a must-read for middle school readers, are back and at their best in this hilarious new installment of the series, which is sure to please current fans while attracting new ones.

Publishers Weekly-1/19/2009:

The third book in this genre-busting series is certain to enlarge Kinney’s presence on the bestseller lists, where the previous titles have taken up residence for the past two years. Kinney’s spot-on humor and winning formula of deadpan text set against cartoons are back in full force. This time, Greg starts off on New Year’s Day (he resolves to “help other people improve,” telling his mother, “I think you should work on chewing your potato chips more quietly”) and ends with summer vacation. As he fends off his father’s attempts to make him more of a man (the threat of military school looms), Greg’s hapless adventures include handing out anonymous valentines expressing his true feelings (“DearJames, You smell”), attempting to impress his classmate Holly and single-handedly wrecking his soccer team’s perfect season. Kinney allows himself some insider humor as well, with Greg noting the “racket” children’s book authors have going. “All you have to do is make up a character with a snappy name, and then make sure the character learns a lesson at the end of the book.” Greg, self-centered as ever, may be the exception proving that rule. Ages 8–12. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

The third book in this genre-busting series is certain to enlarge Kinney's presence on the bestseller lists, where the previous titles have taken up residence for the past two years. Kinney's spot-on humor and winning formula of deadpan text set against cartoons are back in full force. This time, Greg starts off on New Year's Day (he resolves to "help other people improve," telling his mother, "I think you should work on chewing your potato chips more quietly") and ends with summer vacation. As he fends off his father's attempts to make him more of a man (the threat of military school looms), Greg's hapless adventures include handing out anonymous valentines expressing his true feelings ("Dear James, You smell"), attempting to impress his classmate Holly and single-handedly wrecking his soccer team's perfect season. Kinney allows himself some insider humor as well, with Greg noting the "racket" children's book authors have going. "All you have to do is make up a character with a snappy name, and then make sure the character learns a lesson at the end of the book." Greg, self-centered as ever, may be the exception proving that rule. Ages 8-12.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-8

Greg Heffley's crazy antics continue in this latest installment in the series. Kinney portrays humorous and touching family dynamics between the boy and his competitive father, whom he seems to disappoint numerous times. The fast-paced narrative successfully balances Greg's home and school life, revealing an egocentric yet lovable character. As in the previous books, cartoons and journal entries blend seamlessly to convey Greg's middle school angst. His uncanny ability to fall into amusing predicaments will win even more converts to this popular series. His witty voice coupled with memorable characterization will have this offering flying off the shelves.-Meg Smith, Cumberland County Public Library, Fayetteville, NC