Lisa Wheeler (K-1): One thing Lisa remembers about her childhood in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, was how much she loved books -- even the smell! They didn't have a library in their town, but they had a regular library class in school, where she could check out books. In their home, they only had one children's book. It was called, YOUNG YEARS: Best Loved Stories and Poems for Little Children. Lisa read its cover right off! Her first venture into writing was in fourth grade. She won a Halloween poetry contest. She was so surprised! Lisa wishes she had saved that winning poem, because she has no recollection of what she wrote. Her family moved to Michigan when she was fifteen. She was so shy; she spent her lunch periods in the library, hiding behind a book. Her biggest fear was walking into that giant cafeteria and sitting alone. Eventually, Lisa married and raised three children. As the kids grew older, she started to think about the next phase of her life. She'd worked in various part-time jobs over the years, but there was one thing she'd always wanted to do -- write! In 1995, Lisa began to 'get serious' about writing. It took nearly four years to sell her first children's book. “Writing books for children is definitely a dream come true. I’m doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing with my life. Just like when I was a child in Pennsylvania, I love everything about children's books -- even the smell! Lisa’s latest awards are for Jazz Baby. It was named the 2008 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award Honor Book! It made the 2008 ALA Notable Book List! and it is a 2008 Charlotte Zolotow Highly Commended Title! Read more about Lisa at lisawheelerbooks.com

Lisa Wheeler – Brief Summaries

Avalanche Annie: A Not-So-Tall Tale HC
Age Range 3-7 years
“Way up in Michisota, Annie's famous far and wide, Because she roped an avalanche and took it for a ride.” Told with read-aloud gusto by master rhyme smith Lisa Wheeler and illustrated--with tongue firmly in cheek--by Kurt Cyrus, Avalanche Annie is the wildest, woolliest, most awe-inspiring, and goofiest tall tale since Paul Bunyan hitched up Babe the Blue Ox. Meet mighty Annie Halfpint—a tiny giant of a woman who lasso'd an avalanche and saved a town.
32 pages

Bubblegum, Bubblegum HC
Age Range 3-6 years
Mix together a bunch of wacky animals, add a big chunk of icky-sticky pink bubble gum, catchy rhyme, and zany illustrations and what do you have? A picture book you can't put down! The equally hilarious verse and illustrations build the suspense as animal after animal gets stuck in the gooey mess. What happens when a honking truck heads straight for them? Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum will get kids giggling—and begging for more!
32 pages

Castaway Cats HC
Age Range 4-7 years
A storm, a shipwreck, an ongoing ocean, then finally, finally a deserted isle. . . . Safety -- but wait! The fifteen swimmers braving the waves are, after all . . . kitties. They are not into cooperating until, until on this desert isle they must. A wily, wise saga of sogginess, a feline fantasy about drying off (elegantly), shaping up (grumpily), getting along (at last), and loving it.
32 pages

Christmas Boot HC
Age Range 4-8 years
As Hannah Greyweather walks through the woods, she discovers a black boot. Her feet are cold and, since the owner is nowhere to be found, she sees no harm in trying it on. The boot fits surprisingly well! How nice it would be to have a second boot to warm her other foot . . . and one appears, magically. Toasty mittens and a snug cottage arrive just as mysteriously, making Hannah happy and warm. But one evening, the owner of the boot knocks on her door . . . and wants it back. Will Hannah be able to part with her marvelous find? And who is the bearded stranger at her door?
32 pages

Dino-Hockey HC
Age Range 5-9 years
In a hockey match unrivaled in prehistory, the Meat-Eaters take on the Veggiesaurs. Fans go wild in the stands as T.Rex and Triceratops face off, and the game is off to a rip-roaring start. An assist from Raptor gains the first goal for the Meat-Eaters – but the naughty Pterodactyl twins, playing wingers, earn their team a penalty. The Veggies are quick to take advantage and Diplo scores. A tie game! Join the fans and find out what happens. You'll have a front row seat, so keep an eye on Raptor. Hockey gets him pretty riled up and that’s quite a set of teeth he’s baring…
32 pages

Farmer Dale's Red Pickup Truck HC/PB
Age Range 3-7 years
Farmer Dale is hauling a load of hay into town when, one by one, he meets some bossy barnyard animals looking for a lift. The kindly farmer lets them all squeeze in, but then his trusty truck breaks down and everyone is stranded. That is, until they get over their differences and pull together to get that old red rig moooooving again.
40 pages

Fitch and Chip: New Pig in Town PB
Age Range 6-8 years
Chip is the new pig in class and he notices that Fitch is the only wolf in class. Is Fitch a bad wolf, a werewolf, or just a lone wolf? After their first school day together, Fitch and Chip know one thing is certain -- even if they are really different, they can also be a lot alike, too. Join new friends Fitch and Chip on this first of their humorous and heart-warming adventures. A “Ready to Read” easy reader.
48 pages

Fitch and Chip: When Pigs Fly! PB
Age Range 6-8 years
On Hero Day at school, Fitch decides to dress as his favorite hero: Timberwolf. But the rest of the class dresses up as Hyper Hog. At first Fitch is nervous, but when he and Chip team together to help a little girl, they realize that being a hero is not about what you wear. A “Ready to Read” easy reader.
48 pages

Fitch and Chip: Who's Afraid of Granny Wolf? HC
Age Range 6-8 years
Eager to see all the differences between a wolf's house and a pig's, Chip has dinner with Fitch and his grandmother and, after a few misunderstandings, discovers how much they are the same. A “Ready to Read” easy reader.
48 pages

Fitch and Chip: Invasion of the Pig Sisters HC/PB
Age Range 6-8 years
When Fitch the wolf, who likes to have plans, and Chip the pig, who likes surprises, decide to meet at the playground, their expectations are tested by the presence of Chip's three little sisters. A “Ready to Read” easy reader.
48 pages

Hokey Pokey: Another Prickly Love Story HC
Age Range 3-7 years
Cushion the porcupine loves Barb the hedgehog. Barb loves to dance, but Cushion has two left feet. Even when he tries his best, he always ends up stepping on someone's foot or pricking someone with his quills. How will he ever learn to dance with Barb?
32 pages

Jazz Baby HC
Age Range 6-8 years
With a simple clap of hands, an itty-bitty beboppin' baby gets his whole family singing and dancing. Sister's hands snap. Granny sings scat. Uncle soft-shoes--and Baby keeps the groove. Things start to wind down when Mama and Daddy sing blues so sweet. Now a perfectly drowsy baby sleeps deep, deep, deep.
40 pages

Mammoths on the Move HC
Age Range 4-8 years
The huge prehistoric beasts are introduced in jaunty rhymed couplets as "Fuzzy, shaggy, snarly, snaggy, wonderful woolly mammoths!" Verses with refrains detail the lives and habits of the mammoths as they move south for the winter, having "packed their trunks." As mothers protect their young, they move across the steppes and rivers, past storms and predators, to the snow-free south. Then in the spring they start north again.
32 pages

Old Cricket HC/PB
Age Range 3-6 years
Old Cricket doesn't feel like helping his wife and neighbors to prepare for winter and so he pretends to have all sorts of ailments that require the doctor's care, but hungry Old Crow has other ideas.
32 pages

One Dark Night HC/PB
Age Range 3-7 years
In a wee little house, in a wee little hole, live a wee little mouse and a wee little mole. Their evenings at home are always safe and warm and cozy. Then, one dark night, Mouse and Mole decide to journey to a friend's house for dinner. But when they step outside, SOMETHING is waiting for them. . . .
32 pages

Porcupining: A Prickly Love Story HC
Age Range 3-7 years
A porcupine in a petting zoo? "All the other animals got pats and pets and plenty of hugs. But not Cushion." Tired of the singles life, Cushion grabs his banjo one night and sets off in search of a wife. He attempts to woo cute rabbits, a sow and some beavers with a "sad, sad song," oblivious to the fact that his verses are mildly insulting. Children will cheer when the fellow finally meets the prickly gal of his dreams.
32 pages

Sailor Moo HC
Age Range 3-7 years
Moo dreams of becoming a sailor. Little does she know, when she sets off toward the sea, that the first crew she joins will be composed of cats. Or that she herself will be hailed by a shipload of pirate steers as their captain¹s dairy queen. It's amoozing where a dream can take a girl.
32 pages

Seadogs HC/PB
Age Range 7-10 years
It looks like a graphic novel, but it is really the story of a nautical operetta, complete with a cast of dogs and full of arias by Growlbert and Sullibone. Bracketed by a dog family attending the 1880s theater with their pretty girl puppy, the performance unfolds in frames, full-page illustrations, and sometimes double-page spreads with a glimpse of the audience or orchestra (all dogs). As Old Sea Dog sets sail with his companions Brave Beagle and Dear Dachshund, we're treated to a rousing pirate story complete with a storm at sea, a magical island, and the notorious Captain Jacques Fifi, Terrier of the Sea, with his scruffy horde.!
40 pages

Sixteen Cows HC/PB
Age Range 3-7 years
Cowboy Gene loves his eight cows, and Cowgirl Sue loves her eight cows, and both of them like the fence that keeps their pastures--and cows--apart. But then a tornado blows through and takes the fence with it. The cows are mixed up, and Sue and Gene are in a muddle. Will they ever be able to figure out whose cows are whose? An all-singing, all-dancing, hard-riding, and high-romancing story of a lasso-tossin' cowgirl, a tough-as-jerky cowboy, and the two herds of do-si-do-ing, polka-prancing, high-stepping heifers that bring them together.
32 pages

Turk and Runt PB
Age Range 4-7 years
Turk's parents are proud of him, the biggest, strongest, most graceful bird at Wishbone Farm. "He's a dancer," says his mother. "He's an athlete," says his father. "He's a goner," says his little brother, Runt. But no one ever listens to Runt -- even after people with seasonal plans and roasting pans begin showing up at Wishbone Farm, or even after the juiciest turkeys are chosen, one by one. "Chosen for what?" Turk asks. No one wants to hear Runt's answer. But you will laugh at what he has to do to get his family's attention. They are, after all, turkeys.
32 pages

Where, Oh Where, Is Santa Claus? HC Age Range 3-7 years It's a typical Christmas Eve at the North Pole. That is, until Santa suddenly disappears! Luckily, his polar pals are on the case. But will the furry friends rescue dear old Santa before it's too late for him to make his special deliveries?
32 pages

Wool Gathering HC
Age Range 3-6 years
When the sheep family gets together, even the odd relatives are welcome! Once a year they gather -- Woolverton, Little Bo Sheep, Felice, Uncle Abe Ram, and the rest of the fleecy flock. It's baa-dminton here, sheep dipping there, brunching and lunching everywhere. It's kissing and hugging for each little lambly in this wild and woolly close-knit fambly. Aren't you excited to be invited?
32 pages

Laurie Keller (2-3):   When Laurie was growing up in Muskegon, Michigan, She entertained herself for hours at a time doing art -- drawing, painting, sculpting clay - She loved all of it. By the age of nine, She kept a sketchbook of her drawings -- Her most prized possession at the time. “I was "passionate about my art" and felt I should therefore become a real artist one day.” Laurie was sidetracked in college, taking classes in education and dancing and performing with the college’s repertory dance tour company. It wasn’t until 5 years later that she attended an art show at Kendall College of Art and Design that she realized that she could make a career using her art skills. After graduating she went to work for Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, Missouri, as a greeting card artist. During the seven-and-a-half years she was there, she grew artistically, and frequently got the chance to write and create her own cards. She discovered that illustration and writing went hand in hand. Lisa had always liked writing stories as a kid, but had no formal training as a writer. She also became a collector of children's books, and dreamt one day doing her own. To make a long story short . . . her dream came true! “I feel so blessed to be able to illustrate and write for a living. It's what I would spend my days doing whether I got paid for it or not. I've met so many amazing people along the way and meeting kids at bookstore signings and school talks has been the highlight of it all.” Laurie’s website lauriekeller.com

Laurie Keller – Brief Summaries

Arnie, the Doughnut HC
Age Range 5-8 years
At first glance, Arnie looks like an average doughnut—round, cakey, with a hole in the middle, iced and sprinkled. He was made by one of the best bakeries in town, and admittedly his sprinkles are candy-colored. Still, a doughnut is just a doughnut, right? WRONG! Not if Arnie has anything to say about it. And, for a doughnut, he sure seems to have an awful lot to say. Can Arnie change the fate of all doughnuts—or at least have a hand in his own future? Well, you’ll just have to read this funny story and find out for yourself.
40 pages

Do Unto Otters HC
Age Range 5-8 years
Mr. Rabbit’s new neighbors are Otters. OTTERS! But he doesn’t know anything about Otters. Will they get along? Will they be friends? Just treat otters the same way you’d like them to treat you, advises wise Mr. Owl. And so begins Mr. Rabbit’s reflection on good manners. In her smart, quirky style Laurie Keller highlights how to be a good friend and neighbor—just follow the Golden Rule!
40 pages

Grandpa Gazillion's Number Yard HC
Age Range 4-8 years
Don't you hate when your eyebrows fall into your soup? Dig them out with a SIX—it's a great eyebrow scoop! If you thought that numbers were only for counting—think again! At Grandpa Gazillion's Number Yard, numbers have all sorts of uses that can come in handy. For instance, a two can be used as a saxophone, a ten makes a great pogo stick, and a fourteen is a terrific sailboat. So head over to Grandpa Gazillion's Number Yard and stock up on numbers, because you never know when you just might need them!
32 pages

Open Wide: Tooth School Inside HC/PB
Age Range 5-10 years
It's time for tooth school and Dr. Flossman’s excited to meet the new class of 32--eight incisors, four canines, eight premolars, and twelve molars, including the four wisdom teeth. There's so much to learn-- brushing and flossing, dentin and pulp and every student's nightmare: tooth decay! Best read with a toothbrush in hand, this hilarious book is full of interesting facts (for instance, George Washington's teeth were not made of wood, despite popular belief) and a classroom full of quirky characters. Readers will laugh their way to appreciation for those pearly whites that beckon them to brush. And from there it's just a short hop to flossing.
40 pages

Scrambled States of America HC/PB
Age Range 5-9 years
At the first annual "states party," Virginia and Idaho hatch a plan to swap spots so each can see another part of the country. Before the party is over, all the states decide to switch places. At first, every state is happy in its new location, but soon things start to go wrong. Florida, who switches spots with Minnesota, is freezing in the frosty northern climate. Minnesota hasn't brought sunscreen and is getting an awful sunburn. Will the states ever unscramble themselves and return to their proper places? This quirky story starring all fifty states is full of introductory facts and silly antics that make learning geography as much fun as taking a vacation.
32 pages

Stinky Thinking: The Big Book of Gross Games and Brain Teasers PB
Age Range 6-10 years
Do you find that you don't really care how long it takes a train to travel from New York City to Chicago? Now, if the question was how long it takes spit from a sneeze to travel from one city to the other, wouldn't that be a bit more exciting? In this book by Alan Katz, Dr. Mortimer Gross thinks so. He has created a special learning program that will exercise those brain cells, but instead of using buttons, apples, or pennies as examples, students get to count, look for, and spell boogers, farts, and freckles. Here are his best games, puzzles, and problems. They're as challenging as any problem with trains, but way more fun!
112 pages

Toys!: Amazing Stories behind Some Great Inventions HC
Age Range 8-12 years
Don Wulffson shares the stories behind classic and commercial toy inventions such as Legos, Mr. Potato Head, Raggedy Ann, toy soldiers, Twister, checkers, and remote control cars. Readers will discover that some of the most popular creations were the products of experiments gone awry, thus providing a lesson in persistence, surprise outcomes, and creative thinking. Several pages of history are provided for each plaything, followed by bulleted trivia, such as "The ingredient that gives Play-Doh its distinctive aroma is vanilla." Laurie Keller's clever black-and-white cartoons add humor to the already-engaging text.
144 pages

Gary D. Schmidt (4-5):   Gary grew up in a Long Island suburb, where he crouched under his desk during atomic bomb alerts, heard powerful voices speaking out against the Vietnam War, memorized Shakespeare, and pounded erasers against brick walls at school. Gary now lives with his wife and six children on a one-hundred-fifty-year old farm in Alto, Michigan where he splits wood, plants gardens, writes, feeds the wild cats that drop by and wishes that sometimes the sea breeze came that far inland. He is a professor of English at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He says about his writing for children - “I suppose that the big reason I write for young readers is that I am fascinated by the moment in a kid’s life when they decide that they will take responsibility for a decision - when the child says, ‘I make the call here, me.’ It's the message a child has to get — that there's a moment when you have to become your own person." Gary’s book, Wednesday Wars was named a 2008 Newberry Honor Book and he was similarly honored in 2005 for Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy.

D. Schmidt– Brief Summaries

Anson's Way HC
Age Range 9-14 years
It is the mid-eighteenth century, and young British subject Anson Granville Staplyton has traveled to Ireland, where his regiment has been sent to keep the king's peace. Anson has waited all his life for the day he would follow his father to serve His Majesty in the Staffordshire Fencibles. But the young drummer's notions of glory are shaken when he witnesses the violent injustices thrust upon the Irish people. Anson is torn even further when he meets an Irish hedge master who secretly teaches children the lilting language and history of their won country-lessons that it is Anson's duty to silence. Torn between family honor and his ever-changing sense of justice, Anson struggles to choose his own way in beautiful yet turbulent Ireland. Gary D. Schmidt , New York Times
224 pages

The Blessing of the Lord HC
Age Range 8-12 years
Full of drama and wonder, these retellings of favorite Bible stories will fire a child’s imagination about the people of the Bible and the God who worked in their lives. From Adam and Eve, Moses, Little Samuel, and mighty Samson to Peter, the ten lepers, and the Samaritan woman, these stories explore the very human characters who are transformed by their extraordinary encounters with a mighty God. Dramatic, full-color paintings bring rich visual imagery to each story in this book that the whole family will enjoy.
160 pages

First Boy HC
Age Range 10-14 years
Political intrigue meets small-town New Hampshire in this story of identity, perseverance and love. Cooper Jewett works hard on the dairy farm where he lives with his grandfather. But it's the only life he knows and a life he loves. When his beloved grandfather dies, leaving him alone, Cooper intends to keep the farm running, remembering his grandfather's phrase of fondness for him, "You're my first boy, Cooper, my first boy." But keeping up with school, milking, chores and cross country practice is running Cooper ragged. And when a local senator comes campaigning through town, along with the U.S. President, a mystery begins to unfold, and it turns out that "first boy" may have more than one meaning. CAUTION:This book touches on the idea that the main character may be the illegitimate child of the president.
208 pages

The Great Stone Face PB
Age Range 6-9 years
"Do you know the prophecy?" asked Pastor Hooper. Ethan nodded. "Someone will be born hereabouts who will look just like the Great Stone Face, and he will be the noblest person of his time." Ethan grows up in the shadow of The Great Stone Face. With everyone else in his village, he waits and wonders who will fulfill the prophecy. One by one, men of wealth and power are believed to be the likeness of the Great Stone Face, but as the years go by each one disappoints. Ethan begins to believe the prophecy will not be fulfilled in his lifetime, until a young child, seeing more deeply than all the rest, reveals the truth 32 pages

John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress HC
Age Range 10 & up
This masterly rendition of Bunyan's 17th-century allegory issues a welcome invitation to visit this classic. While Schmidt modifies the vocabulary for a modern-day audience, he takes pains to preserve the spirit and artistry of the original text. His language is accessible if not invariably contemporary, as he tells how Christian leaves the City of Destruction in search of the Heavenly Palaces. His run-ins with an assortment of unsavory characters, monsters, seers and benevolent guides are brilliantly depicted in Moser's watercolor illustrations, which mirror the agelessness of Bunyan's moral.
76 pages

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy HC/PB
Age Range 9-12 years
Not only is Turner Buckminster the son of the new minister in a small Maine town, he is shunned for playing baseball differently than the local boys. Then he befriends smart and lively Lizzie Bright Griffin, a girl from Malaga Island, a poor community founded by former slaves. Lizzie shows Turner a new world along the Maine coast from digging clams to rowing a boat next to a whale. When the powerful town elders, including Turner’s father, decide to drive the people off the island to set up a tourist business, Turner stands alone against them. He and Lizzie try to save her community, but there’s a terrible price to pay for going against the tide.
224 pages

Straw Into Gold HC Age Range 9-11 years What might have happened if the Miller's daughter had not been able to guess Rumplestiltskin's name and her child had been carried off by the little man? That is the premise of this magical fantasy. Young Tousle, making his way to Wolverham for his first visit to the city with his Da, is caught in a web of mystery when he comes to the aid of a blind boy, Innes. Challenged by the king to solve the riddle, "what fills a hand fuller than a skein of gold," Tousle has seven days to find the answer or forfeit his life. With only Innes as his companion, Tousle sets off on a journey fraught with danger and setback. Through the dark woods and over a frozen river the pair make their way to the queen, all the while pursued by the king's men and aided only by magic and a few hardy souls loyal to the queen. Along the way the two boys form a unique bond and discover just which of them is the king's true heir.
176 pages

The Wednesday Wars HC Age Range 9-12 years Meet Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High, who must spend Wednesday afternoons with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, while the rest of the class has religious instruction. Mrs. Baker doesn't like Holling—he's sure of it. Why else would she make him read the plays of William Shakespeare outside class? But everyone has bigger things to worry about, like Vietnam. His father wants Holling and his sister to be on their best behavior: the success of his business depends on it. But how can Holling stay out of trouble when he has so much to contend with? A bully demanding cream puffs; angry rats; and a baseball hero signing autographs the very same night Holling has to appear in a play in yellow tights! As fate sneaks up on him again and again, Holling finds Motivation—the Big M—in the most unexpected places and musters up the courage to embrace his destiny, in spite of himself.
264 pages

William Bradford: Plymouth's Faithful Pilgrim PB Age Range 10-14 years Near starvation. Scurvy, tuberculosis, and pneumonia. Bitter cold. Daily deaths. This was the Pilgrims’ first winter in Plymouth Colony. But thanks in large part to William Bradford, the colonists survived—and went on to celebrate the following year what we call Thanksgiving. William Bradford came to the New World with the other Pilgrims in search of religious freedom. With great faith in God and in his own abilities, he established a stable colony, doing his best to be just and fair to his fellow colonists as well as to the Native Americans living in the area. After he became governor of the colony, he was reelected more than thirty times. Filled with maps, paintings, and historical illustrations, this fascinating biography by Gary Schmidt introduces readers to the dramatic story of the founder of Plymouth Colony.
200 pages