Instead of dream vacations to Disney World and hotels with swimming pools and water slides, the parents in Travels with My Family insist on obscure destinations in the middle of nowhere. They're determined to go, even if it means hours of dull driving filled with countless back-seat, argument-inducing games of Twenty Questions and out-loud readings of the How to Change a Tire chapter from the owner s manual. But bad as the travel is, it's nothing compared to what happens when they arrive: eating grasshoppers in Mexico, forgetting the tide schedule while collecting sand dollars off the...

Stella s little brother, Sam, wonders whether fairies are invisible. Stella assures him that she has seen hundreds of them and says that if she and Sam venture across the meadow and into the forest, they are likely to find some. So begins another adventure of Stella, the irrepressible redhead, and her slightly apprehensive little brother. But Sam surprises Stella and himself by having a few ideas of his own ideas that ensure a wonderful end to a perfect day in the woods."

In this enchanting picture book, Stella and Sam are spending the day at the beach. Stella has been there before and knows all the sea's secrets, but Sam has many questions. Does a catfish purr? Does a sea horse gallop? Stella has an answer for them all. The only thing she isn't sure of, and neither are we, is whether Sam will ever come into the water. Exquisite watercolors bring a day at the beach alive in this perfect summer story. Gently humorous, Stella, Star of the Sea also captures the special relationship between a young girl and her baby brother -- a responsibility that can be both...

Winter was never so magical as in this marvelous book about Stella and Sam discovering a familiar landscape transformed by a heavy snowfall. Sam makes his very first snowstorm, and, as usual, he has lots of questions: Where do snowmen sleep? Can you eat a snowflake? Do snow angels sing? Older and bolder, Stella knows all the answers, and she delights in showing Sam the many pleasures of a beautiful winter s day. Young readers are enchanted as Stella and Sam build a gigantic snowman, then they go skating and sledding and make beautiful snow angels in a fluffy, white, magical, and wondrous...

When Stella s brother, Sam, cries "Stella Stella Look The sky is on fire " the pair begin a new adventure exploring the wonders of the natural world. A vast, luminous sky, the sun, the stars, and the rising moon form the backdrop for their nocturnal expedition. As they encounter raccoons, fireflies, tree frogs, and bats, Sam wonders if the moon can swim, if the sun wears pajamas, or if he can catch shooting stars with his butterfly net. Stella, as always, has an answer for every question. Marie-Louise Gay delights readers once again with this whimsical, tender, and humorous book that...

When Stella was small she thought she was a turtle, that trees could talk, and that words were like ants running off the pages of her books. She couldn t tie her shoes, but she could survive a wild sandstorm. Marie-Louise Gay has gone back in time to answer the questions often asked by the children who read and love her Stella books. Although she didn t know what she would find when she started to explore Stella s childhood, she soon realized that when Stella was very small, she saw the world in her own unique way with wonder, curiosity and the sense that everything is possible. And when Sam...

Many children want to know where stories come from and how a book is made. Marie-Louise Gay s new picture book provides them with some delightfully inspiring answers though a fictional encounter between an author and some very curious children together they collaborate on writing and illustrating a story. Marie-Louise Gayhas scribbled, sketched, scrawled, doodled, penciled, collaged, and painted the words and pictures of a story-within-a-story that show how brilliant ideas creep up on you when you least expect it and how words sometimes float out of nowhere, asking to be written. Any...

Young Mustafa feels invisible in his adopted home until a "girl-with-a-cat" extends a welcoming hand in this gentle, thoughtful story about coming to feel at home in a new country. Full color.

A collection of three early readers featuring the sublime Princess Pistachio from internationally acclaimed author May, complete with ribbon bookmark, gold foil stamping on the cover, and a reinforced spine. Full color.