IT'S 1876 AND THE whole country is celebrating the 100th birthday of the United States. The biggest party is in Philadelphia at the World's Fair, where the latest and greatest inventions are on display for all to see. Alexander Graham Bell is headed to the fair to demonstrate his invention - a talking machine he calls the telephone. But will anyone come to see him at the world's most important science fair? And more importantly, will his machine work? This Step 3 reader celebrates the resilient, quirky spirit of inventors.

The four March sisters--Meg, Amy, Beth, and feisty Jo--share the joys and sorrows of growing up while their father is away at war. The family is poor in worldly goods, but rich in love and character.

Seven-year-old Pip is an orphan. He lives with his nasty older sister and works as a blacksmith's apprentice. Pip dreams of a better life, but has no idea how to turn his luck around. Then a mysterious stranger decides to make all of Pip's dreams come true. Pip's lonely life is about to change forever. Will his great expectations be realized? Or will he learn that money and power are worthless without love and friendship?

Grant Wood believed that to be a real artist, he had to live in Paris. But once he got there, he realized that to be a great painter he needed to return to the people and places and even animals that he knew and loved the best.
Inspired by the life of artist Grant Wood, this is the sensitively imagined story of the great American painter and a cow named Tillie. Skillfully mixing fact with fiction, Monica Kulling s text explores the making of an artist, while Sydney Smith s illustrations echo Grant Wood s own techniques. The result is a gently wise picture book that will encourage young...