 | To Market, To Marketby Anne MirandaTo market, to market to buy a fat pig...and soon a simple trip to the market turns into utter chaos! What's a poor shopper to do when her groceries have a mind of their own? |
Gates of the Windby Kathryn LaskyWhen old Gamma Lee decides to leave the green, peaceful valley where she's lived all of her life, her neighbors think she's crazy. "This is the best place in the world!" they always say. But how can Gamma Lee know it's the best place in the world if she's never been anywhere else? So she packs up her belongings, takes along her faithful mule, and heads up the mountains to a place she has always heard about - the Gates of the Wind. When she finally arrives, Gamma Lee is ready to build a house and settle in - until she meets the mountaintop's only inhabitant, a fierce wind that doesn't want company. It seems as though everything Gamma Lee does is undone by one gust of the meddling wind. How will she manage to make a life for herself and her mule when all the wind wants is to blow them right back down the valley? |  |
 | Tops and BottomsAdapted by Janet StevensBear has lots of money and lots of land - and he's lazy. Hare has nothing but a hungry family - and he's smart. Hare is sure there's a way to share Bear's wealth, so he and Mrs. Hare cook up a plan. The Hare hops down the road to Bear's place and proposes that Bear donate land, Hare handle labor, and they split the crop in half. All Bear has to do is choose the half he wants - tops or bottoms. Sleepy Bear takes tops but finds once the harvest is in that he's been tricked by clever Hare! With roots in European folktales and the slave stories of the American South, Tops & Bottoms celebrates the trickster tradition of beating hardship by using one's wits. And an acre of hilarity tops it all off! |
From Pictures to Words (A Book About Making a Book)by Janet StevensIllustrator Janet Stevens walks into her studio, a cloud of imaginary characters trailing along behind her. "We think it's about time you wrote a story for us," they say. "I draw pictures! I can't write stories," she answers. "You can if you try." So, with the help of the koala, rhinoceros, and the cat that have been in her imagination the longest, Janet creates a story about three animals on a camping trip. She starts with an image, then creates a problem for the animals to solve. She sketches out her ideas before working on a text. The, once she starts writing, she revises until she's happy with the result. She sends the story to her publisher, and the animals get to see a book develop from manuscript to finished book. People approach writing in different ways. Here, they'll see how one artist goes about the creation of a story. They'll learn that for some people, it's easier to go "from pictures to words" than the other way around. They'll discover that it's exciting and rewarding to create a book. |  |