Thanksgiving Holiday Closings

All Rock Island Library buildings will close at 6pm Wednesday, Nov. 27, and remain closed Thursday and Friday, Nov. 28 & 29, for the Thanksgiving holiday. Library2Go routes are also cancelled. 

Stay in touch with our digital services and PrairieCat app! All locations reopen on Saturday, Nov. 20 with normal 10am to 2 pm hours. 

Recommended Reads Books (List)

Category
Audience
Tags

Nights with a Cat, Vol. 1

Kyuryu Z

When Fuuta comes home tired at night, all he wants to do is spend time with his sister's cat, Kyuruga. So many of the mysterious habits and mannerisms of house cats--from the surprising array of shapes Kyuruga likes to twist into, to the bizarre challenge of getting a good photo of him, to his lightning-fast mood changes--are carefully reproduced in this relaxed and cute comedy about living with an adorable furball!

View Details >>

To Your Eternity 1

Yoshitoki Oima

A new manga from the creator of the acclaimed A Silent Voice, featuring intimate, emotional drama and an epic story spanning time and space...

A lonely boy wandering the desolate tundra meets a wolf, and the two become fast friends, depending on each other to survive the harsh environment. But the boy has a history, and the wolf is more than meets the eye as well... To Your Eternity is a totally unique and moving manga about death, life, reincarnation, and the nature of love.

View Details >>

Batman: Noel

Lee Bermejo

#1 NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller

Inspired by Charles Dickens' immortal classic A Christmas Carol, BATMAN: NOEL features different interpretations of The Dark Knight, along with his enemies and allies, in different eras.

Along the way, Batman must come to terms with his past, present and future as he battles villains from the campy 1960s to dark and brooding menaces of today, while exploring what it means to be the hero that he is. Members of Batman's supporting cast enact roles analogous to those from A Christmas Carol, with Robin, Catwoman, Superman, The Joker and more playing roles that will be familiar to anyone who knows Dickens' original holiday tale.

View Details >>

Greenglass House

Kate Milford

New York Times Bestseller
National Book Award Nominee
Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery



It's wintertime at Greenglass House. The creaky smuggler's inn is always quiet during this season, and twelve-year-old Milo, the innkeepers' adopted son, plans to spend his holidays relaxing. But on the first icy night of vacation, out of nowhere, the guest bell rings. Then rings again. And again. Soon Milo's home is bursting with odd, secretive guests, each one bearing a strange story that is somehow connected to the rambling old house. As objects go missing and tempers flare, Milo and Meddy, the cook's daughter, must decipher clues and untangle the web of deepening mysteries to discover the truth about Greenglass House--and themselves.

View Details >>

What If? 2

Randall Munroe

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

An NPR Best Book of 2022

"The questions throughout What If? 2 are equal parts brilliant, gross, and wonderfully absurd and the answers are thorough, deeply researched, and great fun. . . . Science isn’t easy, but in Munroe’s capable hands, it surely can be fun." —TIME

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of What If? and How To answers more of the weirdest questions you never thought to ask

 
The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the Moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone’s freezer door at the same time? Maybe it’s time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist.

Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Munroe consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airliner catapult–design to answer his readers’ questions, clearly and concisely, with illuminating and occasionally terrifying illustrations. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances.

View Details >>

Long Live the Pumpkin Queen

Shea Ernshaw


**THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**

Read Sally's story in this young adult companion to Tim Burton'sThe Nightmare Before Christmas written by New York Times best-selling author Shea Ernshaw.

Jack and Sally are "truly meant to be" ... or are they?

Sally Skellington is the official, newly-minted Pumpkin Queen after a whirlwind courtship with her true love, Jack, who Sally adores with every inch of her fabric seams-- if only she could say the same for her new role as Queen of Halloween Town. Cast into the spotlight and tasked with all sorts of queenly duties, Sally can't help but wonder if all she's done is trade her captivity under Dr. Finkelstein for a different cage. But when Sally and Zero accidentally uncover a long-hidden doorway to an ancient realm called Dream Town, she'll unknowingly set into motion a chain of sinister events that put her future as Pumpkin Queen, and the future of Halloween Town itself, into jeopardy. Can Sally discover what it means to be true to herself and save the town she's learned to call home, or will her future turn into her worst... well, nightmare?

 

View Details >>

What If?

Randall Munroe

From the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask

 

Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have an enormous, dedicated following, as do his deeply researched answers to his fans' strangest questions.

 

 

The queries he receives range from merely odd to downright diabolical:

 

 

• What if I took a swim in a spent-nuclear-fuel pool?

 

• Could you build a jetpack using downward-firing machine guns?

 

• What if a Richter 15 earthquake hit New York City?

 

• Are fire tornadoes possible?

 

 

His responses are masterpieces of clarity and wit, gleefully and accurately explaining everything from the relativistic effects of a baseball pitched at near the speed of light to the many horrible ways you could die while building a periodic table out of all the actual elements.

 

 

The book features new and never-before-answered questions, along with the most popular answers from the xkcd website.What If? is an informative feast for xkcd fans and anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical.

View Details >>

His Dark Materials

Philip Pullman

HIS DARK MATERIALS IS NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SERIES STARRING DAFNE KEEN, RUTH WILSON, JAMES McAVOY, AND LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA!

The only hardcover omnibus of the best-selling and award-winning fantasy trilogy.


Philip Pullman's trilogy is a masterpiece that transcends genre and appeals to readers of all ages. His heroine, Lyra, is an orphan living in a parallel universe in which science, theology, and magic are entwined. The epic story that takes us through the three novels is not only a spellbinding adventure featuring armored polar bears, magical devices, witches, and daemons, it is also an audacious and profound reimagining of Milton's Paradise Lost that has already inspired a number of serious books of literary criticism. Like J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis before him, Pullman has invented a richly detailed and marvelously imagined world, complex and thought-provoking enough to enthrall adults as well as younger readers. An utterly entrancing blend of metaphysical speculation and bravura storytelling, His Dark Materials is a monumental and enduring achievement.

Don't miss Philip Pullman's epic new trilogy set in the world of His Dark Materials!
** THE BOOK OF DUST **
La Belle Sauvage—now in paperback
The Secret Commonwealth—available now

View Details >>

Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold

Joyce Sidman

Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold summons forth the charms and dictates of winter. Just as Joyce Sidman captured the drama of the pond inSong of the Water Boatman and the night woods in Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night, here she captures the drama of the cold.

 

Why don't snakes freeze to death?

 

How does the tiny honeybee survive frost?

Learn about the secret lives of animals happening under the snow and how it buds to spring!

View Details >>

Santa Clauses

Robert Raczka

"December 1: White envelopes float / from my overfilled mailbox? / December's first storm." You know that Santa can fly a sleigh, squeeze down chimneys, and circle the globe in a night. But did you know that another of his talents is writing haiku? These twenty-five short poems?composed by Santa himself?give you a peek into life at the North Pole as the December days tick down to Christmas. See the hustle and bustle of the elves' workshop, feel the serenity of moonlight on fresh snow, and find out how Santa and Mrs. Claus keep busy as Santa's big night draws near.

View Details >>

The Secret Life of a Snowflake

Kenneth Libbrecht

Before a snowflake melts on your tongue, it makes an epic journey. This is the beautiful, full-color story of that journey, step by step, from a single snowflake’s creation in the clouds, through its fall to earth, to its brief and sparkling appearance on a child’s mitten. Told by a scientist who knows snowflakes better than almost anyone, the story features his brilliant photographs of real snowflakes, snowflakes forming (in the author’s lab), water evaporating, clouds developing, ice crystals, rain, dew, and frost--all the elements of the world and weather that add up, flake by flake, to the white landscape of winter. Aimed at readers from 6 to 12, The Secret Life of a Snowflake gets to the heart of one of nature’s most magical phenomena while making the wonder of the snowflake all the more real.

View Details >>

Breadcrumbs

Anne Ursu

A stunning modern-day fairy tale from acclaimed author Anne Ursu

Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. But that was before he stopped talking to her and disappeared into a forest with a mysterious woman made of ice. Now it's up to Hazel to go in after him. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a story of the struggle to hold on, and the things we leave behind.

View Details >>

Sunlight on the Snow Leopard

Mary Pope Osborne

The #1 bestselling Magic Tree House series is ready to whisk you away through time with Jack and Annie--this time to the snowy mountains of Nepal!

The magic tree house has whisked Jack and Annie to the Himalayas in Nepal. They’re searching for the mysterious Gray Ghost. Well, they’re supposed to be. Jack does not want to find a ghost. But he and Annie are excited about all the amazing animals they see. So excited, in fact, that Annie and Jack get lost in the mountains! Can they make their way to safety before the Gray Ghost finds them?


Did you know that there's a Magic Tree House book for every kid?
Magic Tree House: Perfect for readers who are just beginning chapter books
Merlin Missions: More challenging adventures for the experienced reader
Fact Trackers: Nonfiction companions to your favorite Magic Tree House adventures

If you're looking for Merlin Mission #36: Blizzard of the Blue Moon, it was renumbered as part of the rebrand in 2017 as Merlin Mission #8.

View Details >>

Blizzard of the Blue Moon

Mary Pope Osborne

The #1 bestselling chapter book series of all time celebrates 25 years with new covers and a new, easy-to-use numbering system!

Jack and Annie must rescue a beautiful magical creature—the unicorn. But when they land in New York City during the Depression of the 1930s, Jack and Annie are confused. Where will they find a unicorn in a big city?

Formerly numbered as Magic Tree House #36, the title of this book is now Magic Tree House Merlin Mission #8: Blizzard of the Blue Moon.

Did you know that there’s a Magic Tree House book for every kid?

Magic Tree House: Adventures with Jack and Annie, perfect for readers who are just beginning chapter books
Merlin Missions: More challenging adventures for the experienced reader
Super Edition: A longer and more dangerous adventure
Fact Trackers: Nonfiction companions to your favorite Magic Tree House adventures

Have more fun with Jack and Annie at MagicTreeHouse.com!

View Details >>

The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Official Cookbook & Entertaining Guide

Kim Laidlaw

Brimming with scary good fun, Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Official Cookbook & Entertaining Guide has everything you need to plan the perfect party. Is it Halloween? Christmas? Your birthday? No matter the occasion, this book will help you take your next dinner or event from routine to inspired - with a little help from Jack Skellington, Sally, Sandy Claws, and all their friends in Halloween Town.

Discover over fifty mouthwatering recipes for appetizers, entrees, desserts, and drinks inspired by the movie, as well as detailed instructions for four complete The Nightmare Before Christmas-themed parties. Each party includes creative crafts for DIY decorations, amusing activities, frightful favors, and more. Bursting with vibrant photography and free downloadable templates for invitations, decorations, and games and crafts, this book will make every party frighteningly fun.

View Details >>

A Partridge in a Pear Tree

Kerry Lord

For this cheerful collection of projects, Kerry Lord takes inspiration from beloved Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas." You'll crochet your way through each verse to create a flock of feathered friends, including a hen, a goose, and of course, a partridge. Beginner-friendly tutorials will help you pick up the essential techniques in a snap, while whimsical character bios for each personality-packed bird will make you chuckle. Your finished creations will be a winning addition to any Christmas tree and are sure to delight anyone who finds them in a stocking. All patterns are written with US crochet terms.

View Details >>

DIY Watercolor Christmas

Ingrid Sanchez

Learn the materials and equipment you need for watercolor painting and how to create both traditional and contemporary color palettes for Christmas, and then learn a range of watercolor techniques including washes, blending and gradation, plus experimental ideas to try such as using salt, bleach and masking fluid in your work.

Twelve creative projects follow, with step-by-step tutorials so that even beginners to watercolor can jump right in. Learn how to paint your own Christmas cards, gift tags and gift boxes, create seasonal table settings, hand painted Christmas crackers and garlands.

View Details >>

Making Christmas Bright With Papercrafts

Alice Hornecke

Christmas is an ideal time to get in the spirit of the season by creating festive decorations and gifts with a personal touch. This delightful collection of 43 unique papercraft projects will get everyone in a festive mood with its decorative suggestions for the home and the holiday table, Christmas tree ornaments, handmade gifts, and much more. This volume abounds in photos, templates, and easy-to-follow instructions for everything from a beautiful origami wreath to cut-out snowflakes, place-setting accessories, gift-wrapping accents, and an Advent candle holder. Each project is accompanied by helpful tips as well as a list of materials and measurements. The splendid variety of options make this the perfect guide and resource for papercrafters at every level of experience.

View Details >>

Sewing Cozy Craft Projects

Olesya Lebedenko

A completely one-of-a-kind project guide to creating charming handmade gifts and keepsakes made from fabric! Sewing Cozy Craft Projects features 3 adorable bear designs to create a collection of unique projects, including patchwork quilt blocks, ornaments, treat bags, gift tags, mini boxes, and more. Using various techniques - from embroidery, felting, and sewing to applique, patchwork, and more - this must-have guide is the perfect way to learn and build new crafting skills while making fabric postcards and gifts like you've never seen before! Fun to make and simple to send, try new quilting and sewing techniques, then mail your loved ones what you make! 

View Details >>

Country Living Christmas at Home

Valerie Rains

Country Living knows how to make Christmas memorable, and that's why this spectacular book will become your new go-to resource every year. It's filled with more than 200 beautiful decorating ideas, recipes, and crafts, plus tips galore. Stunning photos show festive table settings; splendidly decorated trees; fun and easy Christmas projects, from wreaths to no-sew stockings; gifts from the kitchen; and gourmet-worthy recipes like Turkey Roulade with Sausage-Cornbread Filling, Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes, Slow-Cooker Apple Cider, and sweet treats like Red Velvet Snowballs and Chocolate & Cranberry Fudge.

View Details >>

Handknit Holidays

Melanie Falick

This volume presents top knitwear designers from the United States, Canada, Belgium, and Australia sharing their unique Christmas, Hanukah, and winter solstice gift-giving, decorating, dress-up projects, and a few favorite holiday traditions. This book provides a collection of a range of super-quick projects for the last-minute holiday rush.

View Details >>

Country Living Christmas Joys

Country Living

Make this Christmas the best and brightest yet, with hundreds of gorgeous decorating ideas and delicious recipes. From holiday house tours and ways to deck the halls to handmade gifts and festive feasts, this beautiful book will help you celebrate Christmas in Country Living style. Create stunning wreaths, turn saltshakers into sparkling snow globes, craft Advent calendars from tiny envelopes, bake gourmet-store-worthy cookies, and more to make a truly happy holiday.

View Details >>

A Very Merry Paper Christmas

Lark Crafts

It's the most wonderful time of the year - so celebrate in style with your own festive, homemade paper crafts. From wreaths and buntings to table settings, tree toppers, and ornaments, this collection of 25 projects offers a bounty of decorative items for a beautiful holiday. Created by some of the best crafters on Etsy, they all use straightforward techniques like cutting, folding, stapling, and taping, and include templates to guide you and plenty of helpful how-to illustrations.

View Details >>

Twisted Tea Christmas

Laura Childs

Tea maven Theodosia Browning and her tea sommelier, Drayton Conneley, are catering a Victorian Christmas party at a swanky mansion in downtown Charleston. Drucilla Heyward, the hostess, is one of the wealthiest women in town.

As the champagne flows and the tea steeps, Drucilla is so pleased with the reception by her partygoers that she reveals her secret plan to Theodosia. The Grande Dame has brought the cream of Charleston society together to reveal that she is planning to give her wealth away to various charitable organizations. However, before she can make the announcement, Theodosia finds her crumpled unconscious in the hallway. It looks like the excitement has gotten to the elderly woman - except that there is a syringe sticking out of her neck.

View Details >>

Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas

Stephanie Barron

Christmas Eve, 1814: Jane Austen has been invited to spend the holiday with family and friends at The Vyne, the gorgeous ancestral home of the wealthy and politically prominent Chute family. As the year fades and friends begin to gather beneath the mistletoe for the twelve days of Christmas festivities, Jane and her circle are in a celebratory mood: Mansfield Park is selling nicely; Napoleon has been banished to Elba; British forces have seized Washington, DC; and on Christmas Eve, John Quincy Adams signs the Treaty of Ghent, which will end a war nobody in England really wanted.

Jane, however, discovers holiday cheer is fleeting. One of the Yuletide revelers dies in a tragic accident, which Jane immediately views with suspicion. If the accident was in fact murder, the killer is one of Jane's fellow snow-bound guests. With clues scattered amidst cleverly crafted charades, dark secrets coming to light during parlor games, and old friendships returning to haunt the Christmas parties, whom can Jane trust to help her discover the truth and stop the killer from striking again?

View Details >>

Aunt Dimity and the Heart of Gold

Nancy Atherton

It's almost Christmas in the small English village of Finch - and everyone is sick. Though many of the villagers regretfully decline their invitations to Emma Harris's annual Christmas bash, Lori Shepherd has no intention of missing it. When the winter weather takes a turn for the worse, it's agreed that none of the guests will leave until morning. There's general merriment as the Christmas party becomes a pajama party - until a car appears in the winding driveway and promptly slides off the slick pavement and into a ditch.

Matilda "Tilly" Trout - a lost and scatterbrained, middle-aged woman - is mercifully unhurt and invited to stay the night. While she catches her breath, Emma asks her other guests if they would like a tour of the Manor - including an odd room that puzzles her. Several guests put forth guesses as to its purpose, but it's Tilly who correctly identifies the room as a chapel. Placing a palm on one of the ornately-carved panels, Tilly finds a hidden compartment concealing a pile of glittering treasure - including an exquisitely decorated heart made of solid gold. Where did it come from, and why does it look so different from everything else in the chapel? Why didn't Emma even know about this hidden compartment in her own home until now - and how did Tilly?

View Details >>

Antiques Ho-Ho-Homicides

Barbara Allan

To Brandy Borne and her ditzy diva mother, homicide in small-town Serenity is the gift that keeps on taking. But murder turns merry as Brandy and Vivian gather collectible clues in a wintry workshop, seek the grinch who dimmed a pageant star's twinkle, and bag the humbug helper who snuffed a sidewalk Santa. Aided by Sushi, their elfin shih tzu, our seasonal sleuths crumble a bountiful batch of Christmas crookies. And though suspects may show bad will, and good cheer seems in short supply, this collection of Trash 'n' Treasures holiday homicides sparkles as the Borne girls wrap up three frolicsome felonies.

View Details >>

Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge

Laura Levine

Freelance writer Jaine Austen is feeling festive about spending Christmas house-sitting at a posh Bel Air mansion, accompanied by her friend Lance and her cat, Prozac. But when a grumpy neighbor gets himself iced, she'll have to find the culprit or she may spend the New Year in jail . . .

Scotty Parker is a former child star who once played Tiny Tim, but now he's grown up into the role of neighborhood Scrooge. He cuts the wires on his neighbors' Christmas lights and tells local kids that Santa had a stroke. And his miserly, bah-humbug attitude lasts year-round - a fact known all too well by his current wife, his ex-wife, his maid, and many more.

Scotty thinks he can stage a comeback with the screenplay he's working on (The Return of Tiny Tim: Vengeance Is Mine!), and Jaine's been reluctantly helping him edit it. So when Scotty is bludgeoned with a frozen chocolate yule log and the police start making a list of suspects and checking it twice, Jaine's name is unfortunately included. True, she's been under some stress, with Lance trying to set her up on dates and her fickle feline taking a sudden liking to someone else - but she's not guilty of murder. Now she just has to prove it, by using her gift for detection and figuring out who committed this holiday homicide.

View Details >>

Murder in Her Stocking

G. A. McKevett

Christmas has arrived in sleepy McGill, Georgia, but holiday cheer can't keep temperamental Stella Reid from swinging a rolling pin at anyone who crosses her bad side - and this season, there are plenty. First an anonymous grinch vandalizes a celebrated nativity display. Far worse, the scandalous Prissy Carr is found dead in an alley behind a tavern. With police puzzled over the murder, Stella decides to stir the local gossip pot for clues on the culprit's identity...

Turns out Prissy held a prominent spot on the naughty list, and suspects pile up like presents on Christmas morning. Unfortunately, the more progress Stella makes, the more fears she must confront. With a neighbor in peril and the futures of her beloved grandchildren at risk, Stella must somehow set everything straight and bring a cunning criminal to justice before December 25th...

View Details >>

Let It Snow

Nancy Thayer

Christina Antonioni is preparing for the holidays at her Nantucket toy shop, unpacking last-minute shipments and decorating for her loyal Christmas shoppers. But when her Scrooge of a landlord, Oscar Bittlesman, raises her rent, it seems nearly impossible for Christina to continue business on the wharf.

Even so, Christina hopes there is a warm heart underneath Oscar’s steely exterior. When she bonds with Wink, his sweet, young granddaughter who frequents the shop, it becomes clear that perhaps he isn’t so cold after all. And with the help of Wink’s uncle, who happens to be a charming and very handsome bachelor, this may be the best Christmas any of them could have ever imagined.

View Details >>

A Lot Like Christmas

Jennifer Snow

For Jessica Connolly, there is no better place than her coastal hometown of Blue Moon Bay. She has a wonderful family, supportive best friends, and a successful bakery on Main Street. Unfortunately, every time she designs one of her ex-boyfriends' wedding cakes, she's reminded just how unlucky she is with love...and that she's a good luck charm for men to find their happily ever after. With someone else. The minute they break up. So she's done with love.

Dr. Mitch Jameson is more comfortable traveling the world with Doctors Without Borders than staying in one place. He just needs to survive the holidays in his small hometown before he can leave again. The beautiful, intriguing bakery owner with an aversion to dating might be just who he needs to occupy his restless heart.

From sipping hot chocolates at the local festival of lights to early morning dessert deliveries, Jessica and Mitch rediscover the spirit of the holidays. But when the 25 days of Christmas are over, will their romance be over, too?

View Details >>

Snow

John Banville

Detective Inspector St. John Strafford has been summoned to County Wexford to investigate a murder. A parish priest has been found dead in Ballyglass House, the family seat of the aristocratic, secretive Osborne family.

The year is 1957 and the Catholic Church rules Ireland with an iron fist. Strafford - flinty, visibly Protestant and determined to identify the murderer - faces obstruction at every turn, from the heavily accumulating snow to the culture of silence in the tight-knit community he begins to investigate.

As he delves further, he learns the Osbornes are not at all what they seem. And when his own deputy goes missing, Strafford must work to unravel the ever-expanding mystery before the community's secrets, like the snowfall itself, threaten to obliterate everything.

View Details >>

Best in Snow

David Rosenfelt

Christmas has come early to the town of Paterson, New Jersey, in the form of a snowstorm that dumps two feet of snow on the ground. Lawyer Andy Carpenter likes snow - white Christmas and all that - but it can cause problems for the walks he takes his dogs on every day.

When Andy’s golden retriever, Tara, goes to play in the snow and instead discovers a body, Andy ends up on the phone with the local newspaper editor. The murder victim is Mayor Alex Oliva, who had an infamous relationship with the newspaper. Last year a young reporter published an expose, and Oliva had him fired for libel. Now, the young reporter - and prime suspect - is in need of a lawyer. Andy agrees to take the case, though it’s not looking good this holiday season. 

View Details >>

The Matzah Ball

Jean Meltzer

Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a nice Jewish girl with a shameful secret: she loves Christmas. For a decade she's hidden her career as a Christmas romance novelist from her family. Her talent has made her a bestseller even as her chronic illness has always kept the kind of love she writes about out of reach.

But when her diversity-conscious publisher insists she write a Hanukkah romance, her well of inspiration suddenly runs dry. Hanukkah's not magical. It's not merry. It's not Christmas. Desperate not to lose her contract, Rachel's determined to find her muse at the Matzah Ball, a Jewish music celebration on the last night of Hanukkah, even if it means working with her summer camp archenemy - Jacob Greenberg.

Though Rachel and Jacob haven't seen each other since they were kids, their grudge still glows brighter than a menorah. But as they spend more time together, Rachel finds herself drawn to Hanukkah - and Jacob - in a way she never expected. Maybe this holiday of lights will be the spark she needed to set her heart ablaze.

View Details >>

Kiss Her Once for Me

Alison Cochrun

One year ago, recent Portland transplant Ellie Oliver had her dream job in animation and a Christmas Eve meet-cute with a woman at a bookstore that led her to fall in love over the course of a single night. But after a betrayal the next morning and the loss of her job soon after, she finds herself adrift, alone, and desperate for money.

Finding work at a local coffee shop, she’s just getting through the days - until Andrew, the shop’s landlord, proposes a shocking, drunken plan: a marriage of convenience that will give him his recent inheritance and alleviate Ellie’s financial woes and isolation. They make a plan to spend the holidays together at his family cabin to keep up the ruse. But when Andrew introduces his new fiancée to his sister, Ellie is shocked to discover it’s Jack - the mysterious woman she fell for over the course of one magical Christmas Eve the year before. Now, Ellie must choose between the safety of a fake relationship and the risk of something real.

View Details >>

Once in a Lifetime

Mary Monroe

Free-spirited, living on the fly, Vanessa Hayes is still always down for traditional family holiday fun - until now. She’s making her oft-delayed wish finally come true: Christmas in Paris, the glittering City of Lights. But when her passport gets delayed, it's too late for Vanessa to rebook. Now it looks like the Yuletide she longs for won't happen. Until a stranger suddenly enters her life, and changes it forever...

Overwhelmed by responsibility, Judith Guthrie is too busy worrying about her seriously ill brother to have time to celebrate. She's taken a leave from her teaching job to care for him as he's on the waiting list for a life-giving transplant. A trip to France is a kind of happiness she can't imagine. But when she accidentally receives Vanessa's passport, Judith can't resist delivering it in person so Vanessa will at least have her holiday dream. She can’t anticipate that her small gesture will result in a series of big choices, big miracles, and lifelong rewards that all will be thankful for over many Christmases to come.

View Details >>

A Holly Jolly Diwali

Sonya Lalli

Twenty-nine-year-old Niki Randhawa has always made practical decisions. Despite her love for music and art, she became an analyst for the stability. She's always stuck close to home, in case her family needed her. And she's always dated guys that seem good on paper, rather than the ones who give her butterflies. When she's laid off, Niki realizes that practical hasn't exactly paid off for her. So for the first time ever, she throws caution to the wind and books a last-minute flight for her friend Diya’s wedding.

Niki arrives in India just in time to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, where she meets London musician Sameer Mukherji. Maybe it's the splendor of Mumbai or the magic of the holiday season, but Niki is immediately drawn to Sam. At the wedding, the champagne flows and their flirtatious banter makes it clear that the attraction is mutual.

When Niki and Sam join Diya, her husband and their friends on a group honeymoon, their connection grows deeper. Free-spirited Sam helps Niki get in touch with her passionate and creative side, and with her Indian roots. When she gets a new job offer back home, Niki must decide what she wants out of the next chapter of her life - to cling to the straight and narrow like always, or to take a leap of faith and live the kind of bold life the old Niki never would have dreamed of.

View Details >>

The Holiday Swap

Maggie Knox

When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she loses a lot more than consciousness; she also loses her ability to taste and smell - both critical to her success as show judge. Meanwhile, Charlie's identical twin, Cass, is frantically trying to hold her own life together back in their quaint mountain hometown while running the family's bustling bakery and dealing with her ex, who won't get the memo that they're over.

With only days until Christmas, a desperate Charlie asks Cass to do something they haven't done since they were kids: switch places. Looking for her own escape from reality, Cass agrees. But temporarily trading lives proves more complicated than they imagined, especially when rugged firefighter Jake Greenman and gorgeous physician assistant Miguel Rodriguez are thrown into the mix. Will the twins' identity swap be a recipe for disaster, or does it have all the right ingredients for getting their lives back on track?

View Details >>

Hiders Seekers Finders Keepers

Jessica Kulekjian

A beautiful exploration of how animals face the challenges of winter. When the autumn days grow shorter and temperatures cool, animals prepare for winter. The hiders find someplace to rest and wait for spring, huddled under the ground or snuggled in a sheltered spot. The seekers migrate to new locations with milder weather and better food sources. And the finders keep warm and fed by adapting to the harsh conditions. Every creature knows just what to do to survive winter — following an ingenious plan that’s just right for them! The perfect book to curl up with on a snowy day. Readers will be transported through the magic of the seasons alongside the animals.

View Details >>

A Royal Christmas Fairy Tale

Karen Schaler

A charming Christmas village, a storybook castle, a royal ball, and a gorgeous prince are the last things New York City reporter Kaylie Karlyle expects to find on her holiday freelance assignment to Europe. But when the family she's interviewing turns out to be the royal family of Tolvania, Kaylie has a meltdown when the quirky queen wants her to write a Christmas fairy tale for the spunky, young princess. Kaylie must battle the princess's father, who doesn't trust the media, and her own insecurities about writing anything beyond the news.

To spark inspiration for the fairy tale, the queen recruits the prickly Prince Alexander to show Kaylie the family's most spectacular royal holiday traditions. And sparks definitely fly when the only thing Kaylie and the prince agree on is that they're both more "bah humbug" than "ho, ho, ho."

But somewhere between sleigh rides and snow angels, merrymaking and mistletoe, upside-down Christmas trees, and a legendary Christmas crown, Kaylie and the prince open their hearts to Christmas and start believing in themselves and each other. It's a real-life fairy tale in the making until Kaylie discovers a secret about a royal Christmas heirloom that jeopardizes everyone's happily ever after. Can the magic of the season save this holiday happy ending?

View Details >>

Who Was Here?

Mia Posada

What animal was here? Can you solve the mystery? Study the picture and read the clues to figure out who left each set of tracks. Then turn the page to find out about animals from around the world. Watercolor and collage illustrations show the many kinds of trails that animals leave behind in mud, snow, and sand.

View Details >>

Winter Dance

Marion Dane Bauer

Snow is coming, and it's time to get ready The squirrel gathers nuts, the geese soar south, and the snowshoe hare puts on its new white coat. But what should the fox do? Each animal advises the fox that its own plan is best, but the fox thinks otherwise--yet it's not until he meets a golden-eyed friend that he finds the perfect way to celebrate the snowfall.

Stunning illustrations by the new talent Richard Jones are the perfect complement to the Newbery Honor winner Marion Dane Bauer's lyrical and playful homage to the natural world.

View Details >>

Winter Sleep

Sean Taylor

In this cozy bedtime story, follow a child and his grandma through a winter landscape to explore how the Earth goes to sleep for winter. Spot the sleeping animals as the tale unfolds, then learn about their hibernation habits from the information pages at the end.

Co-authors Sean Taylor (picture book author) and Alex Morss (ecologist, journalist, and educator) offer a gentle introduction to the concept of hibernation. In the frosty, quiet forest, the snow blankets the ground and the trees have shed their leaves. Where have all the animals gone? Are they asleep too?

In each cutaway scene, see what the child cannot—that underground below his feet are dens with sleeping creatures, and within the hollow trunks of trees, animals are nesting. After the story, annotated illustrations explain the hibernation facts for each animal and what they will do when they wake up for spring.

Cozy up as you expand you and your child's knowledge of the natural world.

View Details >>

Over and Under the Snow

Kate Messner

Over the snow, the world is hushed and white. But under the snow exists a secret kingdom of squirrels and snow hares, bears and bullfrogs, and many other animals that live through the winter safe and warm, awake and busy, under the snow. Discover the wonder and activity that lies beneath winter's snowy landscape in this magical book.

View Details >>

The Story of Snow

Mark Cassino

Breathtaking photography and fascinating facts about snow crystals “will instill appreciation for these tiny, cool objects” in both children and adults (The Washington Post).

How do snow crystals form? What shapes can they take? Is it true that there are no two snow crystals alike? These questions and more are answered in this visually stunning exploration of the science of snow. Perfect for reading on winter days, the book features photos of real snow crystals in all their beautiful diversity. Snowflake-catching instructions are also included!

“Settle down in a comfy chair. . . . By the end, you’ll be hoping there’s a day when you can follow the careful directions for catching and viewing snow crystals.” —Chicago Tribune

“The clear and direct narrative takes readers into the clouds to explain snow-crystal formation...and then zooms in on the actual crystals. Sure to get young scientists outside in the cold.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Nature photographer Cassino’s gallery of snow crystals is [a] riveting exhibition.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

View Details >>

Snowy Owl Invasion!

Sandra Markle

Audisee® eBooks with Audio combine professional narration and sentence highlighting for an engaging read aloud experience!

Late in 2013, snowy owls started showing up in places no one expected to find them—including Florida. What had caused so many of these majestic birds to leave their Arctic home and fly to southern Canada and the United States? Scientists quickly began working to find out. Author Sandra Markle brings together firsthand reports from the scientists involved along with stunning photographs of the owls to explain this rare event, known as an irruption. Follow along as scientists figure out why snowy owls took part in this unusual migration and discover what they learned from the unexpected opportunity to study them up close.

View Details >>

North

Nick Dowson

A passionate nature lover and a renowned artist trace the awe-inspiring spring migration of millions of creatures to the Arctic--the greatest journey on Earth.

At the top of our world is a huge wild place called the Arctic.

In the winter, it is a cold and barren land, where few animals can survive. But when spring comes, it brings with it animals from every corner of the earth. Gray whales, white cranes, wolves, and caribou begin their migrations as the snow melts, gradually making the long journey north. Once they reach their destination, they will raise their young, feast on the lush Arctic tundra, and bask in the sunlight that lasts all summer. Still, this season too must pass, and by the time winter grips the Arctic once again, the visitors have gone--only to return the following year. This lushly illustrated picture book celebrates the cyclical nature of the seasons, showcasing the barren and beautiful landscapes of the Arctic Circle and reminding the reader of the hardships and harmony of life in the wild.

View Details >>

Blizzard of Glass

Sally M. Walker

On December 6, 1917 two ships collided in Halifax Harbour. One ship was loaded top to bottom with munitions and one held relief supplies, both intended for wartorn Europe. The resulting blast flattened two towns, Halifax and Dartmouth, and killed nearly 2,000 people. As if that wasn't devastating enough, a blizzard hit the next day, dumping more than a foot of snow on the area and paralyzing much-needed relief efforts.

Fascinating, edge-of-your-seat storytelling based on original source material conveys this harrowing account of tragedy and recovery. This thoroughly-researched and documented book can be worked into multiple aspects of the common core curriculum.

View Details >>

Blizzard!

Jim Murphy

With his powerful and intriguing narrative style, Newbery Honor Book author Jim Murphy tells the harrowing story of the Blizzard of 1888. Available for the first time in paperback.

Snow began falling over New York City on March 12, 1888. All around town, people struggled along slippery streets and sidewalks -- some seeking the warmth of their homes, some to get to work or to care for the less fortunate, and some to experience what they assumed would be the last little snowfall of one of the warmest winters on record. What no one realized was that in a very few hours, the wind and snow would bury the city in nearly 21 inches of snow and bring it to a ferocious standstill.

 

View Details >>

Snowflake Bentley

Jacqueline Briggs Martin

In this Caldecott Medal–winning picture book, the true story of Wilson Bentley and his singular fascination with snowflakes is rendered in rich prose and gorgeous artwork, perfect for the holidays, snow days, and everyday.

Wilson Bentley was always fascinated by snow. In childhood and adulthood, he saw each tiny crystal of a snowflake as a little miracle and wanted to understand them.

His parents supported his curiosity and saved until they could give him his own camera and microscope. At the time, his enthusiasm was misunderstood. But with patience and determination, Wilson catalogued hundreds of snowflake photographs, gave slideshows of his findings and, when he was 66, published a book of his photos. His work became the basis for all we know about beautiful, unique snowflakes today. 

This biographical tribute to a very special farmer is the perfect holiday gift or snow day read.

View Details >>

Saving the Ghost of the Mountain

Sy Montgomery

People call it "The Ghost of the Mountain," for those who live among snow leopards almost never see one. Beautiful spotted coats conceal these elusive cats in their rocky, high-altitude habitat--a place where temperatures are often cold enough to freeze human tears. A thick, long tail for balance helps snow leopards spring at their prey from great distances--prey that is often three times its own size. Slinking along the Mongolian mountain ridges, the snow leopards are invisible--and almost impossible to study.
But that doesn't deter scientist Tom McCarthy, Conservation Director of the Seattle-based Snow Leopard Trust, or his many colleagues from dedicating their lives' work to the study and protection of this seldom-seen creature. And it doesn't stop Sy Montgomery and Nic Bishop from packing their bags in order to join Tom on a trek to Mongolia, where they hope to learn more about this magical cat, a cat who doesn't give up its secrets easily.
It will take endurance and persistence to climb the dusty mountain trails, hope of a snow leopard sighting rising and falling with each new summit. It will take practice and experience to lay humane leghold snares, collect scat samples, and set up motion-triggered cameras. It will take patience, focus--and yes, love--to dedicate a lifetime learning more about this little-understood creature. But that's the only way the Snow Leopard Trust can protect their charges, before the snow leopard truly becomes nothing but a ghost of the mountain.
With a dazzling, as-it-happens narrative and spectacular photographs, Sy Montgomery and Nic Bishop bring Mongolia up close for readers everywhere.

View Details >>

Ten Ways to Hear Snow

Cathy Camper

A snowy day, a trip to Grandma's, time spent cooking with one another, and space to pause and discover the world around you come together in this perfect book for reading and sharing on a cozy winter day.

One winter morning, Lina wakes up to silence. It's the sound of snow -- the kind that looks soft and glows bright in the winter sun. But as she walks to her grandmother's house to help make the family recipe for warak enab, she continues to listen.

As Lina walks past snowmen and across icy sidewalks, she discovers ten ways to pay attention to what might have otherwise gone unnoticed. With stunning illustrations by Kenard Pak and thoughtful representation of a modern Arab American family from Cathy Camper, Ten Ways to Hear Snow is a layered exploration of mindfulness, empathy, and what we realize when the world gets quiet.

View Details >>

Delivery Bear

Laura Gehl

Zogby wants to work for Fluffy Tail Cookies as a delivery animal--but he's a bear and all the other animals are cute bunnies. Zogby tries to pretend to be a bunny by wearing bunny ears, putting on whiskers, and adding a fluffy tail. But he still scares the customers! When Zogby realizes being himself is best, can he find a way to stand out and get the job?

View Details >>

The Smart Cookie

Jory John

An Instant New York Times Bestseller!

Be a smart cookie--and don't miss the fifth picture book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Food Group series from creators Jory John and Pete Oswald!

This cookie has never felt like a smart cookie no matter how hard she tries, especially in comparison to all the clever cupcakes and brilliant rolls in the bakery. Will a dash of creativity and a sprinkle of confidence be enough to help her learn that perfect scores and having all the answers aren't the only ingredients for intelligence?

Jory John and Pete Oswald serve up another heaping plate of laughs and lessons with this empowering, witty, and charming addition to their #1 New York Times bestselling series!

Check out Jory John and Pete Oswald's funny, bestselling books for kids 4-8 and anyone who wants a laugh:

  • The Bad SeedThe Good EggThe Cool BeanThe Couch PotatoThe Good Egg Presents: The Great Eggscape!The Bad Seed Presents: The Good, the Bad, the Spooky!The Cool Bean Presents: As Cool as It GetsThat's What Dinosaurs Do
View Details >>

Christmas Cookie Day!

Tara Knudson

Celebrate the tradition of making Christmas cookies with family and friends by sharing this delightful board book, ?Christmas Cookie Day! The cute, simple, easy-to-read rhyming text is perfect for little ones during the holiday season, in addition to the adorable bear illustrations and yummy cookie recipe on the back cover!

Readers young and old will enjoy the sweet rhymes of this board book and colorful illustrations that remind us all of the tradition of baking cookies and giving them as gifts during the holiday season.

Christmas Cookie Day:

  • Features fun, rhyming text written for children ages 0 to
  • Is perfect for building new memories, great for family reading, and ideal for Christmas or Advent gift-giving
  • Is a durable board book that fits into little hands, with a festive glittery cover and adorable illustrations
  • Features a recipe for sugar cookies that parents and grandparents can bake with their toddler
View Details >>

Gift of the Christmas Cookie

Dandi Daley Mackall

It’s the Christmas season during a time when people had little money to spend. Cookie jars held pennies, not Christmas cookies. So when Jack smells something delicious coming from the kitchen, he can’t believe his nose. Cookies! But his excitement turns to disappointment when he learns the cookies aren’t for him. Instead, Mother is baking them for the needy people at their church. While Jack helps roll out the dough, his mother tells him the legend of the Christmas cookie. In a captivating interplay of simple words and beautiful illustrations, The Legend of the Christmas Cookie tells a tender story of giving—not just cookies, but gifts of the heart that last forever.

View Details >>

A World of Cookies for Santa

M. E. Furman

A World of Cookies for Santa takes readers across the globe to see all the treats that await Santa on Christmas Eve. Head to the Philippines, where children leave out puto seko cookies and ginger tea for Santa; jet to Russia for a honey-spice cookie; then set out for Malawi for a sweet potato cookie When you've returned home, the journey's still not over--M. E. Furman provides recipes for children to bake some of Santa's cookies for themselves.

A World of Cookies for Santa is a multicultural celebration that families will return to year after year.
Winner of the American Book Fest Best Book Award and the Moonbeam Book Award

View Details >>

Grandma's Sugar Cookie

Rose Rossner

Make your Christmas extra sweet this year with this heartwarming holiday board book for babies and toddlers!

Celebrate the special bond between Grandma and grandchild with this oh-so-sweet story about Grandma's love! Packed with heartfelt rhymes and adorable illustrations, this book will inspire littles one and grandmas to bake some treats (and memories!) together this holiday season. This board book for ages 0-3 makes a perfect grandma gift, festive stocking stuffer, and Christmas gift for kids.

Plus, this book includes a delicious cookie recipe in the back for Grandma and grandchild to make together! Create new memories and treasure these special moments for years to come!

You are Grandma's Chocolate Chip,

my special little treat.

I love to laugh and play with you

and bake you something sweet!

View Details >>

The Gingerbread Pup

Maribeth Boelts

You've heard of the Gingerbread boy, but what about his pup? This fun Step 3 early reader puts a great spin on the classic fairytale.

Evalina desperately wants a dog, so she bakes one out of gingerbread and he springs to life! But the gingerbread pup gets into mischief all over town and Evalina must find a way to catch him if she can! This is the latest enchanting fractured fairy tale from the author of early readers Pupunzel, Dogerella, and, The Fairy Dogmother.

Step 3 Readers feature engaging characters in easy-to-follow plots about popular topics. For children who are ready to read on their own.

View Details >>

Tea Party Rules

Ame Dyckman

 

An award-winning book by a New York Times bestselling author!
When he follows his nose through the woods, Cub discovers a backyard tea party…with cookies!  He is just about to dig in when the hostess of the tea party shows up. And she has several strong opinions on how Tea Party must be played. Cub tries to follow her rules . . . but just how much can one bear take, even for cookies?

A laugh-out-loud funny look at the required give-and-take of playtime, Tea Party Rules is an eventual friendship story that will delight grubby cubs, fancy girls, and cookie lovers everywhere.

 

View Details >>

The Legend of the Christmas Cookie

Dandi Daley Mackall

This sweet holiday book—part of the Legends series from Zonderkidz—explores the true story behind the tradition of baking Christmas cookies and sharing them with others, inspiring kids to become cheerful givers themselves and showing them how they can share the story of Christmas with those around them.

Inside, you and your children can discover:

  • How Christmas cookies were invented as a way to help the needy and share the story of Jesus’s birth
  • Why giving is better than receiving, and why it’s important to give to others during the holidays
  • The history behind each common Christmas cookie shape, and how they can be used to tell others about God’s love for us

When Jack’s mom decides to make Christmas cookies, Jack learns the real story behind the first Christmas cookies, and how a family used the baked goods as a way to feed the needy and share the truths behind the first Christmas. Soon, Jack has an opportunity to share a cookie and a story with a stranger as well.

The Legend of the Christmas Cookie is:

  • Perfect as a gift for boys and girls ages 4-8, grandchildren, and nieces and nephews
  • Ideal as a family reading tradition for Advent, Christmas, or anytime in the holiday season
  • Great as a gift for people who love the history behind Christmas and holiday traditions

If you enjoy The Legend of the Christmas Cookie, check out other books in the Legends series: The Legend of the Candy Cane, The Legend of Saint Nicholas, The Legend of the Christmas Stocking, The Legend of the Christmas Tree, and The Legend of the Easter Egg.

View Details >>

Flat Stanley and the Very Big Cookie

Jeff Brown

Beginning readers will love following along with Flat Stanley’s yummiest I Can Read adventure yet!

Flat Stanley loves to help Mr. Pete the Baker make his delicious treats! When another baker begins taking away all his business, Mr. Pete comes up with a BIG idea to save his bakery, but he needs help from Stanley and Arthur! Will they succeed or will everything just fall flat?

Flat Stanley and the Very Big Cookie is a Level Two Can Read book, geared for kids who read on their own but still need a little help.

 

View Details >>

The Cow Loves Cookies

Karma Wilson

The horse loves hay, the chickens need feed, the geese munch on corn, the hogs devour slop, the dog eats treats, but the cow loves…COOKIES?

With an original twist on the ordinary barnyard book, the latest read-aloud from bestselling author Karma Wilson is a clever exploration of a curious incident on the farm. As the farmer makes his rounds each day, most of the animals chew on the foods a young reader would expect. But when it’s time to feed the cow, she feasts on a special treat. Wilson’s signature style and Marcellus Hall’s spirited watercolors will delight children on and off the farm—because when it comes down to it, who doesn’t love milk and cookies?

View Details >>

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Big Book

Laura Joffe Numeroff

If a hungry little traveler shows up at your house, you might want to give him a cookie. If you give him a cookie, he's going to ask for a glass of milk. He'll want to look in a mirror to make sure he doesn't have a milk mustache, and then he'll ask for a pair of scissors to give himself a trim . . . .

The consequences of giving a cookie to this energetic mouse run the young host ragged, but young readers will come away smiling at the antics that tumble like dominoes through the pages of this delightful picture book.

View Details >>

The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School

Laura Murray

When a class leaves for recess, their just-baked Gingerbread Man is left behind. But he's a smart cookie and heads out to find them. He'll run, slide, skip, and (after a mishap with a soccer ball) limp as fast as he can because: "I can catch them! I'm their Gingerbread Man!"

With help from the gym teacher, the nurse, the art teacher and even the principal, the Gingerbread Man does find his class, and he's assured they'll never leave him behind again.

Teachers often use the Gingerbread Man story to introduce new students to the geography and staff of schools, and this fresh, funny twist on the original can be used all year long. Includes a poster with fun activities!

View Details >>

The Smart Cookie

Jory John

An Instant New York Times Bestseller!

Be a smart cookie--and don't miss the fifth picture book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Food Group series from creators Jory John and Pete Oswald!

This cookie has never felt like a smart cookie no matter how hard she tries, especially in comparison to all the clever cupcakes and brilliant rolls in the bakery. Will a dash of creativity and a sprinkle of confidence be enough to help her learn that perfect scores and having all the answers aren't the only ingredients for intelligence?

Jory John and Pete Oswald serve up another heaping plate of laughs and lessons with this empowering, witty, and charming addition to their #1 New York Times bestselling series!

Check out Jory John and Pete Oswald's funny, bestselling books for kids 4-8 and anyone who wants a laugh:

  • The Bad SeedThe Good EggThe Cool BeanThe Couch PotatoThe Good Egg Presents: The Great Eggscape!The Bad Seed Presents: The Good, the Bad, the Spooky!The Cool Bean Presents: As Cool as It GetsThat's What Dinosaurs Do
View Details >>

The Cookie Maker of Mavin Road

Sue Lawson

On Mavin Road, there’s no time for hellos or chats—until a lonely and mysterious cookie maker’s gifts bring everyone together.

Benedict Stanley lives alone with his cat on a road where families hustle, joggers puff, workers scurry to the train, and no one has time for anyone else. So Benedict begins making cookies to mark moments in his neighbors’ lives—a new baby, a kitten rescue, a soccer event—and quietly leaves the treats at their doors. People wonder who this secret cookie maker could be, but only young Rory knows his identity. When Benedict falls ill one day, Rory gathers the residents of Mavin Road, the recipients of Benedict’s kindness, and brings them to the cookie maker’s door. A beautiful, heartwarming book that celebrates community and human connection—and features a simple cookie recipe at the end that’s ready to be customized for someone’s special occasion.

View Details >>

Gingerbread Christmas

Jan Brett

Jan Brett’s beloved character the Gingerbread Baby returns in a fun-filled Christmas caper!
 
Gingerbread Baby and his friend, Matti, take his gingerbread band to the Christmas Festival where they are a hit! That is until the aroma of gingerbread reaches the children, making them hungry.

That means it is time to run away. Clever Matti uses snow to disguise the gingerbread instruments while Gingerbread Baby leads the audience on a merry chase to the smartest hiding place ever--a giant Christmas tree.

View Details >>

Christmas Cookie Day!

Tara Knudson

Celebrate the tradition of making Christmas cookies with family and friends by sharing this delightful board book, ?Christmas Cookie Day! The cute, simple, easy-to-read rhyming text is perfect for little ones during the holiday season, in addition to the adorable bear illustrations and yummy cookie recipe on the back cover!

Readers young and old will enjoy the sweet rhymes of this board book and colorful illustrations that remind us all of the tradition of baking cookies and giving them as gifts during the holiday season.

Christmas Cookie Day:

  • Features fun, rhyming text written for children ages 0 to
  • Is perfect for building new memories, great for family reading, and ideal for Christmas or Advent gift-giving
  • Is a durable board book that fits into little hands, with a festive glittery cover and adorable illustrations
  • Features a recipe for sugar cookies that parents and grandparents can bake with their toddler
View Details >>

The Gingerbread Man Loose on the Fire Truck

Laura Murray

A visit to a fire house is always fun, but it's even more exciting when the Gingerbread Man comes along!

Guess who gets to go along on a field trip to the firehouse? The Gingerbread Man! But when he falls out of his classmate's pocket, Spot the Dalmatian comes sniffing around. Luckily, this Gingerbread Man is one smart cookie, and he races into the fire truck, up the pole, and all through the station, staying one step ahead of the hungry dog the whole time.

 

Then an emergency call comes in and the Gingerbread Man knows just what to do:


“I’ll ride to the rescue, as fast as I can.

I want to help, too! I’m the Gingerbread Man!”

With snappy rhymes and fresh illustrations, the Gingerbread Man makes a sweet return in his second school adventure.

View Details >>

Flat Stanley and the Very Big Cookie

Jeff Brown

Beginning readers will love following along with Flat Stanley’s yummiest I Can Read adventure yet!

Flat Stanley loves to help Mr. Pete the Baker make his delicious treats! When another baker begins taking away all his business, Mr. Pete comes up with a BIG idea to save his bakery, but he needs help from Stanley and Arthur! Will they succeed or will everything just fall flat?

Flat Stanley and the Very Big Cookie is a Level Two Can Read book, geared for kids who read on their own but still need a little help.

 

View Details >>

The Gingerbread Man

Mairi Mackinnon

You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!Everyone wants to catch the gingerbread man. Only the fox wants to help him - or does he?Includes a word list, 5 pages of activities and free online audio (British English and American English).500 headwords800 words

View Details >>

The Cow Loves Cookies

Karma Wilson

The horse loves hay, the chickens need feed, the geese munch on corn, the hogs devour slop, the dog eats treats, but the cow loves…COOKIES?

With an original twist on the ordinary barnyard book, the latest read-aloud from bestselling author Karma Wilson is a clever exploration of a curious incident on the farm. As the farmer makes his rounds each day, most of the animals chew on the foods a young reader would expect. But when it’s time to feed the cow, she feasts on a special treat. Wilson’s signature style and Marcellus Hall’s spirited watercolors will delight children on and off the farm—because when it comes down to it, who doesn’t love milk and cookies?

View Details >>

Gift of the Christmas Cookie

Dandi Daley Mackall

It’s the Christmas season during a time when people had little money to spend. Cookie jars held pennies, not Christmas cookies. So when Jack smells something delicious coming from the kitchen, he can’t believe his nose. Cookies! But his excitement turns to disappointment when he learns the cookies aren’t for him. Instead, Mother is baking them for the needy people at their church. While Jack helps roll out the dough, his mother tells him the legend of the Christmas cookie. In a captivating interplay of simple words and beautiful illustrations, The Legend of the Christmas Cookie tells a tender story of giving—not just cookies, but gifts of the heart that last forever.

View Details >>

Delivery Bear

Laura Gehl

Zogby wants to work for Fluffy Tail Cookies as a delivery animal--but he's a bear and all the other animals are cute bunnies. Zogby tries to pretend to be a bunny by wearing bunny ears, putting on whiskers, and adding a fluffy tail. But he still scares the customers! When Zogby realizes being himself is best, can he find a way to stand out and get the job?

View Details >>

A World of Cookies for Santa

M. E. Furman

A World of Cookies for Santa takes readers across the globe to see all the treats that await Santa on Christmas Eve. Head to the Philippines, where children leave out puto seko cookies and ginger tea for Santa; jet to Russia for a honey-spice cookie; then set out for Malawi for a sweet potato cookie When you've returned home, the journey's still not over--M. E. Furman provides recipes for children to bake some of Santa's cookies for themselves.

A World of Cookies for Santa is a multicultural celebration that families will return to year after year.
Winner of the American Book Fest Best Book Award and the Moonbeam Book Award

View Details >>

The Gingerbread Man

Eric A. Kimmel

A delicious take on a classic story. . . .

When an elderly couple decides to bake gingerbread one day, they have no idea what they're getting in to.  As soon as the gingerbread man is all dressed up in his peppermint buttons, he leaps off the table and runs out the door!

Chase along in Eric A. Kimmel's retelling of this classic kids story as the man and woman, a dog, a pig, and more pursue the quick-on-his-feet cookie in a simple text, perfect for reading aloud, featuring strong patterns and repeated refrains that young listeners will want to read along with.

The gingerbread man runs and runs, as fast as he can . . . until he meets a wily fox, whose promise to help him escape isn't all it seems.

View Details >>

Grandma's Sugar Cookie

Rose Rossner

Make your Christmas extra sweet this year with this heartwarming holiday board book for babies and toddlers!

Celebrate the special bond between Grandma and grandchild with this oh-so-sweet story about Grandma's love! Packed with heartfelt rhymes and adorable illustrations, this book will inspire littles one and grandmas to bake some treats (and memories!) together this holiday season. This board book for ages 0-3 makes a perfect grandma gift, festive stocking stuffer, and Christmas gift for kids.

Plus, this book includes a delicious cookie recipe in the back for Grandma and grandchild to make together! Create new memories and treasure these special moments for years to come!

You are Grandma's Chocolate Chip,

my special little treat.

I love to laugh and play with you

and bake you something sweet!

View Details >>

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie 25th Anniversary Edition

Laura Joffe Numeroff

If a hungry little traveler shows up at your house, you might want to give him a cookie. If you give him a cookie, he's going to ask for a glass of milk. He'll want to look in a mirror to make sure he doesn't have a milk mustache, and then he'll ask for a pair of scissors to give himself a trim....

The consequences of giving a cookie to this energetic mouse run the young host ragged, but young readers will come away smiling at the antics that tumble like dominoes through the pages of this delightful picture book.

View Details >>

The Legend of the Christmas Cookie

Dandi Daley Mackall

This sweet holiday book—part of the Legends series from Zonderkidz—explores the true story behind the tradition of baking Christmas cookies and sharing them with others, inspiring kids to become cheerful givers themselves and showing them how they can share the story of Christmas with those around them.

Inside, you and your children can discover:

  • How Christmas cookies were invented as a way to help the needy and share the story of Jesus’s birth
  • Why giving is better than receiving, and why it’s important to give to others during the holidays
  • The history behind each common Christmas cookie shape, and how they can be used to tell others about God’s love for us

When Jack’s mom decides to make Christmas cookies, Jack learns the real story behind the first Christmas cookies, and how a family used the baked goods as a way to feed the needy and share the truths behind the first Christmas. Soon, Jack has an opportunity to share a cookie and a story with a stranger as well.

The Legend of the Christmas Cookie is:

  • Perfect as a gift for boys and girls ages 4-8, grandchildren, and nieces and nephews
  • Ideal as a family reading tradition for Advent, Christmas, or anytime in the holiday season
  • Great as a gift for people who love the history behind Christmas and holiday traditions

If you enjoy The Legend of the Christmas Cookie, check out other books in the Legends series: The Legend of the Candy Cane, The Legend of Saint Nicholas, The Legend of the Christmas Stocking, The Legend of the Christmas Tree, and The Legend of the Easter Egg.

View Details >>

The Smart Cookie

Jory John

An Instant New York Times Bestseller!

Be a smart cookie--and don't miss the fifth picture book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Food Group series from creators Jory John and Pete Oswald!

This cookie has never felt like a smart cookie no matter how hard she tries, especially in comparison to all the clever cupcakes and brilliant rolls in the bakery. Will a dash of creativity and a sprinkle of confidence be enough to help her learn that perfect scores and having all the answers aren't the only ingredients for intelligence?

Jory John and Pete Oswald serve up another heaping plate of laughs and lessons with this empowering, witty, and charming addition to their #1 New York Times bestselling series!

Check out Jory John and Pete Oswald's funny, bestselling books for kids 4-8 and anyone who wants a laugh:

  • The Bad SeedThe Good EggThe Cool BeanThe Couch PotatoThe Good Egg Presents: The Great Eggscape!The Bad Seed Presents: The Good, the Bad, the Spooky!The Cool Bean Presents: As Cool as It GetsThat's What Dinosaurs Do
View Details >>

The Gingerbread Man Loose on the Fire Truck

Laura Murray

A visit to a fire house is always fun, but it's even more exciting when the Gingerbread Man comes along!

Guess who gets to go along on a field trip to the firehouse? The Gingerbread Man! But when he falls out of his classmate's pocket, Spot the Dalmatian comes sniffing around. Luckily, this Gingerbread Man is one smart cookie, and he races into the fire truck, up the pole, and all through the station, staying one step ahead of the hungry dog the whole time.

 

Then an emergency call comes in and the Gingerbread Man knows just what to do:


“I’ll ride to the rescue, as fast as I can.

I want to help, too! I’m the Gingerbread Man!”

With snappy rhymes and fresh illustrations, the Gingerbread Man makes a sweet return in his second school adventure.

View Details >>

The Cookie Maker of Mavin Road

Sue Lawson

On Mavin Road, there’s no time for hellos or chats—until a lonely and mysterious cookie maker’s gifts bring everyone together.

Benedict Stanley lives alone with his cat on a road where families hustle, joggers puff, workers scurry to the train, and no one has time for anyone else. So Benedict begins making cookies to mark moments in his neighbors’ lives—a new baby, a kitten rescue, a soccer event—and quietly leaves the treats at their doors. People wonder who this secret cookie maker could be, but only young Rory knows his identity. When Benedict falls ill one day, Rory gathers the residents of Mavin Road, the recipients of Benedict’s kindness, and brings them to the cookie maker’s door. A beautiful, heartwarming book that celebrates community and human connection—and features a simple cookie recipe at the end that’s ready to be customized for someone’s special occasion.

View Details >>

Gingerbread Christmas

Jan Brett

Jan Brett’s beloved character the Gingerbread Baby returns in a fun-filled Christmas caper!
 
Gingerbread Baby and his friend, Matti, take his gingerbread band to the Christmas Festival where they are a hit! That is until the aroma of gingerbread reaches the children, making them hungry.

That means it is time to run away. Clever Matti uses snow to disguise the gingerbread instruments while Gingerbread Baby leads the audience on a merry chase to the smartest hiding place ever--a giant Christmas tree.

View Details >>

Delivery Bear

Laura Gehl

Zogby wants to work for Fluffy Tail Cookies as a delivery animal--but he's a bear and all the other animals are cute bunnies. Zogby tries to pretend to be a bunny by wearing bunny ears, putting on whiskers, and adding a fluffy tail. But he still scares the customers! When Zogby realizes being himself is best, can he find a way to stand out and get the job?

View Details >>

Christmas Cookie Day!

Tara Knudson

Celebrate the tradition of making Christmas cookies with family and friends by sharing this delightful board book, ?Christmas Cookie Day! The cute, simple, easy-to-read rhyming text is perfect for little ones during the holiday season, in addition to the adorable bear illustrations and yummy cookie recipe on the back cover!

Readers young and old will enjoy the sweet rhymes of this board book and colorful illustrations that remind us all of the tradition of baking cookies and giving them as gifts during the holiday season.

Christmas Cookie Day:

  • Features fun, rhyming text written for children ages 0 to
  • Is perfect for building new memories, great for family reading, and ideal for Christmas or Advent gift-giving
  • Is a durable board book that fits into little hands, with a festive glittery cover and adorable illustrations
  • Features a recipe for sugar cookies that parents and grandparents can bake with their toddler
View Details >>

Tea Party Rules

Ame Dyckman

 

An award-winning book by a New York Times bestselling author!
When he follows his nose through the woods, Cub discovers a backyard tea party…with cookies!  He is just about to dig in when the hostess of the tea party shows up. And she has several strong opinions on how Tea Party must be played. Cub tries to follow her rules . . . but just how much can one bear take, even for cookies?

A laugh-out-loud funny look at the required give-and-take of playtime, Tea Party Rules is an eventual friendship story that will delight grubby cubs, fancy girls, and cookie lovers everywhere.

 

View Details >>

The Gingerbread Pup

Maribeth Boelts

You've heard of the Gingerbread boy, but what about his pup? This fun Step 3 early reader puts a great spin on the classic fairytale.

Evalina desperately wants a dog, so she bakes one out of gingerbread and he springs to life! But the gingerbread pup gets into mischief all over town and Evalina must find a way to catch him if she can! This is the latest enchanting fractured fairy tale from the author of early readers Pupunzel, Dogerella, and, The Fairy Dogmother.

Step 3 Readers feature engaging characters in easy-to-follow plots about popular topics. For children who are ready to read on their own.

View Details >>

The Gingerbread Man Loose at The Zoo

Laura Murray

When the Gingerbread Man is loose at the zoo, he has to be careful not to end up as an animal's lunch!

Is there anything more fun than a class trip to the zoo? The Gingerbread Man and his classmates don’t think so, and they get to solve riddles on a WILD scavenger hunt. They meet giraffes, monkeys, and even a fox (especially scary for a Gingerbread Man!).
 
But a zoo full of critters is a tricky place for a tasty cookie—even a very fast one—and the Gingerbread Man ends up separated from his friends. He needs to solve all of the riddles to catch up with his class and help someone else who is lost.
 
I’ll be a detective. I know that I can!
I’ll solve all these clues. I’m the Gingerbread Man!
 
Animals galore and a trail of clues make the Gingerbread Man’s latest adventure his wildest one yet. Look for his other adventures at the fire house, at school, with a leprechaun, and at Christmas!

View Details >>

The Snow Spider

Jenny Nimmo

Jenny Nimmo's award-winning SNOW SPIDER TRILOGY is back as an exciting Orchard Books fantasy series!

On Gwyn's 9th birthday, his grandmother tells him he may be a magician, like his Welsh ancestors. She gives him five gifts to help him--a brooch, a piece of dried seaweed, a tin whistle, a scarf, and a broken toy horse. One blustery day, unsure what to do with his newfound magic, Gwyn throws the brooch to the wind and receives a silvery snow spider in return. Will he be able to use this special spider to bring his missing sister, Bethan, home? THE SNOW SPIDER spins an icy, sparkly web of mystical intrigue that sets the stage for the next two books in this outstanding trilogy!

View Details >>