When Emma accidentally makes bad cookies for class, it is up her to her dog Dixie to keep them from being eaten.

When Dixie gets to join Emma at school for Pet Day, she can hardly stop wagging her tail with excitement! Emma's classmates have all kinds of pets--hamsters, birds, goldfish--even lizards! Dixie tries her best to sit still, but with all the new friends to make, she may not be able to stay calm for long . . . Dixie's loveable antics will keep beginning readers laughing in this wonderful addition to the I Can Read library.

A classic tale by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo, America's beloved storyteller. One summer’s day, ten-year-old India Opal Buloni goes down to the local supermarket for some groceries – and comes home with a dog. But Winn-Dixie is no ordinary dog. It’s because of Winn-Dixie that Opal begins to make friends. And it’s because of Winn-Dixie that she finally dares to ask her father about her mother, who left when Opal was three. In fact, as Opal admits, just about everything that happens that summer is because of Winn-Dixie. Featuring a new cover illustration by E. B. Lewis.

It's the day of Emma's big relay race, and Dixie's come to watch. Emma tells Dixie that her job is to "sit, stay, and cheer." Dixie is disappointed that she can't race, too, but she's determined to be good. But when Emma trips and falls before the finish line, will Dixie obey her best friend and stay where she is or rush in to help? Find out in this lovable I Can Read book, the fifth book starring Dixie!

Emma needs to write a poem for a school assignment, but she would rather go outside with Dixie and enjoy a snowy day.

Emma gets to make a special treat for her class, so she decides to make her favorite, oatmeal spice cookies! But when there’s a kitchen mix-up, sweet turns to spicy, and Emma goes to school with some bad treats. Luckily, Dixie sniffs out the problem and Emma’s mom figures out the solution—but will the pair make it to school before it’s too late? Dixie stars in another I Can Read title, a tasty treat for all beginning readers.

When Dixie sneaks her way onto the school bus with Emma,the two friends are in for a real trip! A class trip, in fact, to the dinosaur museum! Emma and her classmates learn all about how the dinosaurs lived from a real dinosaur expert. But when Dixie takes dinosaur bones like they're doggie treats, Emma steps in to save the museum. Can the pair dig their way out of their mess? Dixie and the School Trip is the fourth I Can Read story starring Dixie—a fantastic addition to any beginning reader's library.

While observing exotic animal trainers for her acclaimed book Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched, journalist Amy Sutherland had an epiphany: What if she used these training techniques with the human animals in her own life–namely her dear husband, Scott? In this lively and perceptive book, Sutherland tells how she took the trainers’ lessons home. The next time her forgetful husband stomped through the house in search of his mislaid car keys, she asked herself, “What would a dolphin trainer do?” The answer was: nothing. Trainers reward the behavior they want and, just as important, ignore the behavior they don’t. Rather than appease her mate’s rising temper by joining in the search, or fuel his temper by nagging him to keep better track of his things in the first place, Sutherland kept her mouth shut and her eyes on the dishes she was washing. In short order, Scott found his keys and regained his cool. “I felt like I should throw him a mackerel,” she writes. In time, as she put more training principles into action, she noticed that she became more optimistic and less judgmental, and their twelve-year marriage was better than ever. What started as a goofy experiment had such good results that Sutherland began using the training techniques with all the people in her life, including her mother, her friends, her students, even the clerk at the post office. In the end, the biggest lesson she learned is that the only animal you can truly change is yourself. Full of fun facts, fascinating insights, hilarious anecdotes, and practical tips, What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage describes Sutherland’s Alice-in-Wonderland experience of stumbling into a world where cheetahs walk nicely on leashes and elephants paint with watercolors, and of leaving a new, improved Homo sapiens.

A brave mouse, a covetous rat, a wishful serving girl, and a princess named Pea come together in Kate DiCamillo's Newbery Medal–winning tale. Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other's lives. What happens then? As Kate DiCamillo would say: Reader, it is your destiny to find out. With black-and-white illustrations and a refreshed cover by Timothy Basil Ering.

A loud clap of thunder booms, and rattles the windows of Grandma's old farmhouse. "This is Thunder Cake baking weather," calls Grandma, as she and her granddaughter hurry to gather the ingredients around the farm. A real Thunder Cake must reach the oven before the storm arrives. But the list of ingredients is long and not easy to find . . . and the storm is coming closer all the time! Reaching once again into her rich childhood experience, Patricia Polacco tells the memorable story of how her grandma--her Babushka--helped her overcome her fear of thunder when she was a little girl. Ms. Polacco's vivid memories of her grandmother's endearing answer to a child's fear, accompanied by her bright folk-art illustrations, turn a frightening thunderstorm into an adventure and ultimately . . . a celebration! Whether the first clap of thunder finds you buried under the bedcovers or happily anticipating the coming storm, Thunder Cake is a story that will bring new meaning and possibility to the excitement of a thunderstorm.