An inspiring story of intergenerational friendship, activism, and how our actions can drastically impact our environment. When his father takes a new job in Massachusetts, Ben Moroney must leave behind his best friend Tony, a western banded gecko named Lenny, and worst of all, the Arizona desert home he has loved and explored. Ben's adjustment to his new environment is not going well until he unexpectedly finds a kindred spirit in his eccentric fifth-grade science teacher, Mrs. Tibbets. She introduces him to the rare and elusive Eastern spadefoot toads that make their home on her rural property. When Ben discovers that Mrs. Tibbets's land may be sold to developers, he knows he has to do something. As Ben's obsession with saving the spadefoot toads' habitat grows, his schoolwork and his relationships with his family and new friends suffer. But just when it seems things can't get any worse, Ben finds a way to meet his responsibilities to the people around him and demonstrates the importance of even the smallest efforts to save the earth's rapidly disappearing habitats.

This book is the most complete account in existence of a strange group of animals—the spadefoot toads. This small group of species, which, because of their secretive and burrowing habits, the author calls "gnomes of the night," have unusually numerous interesting facts in their life history. The purpose of the book is twofold: to give a factual picture of the lives of the spadefoots, drawing upon the technical literature as well as the author's wide experience with certain species; and to illustrate how a naturalist works, the mistakes he sometimes makes, his correction of them with time and further experience, and the necessity for him to accept and examine critically the comments on his work by others. Gnomes of the Night should appeal to all zoologists, especially those whose interests are in the lives of animals in their natural habitat rather than in the laboratory. Illustrated with maps and photographs, it is a scholarly and fascinating account of little-known but prevalent animals.

Meet Tugg and Teeny. Best friends since -- well, forever! Tugg (a gorilla) and Teeny (a monkey) live together in their jungle neighborhood, Sidekick Thicket. As opposite as night and day, the two friends work and play together, each helping the other face life's challenges. Lively, impulsive Teeny always wants to try new things. Sure and steady Tugg is always there to lend a hand or give a word of encouragement. In this beginning chapter book series, Book One's trio of stories has Teeny learning to become a musician, developing her talents as an artist, and fine-tuning her skills as a poet. Book Two has her pondering strange and quirky situations in the jungle. All with the help of her best friend Tugg. J. Patrick (Pat) Lewis lives in Westerville, Ohio, and is the author of more than 60 books for children. He writes full-time, visits elementary schools, and speaks at literature conferences. His other books with Sleeping Bear are First Dog and First Dog's White House Christmas. Christopher Denise is an award-winning illustrator whose books have appeared on The New York Times bestsellers list. Known for his work on the Redwall picture book series, he also works as a visual development artist and character designer for feature film animation. Christopher lives in Barrington, Rhode Island.

The animals of the Green Forest are hearing voices when a friend of Ol' Mistah Buzzard and Unc' Billy Possum flies north for a visit.

Charlie Bumpers juggles school bullies and a wacky scheme to keep his best friend from moving in this heartfelt conclusion to Bill Harley's beloved middle grade series. When Charlie learns that Hector's family is moving back to Chile at the end of the year, he is crushed. So with Tommy's help, he immediately starts cooking up schemes to keep Hector here, including a campaign to get him selected as next year's School Ambassador. (Surely Hector will have to stay, Charlie reasons, if he has such an important job.) As usual, Charlie's schemes lead to one near-disaster after another. But moving away from his friends turns out to be the least of Hector's problems. Three mean boys have targeted him for bullying and are making his life miserable. Hector wants to solve the problem by himself, but Charlie and Tommy see that he needs help. They start a campaign to save Hector and to defeat "The Jerzollies of Darkness." Black and white illustrations throughout.

Lilli's family is moving from the outback to the city, and Lilli is sure she'll be horribly lonely. She'll miss the mangoes, she'll miss her cousins, and most of all, she'll miss her Grandma. But when Grandma sends a special friend south with her granddaughter—a secret Shadow to look after her—Lilli discovers life in the city isn't so bad after all.

Jeff’s Uncle Roy runs a museum and is always zooming off to strange places. Now Uncle Roy is taking Jeff with him to the steamy Amazon jungle. Maybe they’ll track down crocodiles or poisonous snakes or jaguars for Uncle Roy’s museum. Wrong! On this trip, Uncle Roy is looking for . . . butterflies. Butterflies?

Cheetah is the small spotted frog Amelia brings home in a macaroni container. Amelia longs to keep Cheetah forever, but over the course of a week, she comes to understand that his place is back in the wild. Cheetah is based on a true story, and all the characters are real.

Sweet-natured Adeline Porcupine is feeling a little left out because all the other animals are cautious because of her sharp quills--but with a little help from Arnie Armadillo she joins in the play and makes friends.

When Grandfather Frog sets out to see the Great World, he discovers it is a dangerous place and is happy to return to the Smiling Pool.