The night the wind started to bump and to bash was the night the rain started to thump and to thrash. Oliver was small, he didn't like it at all. He wished he was tall and mighty. Oliver is having a bath during a thunderstorm and as the thunder gets louder and the storm gets more scary he uses his imagination to face his fears and overcome them.

A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From America’s favorite government teacher, a heartfelt, inspiring portrait of twelve ordinary Americans whose courage formed the character of our country. In The Small and the Mighty, Sharon McMahon proves that the most remarkable Americans are often ordinary people who didn’t make it into the textbooks. Not the presidents, but the telephone operators. Not the aristocrats, but the schoolteachers. Through meticulous research, she discovers history’s unsung characters and brings their rich, riveting stories to light for the first time. You’ll meet a woman astride a white horse riding down Pennsylvania Ave, a young boy detained at a Japanese incarceration camp, a formerly enslaved woman on a mission to reunite with her daughter, a poet on a train, and a teacher who learns to work with her enemies. More than one thing is bombed, and multiple people surprisingly become rich. Some rich with money, and some wealthy with things that matter more. This is a book about what really made America – and Americans – great. McMahon’s cast of improbable champions will become familiar friends, lighting the path we journey in our quest to make the world more just, peaceful, good, and free.

Oliver Donnington Rimington-Sneep avoids falling asleep by flying his rocket ship to Mars.

In teaching, the details matter. When educators make small changes to their practice, they can reap big rewards … and produce big results. Teaching can be a daunting profession. There's so much material to cover and so many demands to meet, issues to resolve, new programs to implement, and relationships to deal with. And there's never enough time! Teachers have always found ways to cope, but what they really need is a new and sustainable way to approach everyday challenges—one that will lead to better outcomes and a healthier environment for their students and themselves. In Small but Mighty: How Everyday Habits Add Up to More Manageable and Confident Teaching, Miriam Plotinsky explores the benefits of "habit stacking"—making a series of small, gradual shifts in practice before, during, and after instruction, and in the broader context of teacher and student wellness. Noting that motivation is an unreliable factor in success, and that large-scale change is often more disruptive than meaningful, Plotinsky offers practical, classroom-based tools and strategies teachers can use to make incremental adjustments to planning, collaboration, classroom management, assessment, feedback, and other elements of practice. Each chapter includes scenarios that readers will recognize as the kinds of anxiety-inducing situations they regularly face along with examples of the transformative changes they can kick off by adopting a few new habits. Like a knowledgeable and trusted mentor, Plotinsky offers advice, support, and reassurance to educators who may be questioning their ability to withstand the pressures of today's school environment and clarifies how a "small but mighty" approach to change leads to a more satisfying and fulfilling experience in the classroom and beyond.

A third fantastic Oliver story from the award-winning author / illustrator team.

Olivia the ox learns what her best qualities really are when her friend Mei needs help as a flood threatens their village. Lists the birth years and characteristics of individuals born in the Chinese Year of the Ox.

Three women of different religious backgrounds share details about conversations they have had concerning what divides and unites people of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths.

Melvin Robinson wants a strong, smooth, He-Man voice that lets him say what he wants, when he wants—especially to his crush Millie Takazawa, and Gary Ratliff, who constantly puts him down. But the thought of starting high school is only making his stutter worse. And Melvin's growing awareness that racism is everywhere—not just in the South where a boy his age has been brutally killed by two white men, but also in his own hometown of Spokane—is making him realize that he can't mutely stand by. His new friend Lenny, a fast-talking, sax-playing Jewish boy, who lives above the town's infamous (and segregated) Harlem Club, encourages Melvin to take some risks—to invite Millie to Homecoming and even audition for a local TV variety show. When they play music together, Melvin almost feels like he's talking, no words required. But there are times when one needs to speak up. When his moment comes, can Melvin be as mighty on the outside as he actually is on the inside?

Ralph Moody was eight years old in 1906 when his family moved from New Hampshire to a Colorado ranch. Through his eyes we experience the pleasures and perils of ranching there early in the twentieth century. Auctions and roundups, family picnics, irrigation wars, tornadoes and wind storms give authentic color to Little Britches. So do adventures, wonderfully told, that equip Ralph to take his father's place when it becomes necessary. Little Britches was the literary debut of Ralph Moody, who wrote about the adventures of his family in eight glorious books, all available as Bison Books.