Everyone’s favourite furry friends are BACK in this fourth hilarious adventure!

Introducing everyone's new best friend: Stick Dog! Don't miss the very first book in this bestselling funny illustrated series. He'll make you laugh...he'll make you cry...but above all, he'll make you hungry! Follow Stick Dog as he goes on an epic quest for the perfect burger. With hilarious text and stick-figure drawings, reluctant readers eat this one up! Perfect for fans of such series as The Last Kids on Earth, Dog Man, Big Nate, Timmy Failure, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, this is the first book in the bestselling Stick Dog series. A favorite of readers ages 6 to 12, both avid and less so, Stick Dog is a winner for those looking for their next funny illustrated middle grade book series. Other favorites in the series include Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog, Stick Dog Chases a Pizza, and many more!

Perfect for fans of Big Nate, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Timmy Failure, and the previous Stick Dog books, the popular Stick Dog series continues in Tom Watson's hilarious Stick Dog Tries to Take the Donuts! It's morning. The dogs are hungry. It's time to take the donuts! Stick Dog and his team of strays are off on another outrageous canine caper. To snatch some breakfast treats for his hungry pals, Stick Dog will need to stop a moving truck, outfox a man on a telephone pole, and calm down a very caffeinated Karen. But that's not all. He'll also need to manage the greatest confrontation in history when his good friend Poo-Poo comes face-to-face with the ultimate enemy: a squirrel! With Stick Dog's smarts, daring, loyalty—and patience—he just might lead his buddies to the best breakfast ever. Other favorites in the series include Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog, Stick Dog Chases a Pizza, and many more!

Stick Dog and his pals are back, but this time the temperature is rising and they're all feeling the heat. They need cold, cold ice cream on this hot, hot day! It will take all of Stick Dog's smarts to guide his friends to a scrumptious ice-cream feast. They'll battle a water-attacking machine, discover rainbow puddles, and chase the strangest, loudest truck they've ever seen. But there's a looming threat to their mission--Stick Dog gets spotted by a human. And the police are on his tail. If he's captured, Stick Dog may never see his friends again. If he escapes, it's ice cream for everyone. With hilarious text and stick-figure drawings, reluctant readers will eat this one up! Perfect for fans of such series as Dog Man, Big Nate, Timmy Failure, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Other favorites in the series include Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog, Stick Dog Chases a Pizza, and many more!

Perfect for fans of Big Nate, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and the previous Stick Dog books, Tom Watson’s hilarious series continues with Stick Dog and his pals after something even more exciting than food: Santa Claus! Weird things are happening in Stick Dog’s snow-covered neighborhood. Strangely shaped pinecones hang from trees. Humans sing merry songs all over town. And an odd man is making a list and checking it twice. Mutt, Karen, Stripes, and Poo-Poo have tons of questions. And for the first time, Stick Dog doesn’t have answers. But their good friend Lucy does. So when the dogs learn all about Santa Claus, their hilarious quest to celebrate the holiday begins. The bestselling Stick Dog series is perfect for fans of such series as The Last Kids on Earth, Dog Man, Big Nate, Timmy Failure, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. A favorite of readers ages 6 to 12, both avid and less so, Stick Dog is a winner for those looking for their next funny illustrated middle grade book series. Other favorites in the series include Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog, Stick Dog Chases a Pizza, and many more!

Perfect for fans of Big Nate, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and the previous Stick Dog books, Tom Watson’s hilarious series continues, and Stick Dog is in the mood for takeout! When Stick Dog and his crew unknowingly discover chopsticks, their taste buds lead them to a lakeside sushi restaurant. They see the sushi. They smell the sushi. But how are they going to get the sushi? Several things stand in Stick Dog’s way. They include a squirrel eating a barbecue potato chip, a runaway canoe, and a little female human. Stick Dog must navigate around each of these obstacles if he’s ever going to get some sushi for his drooling friends. It’s another wacky food-snatching mission. If Stick Dog fails, Mutt, Karen, Stripes, and Poo-Poo will go to bed with empty stomachs. If he succeeds, it’s sushi for everyone! The bestselling Stick Dog series is perfect for fans of such series as The Last Kids on Earth, Dog Man, Big Nate, Timmy Failure, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. A favorite of readers ages 6 to 12, both avid and less so, Stick Dog is a winner for those looking for their next funny illustrated middle grade book series. Other favorites in the series include Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog, Stick Dog Chases a Pizza, and many more!

Stick Dog and his pals are back, but this time the temperature is rising and they're all feeling the heat. They need cold, cold ice cream on this hot, hot day! It will take all of Stick Dog's smarts to guide his friends to a scrumptious ice-cream feast. They'll battle a water-attacking machine, discover rainbow puddles, and chase the strangest, loudest truck they've ever seen. But there's a looming threat to their mission—Stick Dog gets spotted by a human. And the police are on his tail. If he's captured, Stick Dog may never see his friends again. If he escapes, it's ice cream for everyone. With hilarious text and stick-figure drawings, reluctant readers will eat this one up! Perfect for fans of such series as Dog Man, Big Nate, Timmy Failure, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Other favorites in the series include Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog, Stick Dog Chases a Pizza, and many more!

Reaching Reluctant Young Readers features 150 middle-grade books. Each profiled title has the potential to hook the reluctant reader and lure them to read the entire book. To specifically encourage elementary and middle-school-age reluctant children to read, there is first a pitch to get the reader’s attention. That is followed by a short reading passage to “set the hook” and encourage the young person to read the rest of the book on their own. Further, the book contains several hundred additional recommended titles. The books selected for this collection were chosen following the criteria of reluctant reader books created by the Quick Picks committee sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association. While these guidelines were designed for young adult books, they also work well for middle-grade books. The criteria include: clear writing (no convoluted long sentences with sophisticated vocabulary), high interest “hook” in the first few pages, well-defined characters, interesting plot, and familiar themes.

This book was written to demonstrate acts of faith and the lessons that I learned in life that renewed my faith and made me stronger spiritually. All things are possible with prayer. Praying allows us to get in contact with our higher being and renewing our faith. This book is filled with short stories that provided spiritual guidance that strengthen the writers spirit. I hope that it provides some spirit guidance to the readers. Allowing the spirit to guide me has changed my life. It has improved my physical being, restored relationships, improved my financial status, profound peace of mind, and given me confidence and courage to reach my highest potential in Gods will. Painted Dreams has given color to my prayers. It gives a visual picture to prayers that only God can paint. This picture helps to strengthen our faith and make us stronger spiritually. Let God continued to bless my readers and myself and provide us with divine spiritual guidance.