This award-winning children’s book explores the transformation of a water nymph into a beautiful dragonfly. Follow two insects, Lea and Nym, and the struggles Nym endures when her friend disappears from their underwater home. This tender story about loss and change was written to help parents explain their views about death with children. Children may identify with Nym, who grieves the loss of her friend, and find it easier to express their unique feelings about a death after hearing the story. Through a vision or dream, Nym learns that Lea has transformed into a beautiful dragonfly above the marsh. Someday, Nym will see her friend again in this new world. Beautifully illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson, the book is cherished by parents, grandparents and teachers. It is often used to help explain death to children or to engage children in an open dialogue about death. The hardcover edition has been adapted into several theatrical performances in various communities to help children cope with the death of their classmates. The book, which includes the real lifecycle of the dragonfly, may serve many purposes, such as comforting a grieving child or providing facts about dragonflies.

Help children identify the beauty and hope in all cycles of life as they follow two insects, Lea and Nym, and the struggles Nym endures when her friend disappears. The Dragonfly Door is a tender story about loss and change, written to help parents and adults express their views about life and death. Adults who work with children find this book helpful because it encourages some children to talk about their unique feelings associated with a loss or change. Children may identify with Nym, who grieves the loss of her friend, and find it easier to express their feelings about a loss after hearing the story. Some teachers will follow-up with a discussion either one-on-one, in-class, or through a writing assignment. For those interested in nature, this book includes the real life cycle of the dragonfly at the end. Parents and grandparents sometimes interpret Lea¿s transformation into a beautiful dragonfly above the marsh as a metaphor for heaven or as an analogy to life after death. Someday, Nym will see her friend again in this new world. In this way, the core message of the story becomes one of hope for those who grieve the loss of someone. The Dragonfly Door may serve many purposes, such as comforting a grieving child or providing facts about dragonflies. Beautifully illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson, the book is cherished by parents, grandparents and teachers.

For fans of Wrinkle in Time and The School of Good and Evil, the New York Times bestseller The Mark of the Dragonfly is a fast-paced adventure story about a mysterious girl and a fearless boy, set in a magical world that is both exciting and dangerous. Piper has never seen the Mark of the Dragonfly until she finds the girl amid the wreckage of a caravan in the Meteor Fields. The girl doesn’t remember a thing about her life, but the intricate tattoo on her arm is proof that she’s from the Dragonfly Territories and that she’s protected by the king. Which means a reward for Piper if she can get the girl home. The one sure way to the Territories is the 401, a great old beauty of a train. But a ticket costs more coin than Piper could make in a year. And stowing away is a difficult prospect—everyone knows that getting past the peculiar green-eyed boy who stands guard is nearly impossible. Life for Piper just turned dangerous. A little bit magical. And very exciting, if she can manage to survive the journey. Praise for The Mark of the Dragonfly: ★ “This magnetic middle-grade debut…[is] a page-turner that defies easy categorization and ought to have broad appeal.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred ★ “Heart, brains, and courage find a home in a steampunk fantasy worthy of a nod from Baum.”-- Kirkus Reviews, Starred ★ “A fantastic and original tale of adventure and magic...Piper is a heroine to fall in love with: smart, brave, kind, and mechanically inclined to boot.”—School Library Journal, Starred “A complex and impeccably developed plot—there is plenty to recommend in this novel.”—The Bulletin “Appealing characters and lots of action make it a good choice for young adventure readers.”—Booklist

Two young companions, Totho and Salma, arrive at Tark to spy on the menacing Wasp army, but are there mistakenly apprehended as enemy agents. By the time they are freed, the city is already under siege. Over in the imperial capital the young emperor, Alvdan, is becoming captivated by a remarkable slave, the vampiric Uctebri, who claims he knows of magic that can grant eternal life. In Collegium, meanwhile, Stenwold is still trying to persuade the city magnates to take seriously the Wasp Empire's imminent threat to their survival. In a colorful drama involving mass warfare and personal combat, a small group of heroes must stand up against what seems like an unstoppable force. This volume continues the story that so brilliantly unfolded in Empire in Black and Gold - and the action is still non-stop.

Read the USA Today bestseller from the author of Roses, a "sumptuous, full-bodied, and emotional" novel about five young spies embedded among the highest Nazi ranks in occupied Paris (Adriana Trigiani, NYT bestselling author of Tony's Wife). At the height of World War II, a handful of idealistic young Americans receive a mysterious letter from the government, asking them if they are willing to fight for their country. The men and women from very different backgrounds -- a Texan athlete with German roots, an upper-crust son of a French mother and a wealthy businessman, a dirt-poor Midwestern fly fisherman, an orphaned fashion designer, and a ravishingly beautiful female fencer -- all answer the call of duty, but each for a secret reason of her or his own. They bond immediately, in a group code-named Dragonfly. Thus begins a dramatic cat-and-mouse game, as the group seeks to stay under the radar until a fatal misstep leads to the capture and the firing-squad execution of one of their team. But is everything as it seems, or is this one more elaborate act of spycraft?

A 2023 Batchelder Honor Book From acclaimed Chinese author Cao Wenxuan, recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, comes a compelling family saga spanning fifty years and three generations. Ah-Mei and her French grandmother, Nainai, share a rare bond. Maybe it’s because Ah-Mei is the only girl grandchild. Or maybe it’s because the pair look so much alike and neither resembles the rest of their Chinese family. Politics and war make 1960s Shanghai a hard place to grow up, especially when racism and bigotry are rife, and everyone seems suspicious of Nainai’s European heritage and interracial marriage. In this time of political upheaval, Ah-Mei and her family suffer much—and when the family silk business falters, they are left with almost nothing. Ah-Mei and her grandmother are resourceful, but will the tender connection they share bring them enough strength to carry through? This multigenerational saga by one of China’s most esteemed children’s authors takes the reader from 1920s France to a ravaged postwar Shanghai and through the convulsions of the Cultural Revolution.

A gorilla, a witch, a ghost, then a fierce scaly dragon hungry for his tea. Who will be next? Each time there's a knock at the door, there's a different monster, but each time they're wearing the same tartan slippers. Of course, it's just Dad, playing an hilarious bedtime game!

From the author of Outlander, a magnificent epic that once again sweeps us back in time to the drama and passion of 18th-century Scotland. For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland's majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones, about a love that transcends the boundaries of time and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his. Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire's spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart, in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves.

Illus. in full color. An apple pie is easy to make...if the market is open. But if the market is closed, the world becomes your grocery store. This deliciously silly recipe for apple pie takes readers around the globe to gather ingredients. First hop a steamboat to Italy for the finest semolina wheat. Then hitch a ride to England and hijack a cow for the freshest possible milk. And, oh yes! Don't forget to go apple picking in Vermont! A simple recipe for apple pie is included. "Libraries should consider purchasing multiple copies since every preschool and primary-grade teacher in town will want a copy to read."--(starred) Booklist.

A boy finds a salamander in the woods and imagines the many things he can do to turn his room into a perfect salamander home. Together, Anne Mazer and Steve Johnson have created a woodland paradise that any salamander would love to share with a child.