"Amy has never liked being in the spotlight. When all her friends decide to form a team for the Santa Vista Quiz Bowl, Amy's not so sure. She knows she can answer the quiz questions...but can she do it in front of hundreds of people? Meanwhile, The Critter Club is caring for some chickens who need a home. As the Quiz Bowl approaches, Amy herself starts feeling just a little bit chicken!"--

Amy and her friends care for some chickens and prepare for the Santa Vista Quiz Bowl in the thirteenth book of The Critter Club series! Amy has never liked being in the spotlight. When all of her friends decide to form a team for the Santa Vista Quiz Bowl, Amy isn’t so sure it’s a good idea. She knows she can answer the quiz questions…but can she do it in front of hundreds of people? Meanwhile, the Critter Club is caring for a few chickens that need a home. And as the day of the Quiz Bowl gets closer, Amy starts to feel a little bit chicken herself! Will she get over her stage fright and help her team win? With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, The Critter Club chapter books are perfect for beginning readers!

Young readers get an introduction to twenty different types of birds, with breathtaking paper-cuts by newcomer Dylan Metrano! "Chickadee wears a wee black cap.Jay is loud and bold.Nuthatch perches upside-down.Finch is clothed in gold."Young readers are fascinated with birds in their world. Every Day Birds helps children identify and learn about common birds. After reading Every Day Birds, families can look out their windows with curiosity--recognizing birds and nests and celebrating the beauty of these creatures!Every Day Birds focuses on twenty North American birds, with a poem and descriptions written by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and beautiful paper-cuttings by first-time picture book illustrator Dylan Metrano. Interesting facts about each bird are featured in the back of the book.

Learning that a nearby park is about to be turned into a shopping center, Amy races against time to save the recreation center and the animal friends who live there.

Introducing The Critter Club! Amy and her friends solve a canine caper in this start to a pet-friendly illustrated chapter book series. It’s Spring Break in Santa Vista, and everyone has big plans...everyone except for Amy, that is! As her best friends head out of town on exciting adventures, Amy resigns herself to helping out at her mom’s vet clinic. At least she’ll be around cute animals! But when Santa Vista’s cold and elusive millionaire, Marge Sullivan, brings her puppy Rufus for a check-up, Amy encounters an unexpected mystery. After her friends return home, the girls get to the bottom of what happened to Rufus—and discover a way to help other lost and lonely animals in their town. With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, The Critter Club chapter books are perfect for beginning readers.

In the twenty-first book of the Critter Club series, Amy discovers she has a real knack for training puppies. But when she takes on too many puppy clients, things get out of hand—or paw! When Amy meets the owner of a brand-new puppy at her mom’s vet clinic, she agrees to help the woman train her new pet. Amy does such a great job, she starts getting calls from more puppy owners! Things go great for a while, but soon, Amy is in way over her head. She can’t say no to a puppy in need and has taken on way too many clients! Amy barely has time for school or her friends in between all the puppies. Can she dig herself out of this hole before she goes barking mad? With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, The Critter Club chapter books are perfect for emerging readers.

Minnesota native Amy Thielen, host of Heartland Table on Food Network, presents 200 recipes that herald a revival in heartland cuisine in this James Beard Award-winning cookbook. Amy Thielen grew up in rural northern Minnesota, waiting in lines for potluck buffets amid loops of smoked sausages from her uncle’s meat market and in the company of women who could put up jelly without a recipe. She spent years cooking in some of New York City’s best restaurants, but it took moving home in 2008 for her to rediscover the wealth and diversity of the Midwestern table, and to witness its reinvention. The New Midwestern Table reveals all that she’s come to love—and learn—about the foods of her native Midwest, through updated classic recipes and numerous encounters with spirited home cooks and some of the region’s most passionate food producers. With 150 color photographs capturing these fresh-from-the-land dishes and the striking beauty of the terrain, this cookbook will cause any home cook to fall in love with the captivating flavors of the American heartland.

These 101 true stories will inspire you to think positive to live a happier life. Everyone can use a little more positive thinking—to create an even better life. Your attitude is a powerful tool, and these stories from real people show you how to think yourself into a more fulfilling, happier life. As co-author Deborah Norville says, “Change your thoughts and you’ll change your world. Sometimes you need an example to follow, a how-to that works for you. These stories can help you do just that.” In this collection, you'll read stories about: making every day count through mindfulness and thankfulness trying new things and stepping outside your comfort zone simple phrases that could change your life turning lemons to lemonade and finding the silver lining in every situation finding your inner strength and turning adversity into opportunity counting your blessings and using the power of gratitude rebooting your life and living with passion and purpose how volunteering and making a difference can turn your life around strategies that work for bringing joy back into your life techniques for managing cancer and other health challenges

Declining church attendance. A growing feeling of betrayal. For Christians who have begun to feel set adrift and disillusioned by their churches, Where Goodness Still Grows grounds us in a new view of virtue deeply rooted in a return to Jesus Christ’s life and ministry. The evangelical church in America has reached a crossroads. Social media and recent political events have exposed the fault lines that exist within our country and our spiritual communities. Millennials are leaving the church, citing hypocrisy, partisanship, and unkindness as reasons they can’t stay. In this book Amy Peterson explores the corruption and blind spots of the evangelical church and the departure of so many from the faith - but she refuses to give up hope, believing that rescue is on the way. Where Goodness Still Grows: Dissects the moral code of American evangelicalism Reimagines virtue as a tool, not a weapon Explores the Biblical meaning of specific virtues like kindness, purity, and modesty Provides comfort, hope, and a path towards spiritual restoration Amy writes as someone intimately familiar with, fond of, and deeply critical of the world of conservative evangelicalism. She writes as a woman and a mother, as someone invested in the future of humanity, and as someone who just needs to know how to teach her kids what it means to be good. Amy finds that if we listen harder and farther, we will find the places where goodness still grows. Praise for Where Goodness Still Grows: “In this poignant, honest book, Amy Peterson confronts her disappointment with the evangelical leaders who handed her The Book of Virtues then happily ignored them for the sake of political power. But instead of just walking away, Peterson rewrites the script, giving us an alternative book of virtues needed in this moment. And it’s no mistake that it ends with hope.” — James K. A. Smith, author of You Are What You Love

Join the Critter Club on their animal adventures in this heartwarming bind-up of books ten through thirteen of the adorable Critter Club chapter book series! Meet the Critter Club: Amy, Ellie, Liz, Marion, and all their animal friends! Together, these four girls help lost or lonely critters find homes. Join them as they find a lucky pig, rescue a baby octopus, babysit younger siblings, and care for precocious chickens. With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, The Critter Club chapter books are perfect for beginning readers. This sweet paper-over-board bind-up includes: Ellie and the Good-Luck Pig Liz and the Sand Castle Contest Marion Takes Charge Amy Is a Little Bit Chicken