A young orphan's hopes and an unusual bicycle bring about magical results in this imaginative middle grade adventure from award-winning author Bill Harley. Life is an adventure for ten-year-old Darius Frobisher. His eccentric father Rudy sells insurance four days a week. The other three days he goes on exotic journeys. But when his father flies off in a hot air balloon and doesn't come back, Darius's happy, carefree life suddenly comes to an end. He is sent to live with his notoriously nasty Aunt Ida, where he has to sleep alone in a cold, damp basement and dodge the horrible teenage boy next door. Darius sees a ray of hope when he finds a rusty old bicycle in the basement and begins to repair it in secret. Then one day he is startled to see an old man with long flowing hair riding a bicycle across the sky! That gives Darius a strange and wonderful idea. Now he knows what he has to do to get away from his miserable life.

Felix O'Finnegan has been an inventor ever since he was a small child. His ideas were getting bigger and bigger, but all the grownups kept saying, "No!" Felix continued to dream, invent, and build no matter what the adults said. He finally created a flying machine! Readers will watch Felix never give up on his dream as he builds his greatest invention yet! Clever illustrations and a strong message make this an engaging book for children.

This book surveys the major advances that were made in art, architecture, sculpture, science, medicine, transportation, and culture.

Level 1 guided reader that introduces young students to the concepts of height and width while supporting the development of reading skills.

It's 1863 and 10-year-old Emmy Blue Hatchett has been told by her father that soon their family will leave their farm, family, and friends in Illinois, and travel west to a new home in Colorado. It's difficult leaving family and friends behind. They might not see one another ever again. When Emmy's grandmother comes to say goodbye, she gives Emmy a special gift to keep her occupied on the trip. The journey by wagon train is long and full of hardships. But the Hatchetts persevere and reach their destination in Colorado, ready to start their new life.

Like millions of other young fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series, Meribah Knight dreamed of visiting the places Laura described so vividly in the books. For Meribah, her dream came true when she and her family made a pilgrimage to the veloved sites – the big woods, the banks of Plum Creek, the Little Town on the Prairie – places that had changed, but were still magically familiar. With text by Meribah and her mother, Newbery Honor author Kathryn Lasky, and full-color photographs by her father, Christopher G. Knight, the record of the Knights’ memorable journey is must reading for anyone planning a similar trip…and for everyone who wants an up-close-and-personal look at the settings of America’s most cherished pioneer saga.

It's Career Week, and Charlie Bumpers has convinced everyone that his dad would be the greatest speaker ever. But what happens when his dad loses his job? While his classmates are boasting about their parents' jobs, fourth grader Charlie Bumpers gets carried away and leaves the impression that his accountant dad is not only the president of his company but also that he will hand out free calculators to everyone. Then, with rumors flying around the school and expectations escalating, Charlie tells his teacher that his dad can speak to their class during Career Week. But just before the big event, Mr. Bumpers loses his job. How will Charlie explain to his class? Will his dad still come in during Career Week? Fortunately, Mr. Bumpers has some very surprising plans of his own. Black-and-white illustrations by Adam Gustavson enhance readers' enjoyment of the story.

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.

Charlie Bumpers wants to play the bad guy in the class play, but his teacher Mrs. Burke has other ideas. Charlie Bumpers has his heart set on playing the role of the evil Sorcerer in the fourth-grade play. But his dreams of villainous stardom go up in smoke when he finds out that Mrs. Burke has cast him as the Nice Gnome! Determined to rectify this terrible injustice, Charlie concocts one plan after another, but nothing seems to work. To make matters worse, his dad has assigned chores to all the kids in the family, and Charlie's job is walking Ginger—the diggiest, sniffiest, and poopiest dog in the universe. Can Charlie deal with these challenges without causing havoc all around him? Black and white illustrations throughout.

Charlie Bumpers's worst fear is confirmed: he has Mrs. Burke for fourth grade. How will he survive the strictest teacher in school? Shortly before school starts, Charlie Bumpers learns that he will be in Mrs. Burke's class. It doesn't matter that she's been named Teacher of the Year. He's still afraid of her. Last year when he was horsing around in the hall, he accidentally hit her in the head with his sneaker (don't ask). The exasperated teacher declared that if anything like that ever happened again, Charlie would be banned from recess forever. How will he survive a year under a teacher who is just waiting for him to make another stupid mistake? Black and white illustrations throughout.