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Splat the Cat faces a catastrophe: the first day of school. Wrought with worry and needing the comfort of a good friend, Splat stows his pet mouse Seymour into his lunchbox. Will Splat survive his first day of school? Will Seymour survive Splat’s first day of school? Check out Rob Scotton’s Splat the Cat.

A Parade of Nations I can’t wait for the Summer Olympics. Nation after nation will parade in the opening ceremonies. Athletes will proudly carry their country’s flag and wear their country’s colors. Some large, some very small, all will be present for the XXX Olympics in London this summer. Long ago, God singled out a…

William Hobbs’s Crossing the Wire relates the struggle of Victor Flores, a Mexican teenager who tries to support his mother and siblings by scratching a corn crop from the Sonoran desert. When his best friend leaves the village for El Norte, Victor realizes America holds his best hope of providing for his family. Crossing the Wire…

Summer in Texas holds as much heat as a heap of jalapenos. Ten-Gallon Bart understands. Dog City heats up in the summer too and Bart longs to escape. Paradise calls his name, so Bart heads north for snow, gold, fishing, and sledding. But the critters up north give Bart the cold shoulder and he finds…

Because You Say So “Because I say so.” Ever heard this gem roll off Mom or Dad’s lips? Something about those words make us want to arch our backs like a cat and hiss. I don’t like being told what to do. How that sin nature fights authority. Yet, check out this passage in Luke…

In Susan Patron’s Higher Power of Lucky, Lucky eavesdrops on the anonymous twelve step meetings in her small town of Hard Pan. She hears of a higher power and wishes for one of her own. Lucky’s mother died when she was eight and her father dumped her on his first wife. Lucky knows it’s just a…

No one could ask for a better friend than Rabbit, but trouble follows this particular bunny. Join Mouse and his friend as the faithful Rabbit strives to retrieve Mouse’s plane in Eric Rohmann’s My Friend Rabbit. Rohmann’s simple story and hilarious Caldecott-winning illustrations will keep you smiling. Who is your special friend?

Access “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” Proverbs 18:10 (NIV) What do you think of when you hear “strong tower”? Shrek? Rapunzel? Every castle has one. They’re all the rage. Why? Is it just an architectural fashion statement or a necessary hideaway for some…

After surviving a hurricane in open water at age three, Mafatu carries an unrelenting dread of the sea. Ostracized by the other boys, Mafatu realizes he must try to master his fear. He secretly leaves his island of Hikueru and faces the terrifying ocean alone. When a storm deposits him on an unknown island, he must learn to survive and…

Bo Armadillo is supposed to follow Ma as the family heads out to dig in the Texas hill country. Now, armadillos don’t see well. Add the fact that Bo is easily distracted and you get a sum of trouble. He leaves Ma behind when he discovers a lizard, but soon discards the lizard for a…