S. D. Schindler

Wishing to visit their mother, two winged cats leave their new country home to return to the city, where they discover a winged kitten in a building imminently to be demolished.

Once there was a witch who longed for pumpkin pie. Unfortunately, thepumpkin she had grown from a seed became so big she simply couldn't get it off the vine. Although "she pulled and she tugged and she pulled...that pumpkin just sat." Along came a ghost, "I am bigger than you and stronger, too," said he. "Let me try." Well, the witch wanted that whole pumpkin for herself. But she needed help - Halloween was just hours away...With the rhythm and repetition...

Questions and answers present information about who the Pilgrims were, how and why they came to America on the Mayflower, and what happened in the colony of New Plymouth.

After painstakingly handcrafting a replacement copy of a library book, a medieval monk tries to protect it from a hungry bear with a taste for literature. Includes historical note on illuminated manuscripts.

"Ben Franklin loved to swim and, at the age of eleven, he was determined to swim like a fish--fins and all. This ... account of young Ben's earliest invention follows the budding scientist's journey as he tests and retests his swim fins. That first big splash led Ben to even more innovations and inventions. Includes Franklin quotes, a timeline, bibliography, and source notes"--

Two families--a large one that lives in a house and the other a tiny one that lives in a snow globe, look forward to a big snowstorm.

Angry at Crow for flying off with her mother's keys, Emma tries to trick the wily bird.

Describes the characteristics of spiders and the methods they use to trap their prey in webs.

Told in the present tense, each story becomes a glimpse of other, often lonely, lives at holiday time. These protagonists are, for the most part, outsiders looking in at more traditional families and their celebrations. One story, for instance, is of Mae, a homeless woman, who walks with her dogs through the pre-Christmas bustle of shoppers, unseen by most. She is sick and can't remember where the sick place is that they once took her to. She almost...

Although others participate by driving, riding, and making music, Amanda Dade leads the parade to welcome the arrival of the New Year.