Family Chapter

These bedtime stories incorporate themes from LGBTQ families, relationships, and life situations. They stand as engaging stories in their own right but incorporate diverse themes. As such, these stories are appropriate for all children but may be helpful for those from alternative families who see themselves less represented in mainstream fiction.

When Leonie Baxter finds herself out of a job and out of a relationship, she’s at her wits end. Her life has just been turned upside down and she needs a plan, fast. By chance, on a walk with her rescue puppy, Leonie stumbles across a striking house in the woods; fully furnished but unoccupied. As a journalist, she is determined to find out more, after all, reporting is in her nature. But her attempts are thwarted by Lily Cruickshank who lives in the cottage next door.

Ever since Grandma Lou gave her that squished penny, Judy can’t stop winning - at bowling, at spelling, at everything! For sure and absolute positive, she’ll ride that wave of good fortune all the way to the nation’s capital. Watch out, D.C. Here comes Judy Moody, the luckiest kid ever! Luckiest, that is, until her lucky penny has an unlucky accident. Suddenly it’s good-bye, Lucky Duck! Hello, C-A-L-A-M-I-T-Y! Has Judy’s luck gone down the toilet for good?

Kristy's up for the best spring vacation ever - a week of baseball with famous major leaguers at Bill Bain's Dream Camp. Together with her stepdad, Kristy enjoys the all-star week of a lifetime.

Judy Moody is making a list and checking it twice, but all her brother, Stink, wants this year is snow. It hasn’t snowed on Christmas in Virginia in more than a hundred years, however, so what are the chances that that will change? Enter the new mailman, Mr. Jack Frost, who not only looks like a jolly old elf but also seems to know a lot about weather patterns, has a fondness for the cold, and works looooooong hours during the holiday season.

In this sequel to The Dark Portal, the evil rat Jupiter has been defeated, and the young Deptford mice emerge from the sewers to start a new life in the country. But the albino mouse Oswald is seized by an illness and lies near death. His friend Audrey enlists the help of the ancient squirrel mystic Starwife, who agrees to heal him on one condition.

I was thirteen when my dad caught me with Tommy Webber in the back of Tommy’s Buick, parked next to the old Chart House down in Montara at eleven o’clock on a Tuesday night. Tommy was seventeen and the supposed friend of my brother, Darren. I didn’t love him. I’m not sure I even liked...

Pack your bags and get ready to fall in love with The Hotel by the Sea—your next romantic getaway awaits! Rebecca needs to escape. After making a complete fool of herself watching the man she's secretly loved for years run off with someone else—she jumps at a temporary job at the family-run...

With nothing but time on her hands, retired nurse Rose Lanyon finds herself drawn to the garden that had once been her husband’s pride and joy.

It may have started as a means of honouring her husband’s memory, but her little Cornish garden soon becomes so much more – a place where the lost and lonely can find solace, the forgotten can be remembered, and second chances take bloom. Because, as long as new life is growing, there will always be hope and new memories to make.

After Tyler's father is injured in a tractor accident, his family hires migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure. Tyler isn’ t sure what to make of these workers. Are they undocumented? And what about the three daughters, particularly Mari, the oldest, who is...

When Sara Mason returns to her hometown to start a new life, she learns that a murderer is terrorizing its residents. Despite battling difficult childhood memories, Sara is determined to make peace with her past. But she soon learns that the elusive psychopath is now stalking her. Sara's attempt to rebuild her life is hindered even more by the discovery of skeletal remains on her property. As the investigation focuses on several suspects, Sara discovers critical clues and bravely volunteers to be a decoy for the sheriff's department.

Lizzie and Charles Peterson love puppies. Even though they finally have their very own puppy, Buddy, Lizzie still can't get enough time with dogs. She helps her Aunt Amanda at her doggie day care center as often as she can. At the doggie day care, Lizzie meets a pesky but lovable pug named Pugsley. Pugsley is adorable, but he didn't earn the nickname Mr. Pest for nothing and his owners decide he's too much of a handful to keep!

At the age of 21, Sydney Grey returns to her quaint hometown of Stoney Creek and begins renovations on her childhood farm. When she discovers a set of journals written by her mother - presumed to have abandoned her family 20 years ago - a long-hidden mystery is uncovered, leading Sydney to fear that her mother’s disappearance was the result of foul play.

A thrilling new whodunnit series, fast-paced and funny, featuring a detective as sharp as his suits and a heroine who’s trouble. 3000 years ago Iron Age people carved a White Horse on the Downs near Uffington Castle and now someone has dumped a body there. Laid out like a ceremonial killing...

A thrilling new whodunnit series, fast-paced and funny, featuring a detective as sharp as his suits and a heroine who’s trouble. The River Thames always gives up its dead… There’s a killer picking off victims from the wild swimming spots on the upper reaches of the Thames. The case takes...

Welcome to Wildcat Crossing! There's horses to ride, a Wild West show - and a mysterious troublemaker on the loose!

All her life, Boo has wanted a real live dinosaur to follow her home - and today, one did. There is only one problem - no one else can see Boo's dinosaur. Boo's older brother Sammy certainly won't put up with these crazy antics.

What does a little bear wear as he dances and plays his way through a sunny summer day? Young listeners will be fascinated as John McDonough's upbeat narration perfectly delivers this book's lilting, musical rhyme and joyful, exuberant rhythm that make Jesse Bear's day a pleasure for everyone.

Judy is visiting Grandma Lou one day when she accidentally finds an uber-mysterious list of activities - a Bucket List! Which gives Judy an idea: How rare would it be if she made her own way-official bucket list of all the things she wants to do - before she starts fourth grade? Pretty soon Judy is off and running trying to cross off all her items: learn to do a cartwheel, invent something rad, go to Antarctica (the real one), ride a horse - the list goes on.

Dad's training to become a firefighter, while Weir's busy with Pet Day! Will FiDo and Blockhead freeze up or find fame?