Family Reader

When the Boxcar Children help out in a local garden, they dig up one strange thing after another! First, the tomato plants seem to move every day. How can that be? Then the Aldens follow the clues to an unsolved bank robbery, and it's clear that a very big mystery is growing in Greenfield.

Dive into the universe of learning and adventure with "Fun with Astrophysics: Storytelling for the Whole Family," an enthralling book that blends imaginative storytelling with the intriguing world of astrophysics. Crafted by an experienced chemical engineer with a PhD, this book is a bridge connecting the complex realm of astrophysics with the eager curiosity of children.

Watch the days and seasons pass as the wind blows, the fog rolls in, and icebergs drift by. Outside, there is water all around. Inside, the daily life of a lighthouse keeper and his family unfolds as the keeper boils water for tea, lights the lamp's wick, and writes every detail in his logbook. Step back in time and through the door of this iconic lighthouse into a cozy dollhouse-like interior with the extraordinary award-winning artist Sophie Blackall.

Sophie already has a rabbit and a cat and a dog, but what she'd really love is a pony. Good fortune comes Sophie's way when she's invited to spend her summer holiday in Scotland with Great Aunt Al.

When an almost-magician named Moongobble and his talking toad, Urk, move into the abandoned cottage near Edward's home, it seems like a dream come true. After all, Edward has been longing for some excitement.

Popular author Katherine Applegate has won a devoted following for her Roscoe Riley Rules series, which features a loveable youngster who has his own guidelines for getting by in life. Roscoe has already learned not to glue his friends to chairs, not to steal from bullies, and not to swap his sweaters for dogs. But when his class plans a field trip to an apple orchard, he gets himself into his stickiest situation yet—and learns a new rule in the process.

Popular children's author Katherine Applegate launches an entertaining new series featuring Roscoe Riley, a good-natured first grader whose own rules can't keep him out of mischief. In his first adventure, Roscoe shares a simple rule: Never glue your friends to chairs. But when he finds a bottle of Super-Mega-Gonzo glue in the junk drawer at home, he can't resist tossing it in his backpack and taking it to school.

The Aldens discover there’s nothing more fun than a drive-in theater, where they can eat popcorn in the car and watch movies under the stars! But pranks and other odd things keep happening at the Diamond Drive-In, and late at night, a ghost is seen walking around the empty lot. Is the old theater really haunted?

As two sisters watch their friends’ families grow, they wish on a star for a sibling of their own…and a younger brother and a baby cousin arrive! The new family members aren’t exactly what the sisters expected, but with time and patience, the group soon becomes fabulously four—and lets their imaginations soar! Together they can be anything, and no matter what, they will always remember that love comes first.

The big day is finally here - Amelia Bedelia’s school, Oak Tree Elementary, is 100 years old, and the whole town is throwing a party. Best of all, a secret time capsule that has been buried for an entire century will finally be dug up and opened! Amelia Bedelia and her friends have some guesses about what they’ll find. Are they right? Or is everyone in for a big surprise?

Small but very determined, Sophie loves animals and is going to be a farmer when she grows up. She has herds of insects and acquires a snail, a rabbit, a cat and a dog. Sophie's cat, Tom, has surprised them all by producing four kittens. There are more animals to come in the year that Sophie hits six, finds a new farming ally, and makes a triumphant entrance into the sporting arena.

In the sixth book of the Calendar Mysteries, Bradley, Brian, Nate and Lucy are getting ready for Father's Day. They've decided that strawberry jam from the Pintos' strawberry patch would be a great gift. But something or someone has been taking bites out of the strawberrys! Polly the Pony, Pal and the dog, and the twins' brother Josh are all suspects. If the kids can't protect the strawberry patch from the mystery chomper, they might be in a real jam!

Author Katherine Applegate’s stories about Roscoe Riley are popular with young readers who know what it’s like to get into trouble—accidentally. When the local bookstore holds a contest to guess the weight of a giant pumpkin, the prize is a bunch of books for the winner’s school library and a ton of candy. Roscoe likes books and candy, so he decides to make a guess. But a bad-luck black kitten at the bookstore keeps getting in his way.

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.

Miss Mackle is getting married! But she didn't invite any of her students to the wedding. The kids don't understand it: A wedding is a time for families to be together, and they are Miss Mackle's Room 3B family - which is especially important because her father is in the military overseas, and he won't be home for the wedding. So Harry comes up with a plan to sneak his pals into the wedding ceremony and hide in the back.

All Ekata wants is to stay alive - and the chance to prove herself as a scholar. Once Ekata's brother is finally named heir to the dukedom of Kylma Above, there will be nothing to keep her at home with her murderous family. Not her books or her experiments, not her family's icy castle atop a frozen lake, not even the tantalizingly close Kylma Below, a mesmerizing underwater kingdom that provides her family with magic. But just as escape is within reach, her parents and 12 siblings fall under a strange sleeping sickness, and no one can find a cure.

At Prunella's half-birthday party, her sister unveils a fortune-telling cootie catcher that seems to be able to predict the future.

Meet Rory the Dinosaur. He loves spending time with his dad, but today he wants to go on an adventure all on his own. Rory can't wait to tell his dad about all the things he's doing by himself, like crossing rivers and finding shelter from the rain. But little does Rory know, his father is never far behind. There's nothing Rory's dad won't do for his intrepid son. Liz Climo celebrates the bond between father and child with her adorable, deceptively simple illustrations in this timeless story of a child's quest for independence.

Newbery Medal winner Cynthia Rylant has written more than 60 books for children. Her popular Lighthouse Family series is filled with delightful characters and warm family themes. In The Storm, Rylant shows that families can come in all shapes and sizes. Beginning readers will love following the adventures of this charming family series. Children will be enthralled by Mark Nelson's tender narration.

Things are going just swimmingly for EllRay. He's finally getting along with most of the kids at school. He's even getting along with his family. But then everything comes screeching to a halt when his younger sister accidently overfeeds the classroom goldfish EllRay was supposed to be taking care of over Spring vacation. What is EllRay going to tell his teacher and the kids in his third-grade class? Fortunately, most of them are sympathetic. But not bossy Cynthia.