House Parent

When plucky single mother Leda Plett goes next door to retrieve her wandering pooch, she doesn’t expect to find a handsome stranger lounging about like he owns the place. She certainly doesn’t expect him to go all "white knight" about her deadbeat ex or her knees to go all wobbly at his sexy smile. Rodeo-star-turned-agent Eric Anders is used to managing people, and clearly the boots-and-sundress-wearing mouthy mama needs someone to manage her. He wants to help; her spirited spark and quick wit have nothing to do with it.

Mary Fern’s Monster Under My Bed series of stories is aimed at calming down and reassuring children they are safe and secure when they are tucked up in their beds - and indeed, the monster under the bed is there to look after them and reassure them.

With a quiet compassion for the natural world, a father and daughter explore the meaning of beauty. Land bound Sundees turn into high flying butterflies, and gentle, but endangered Chiru snuggle into their warm Shahtooshi. As father lays his Little One to bed, she is filled with a renewed sense of love and respect for the Earth and all living things, including herself.

Andy and Susie are two lively kids, intent on having fun during their summer vacation from school. However, their hard-working mom is so busy with housework that she doesn't have time to spend with them when they ask. After repeatedly hearing, "Sorry, Not Now," the children become sad. But they soon realize they can free up their mom to have fun with them by being more helpful.

Jan es consciente de que su madre le quiere, pero le encantaría saber cuánto: «¿Puede medirse el amor?», se pregunta. Desearía tener un termómetro o una cinta métrica que le mostraran cuánto lo quiere mamá... Porque, cuando ella le dice: «Te quiero hasta el infinito, ida y vuelta», él no acaba de entenderlo. ¡Pero con la ayuda de su perra, Kala, intentará descubrirlo!

El Jan és conscient que la mare l'estima, però li encantaria saber fins a quin punt: "Es pot mesurar l'amor?", es pregunta. Ell voldria tenir un termòmetre o una cinta mètrica que li indiquessin com de gran és l'amor de la mare... Per això, quan ella li diu: "T'estimo fins a l'infinit, anar i tornar", ell no ho acaba d'entendre. Però amb l'ajuda de la seva gosseta, la Kala, intentarà descobrir-ho.

Muchos conocen ya a Lucas. Pero muy pocos saben lo molesto que suele ponerse cuando se aburre. ¡Tan buenito que parecía! Chicle en las zapatillas de Simón, pimienta en la comida de Ticholo, empujoncito a Griselda—la tortuga—que termina atravesando el aire en patineta. Hasta que un día, cansado de fastidiar a todos, Lucas se encierra en el cuarto y transforma el aburrimiento en...

Mamá ha recibido una fantástica oferta de trabajo. Para poder aceptarla, tendrá que encontrar al canguro perfecto para cuidar de sus niños. Un anuncio en el periódico debería ser suficiente. Pero cuando empiezan a desfilar todos estos superhéroes, candidatos ideales a ocupar el puesto, y van fallando estrepitosamente uno tras otro, las cosas se complican.

A sweet story about the immense love of a father who will go to all lengths to make sure his little boy gets a simple request of a goldfish for Christmas. The only gift David wants for Christmas is a goldfish and not even one toy. On the night before Christmas, Mom and Dad discover the fish is not swimming. They get into action to replace the little fishy. Only a blizzard foils their plan and Dad has to hike through snow to find that the pet store is closing.

In rural North Carolina, in 1951, despite parental reassurances, a typhoid shot hurt. It hurt even more when the children saw who would be administering the shot: Miss Winnie, a large, dictatorial nurse who had been "especially built by the nursing school so she would never blow away in a hard wind".

Storyteller Donald Davis had a very sensible mother. She had a pretty good idea of what boys would do, so she was always on the lookout. As Davis later learned, always being on the lookout is what mamas do. His vigilant but gentle mother gave her son multiple gifts in life and, as we learn in the end, gifts that do not end with her passing.

When her father goes soldiering for a year, a girl decides that without Dad at home, it’s not a family photo album. Though her beloved Nanny is in charge of the album that year, the girl makes sure that photographs of her never turn out well. Photos are blurred, wind blows hair in her face. April rains bring umbrellas to hide behind. Halloween means a mask. This poignant, yet funny family story expresses a child’s anger and grief for a dad whose work takes him away for long periods of time. It’s a tribute to the sacrifices made by military families.