Primary For Children

On holiday in Cornwall, the three children discover an ancient map in the attic of the house that they are staying in. They know immediately that it is special. It is even more than that - the key to finding a grail, a source of power to fight the forces of evil known as the Dark. And in searching for it themselves, the Drews put their lives in peril.

Since Mia's the brand-new crown princess of Genovia, indomitable dowager princess Grandmere arranges a national primetime interview for her. With just a few innocent remarks, Mia manages to enrage her best friend Lilly, practically get one of her teachers fired, and alienate the entire country of Genovia. (Population 50,000, but still!)

New York Times best-selling author Brian Jacques has millions of copies of his phenomenally popular Redwall series in print. Fans cannot get enough of the feasting, fighting, and fantastic adventures that fill every book.

Book two left off with Gregor reading the Prophecy of Blood: a prophecy that calls for Gregor and Boots to return to the Underland to help ward off a plague. But this time, Gregor's mother refuses to let Gregor return to the Underland...until the rat Ripred assures the family that Gregor and Boots are needed only for a short meeting, which the crawlers will attend only if their "princess" Boots is present.

It's been a year since Septimus Heap discovered his real family and true calling to be a wizard. As apprentice to Extra Ordinary Wizard Marcia Overstrand, he is learning the arts of Conjurations, Charms, and other Magyk, while Jenna is adapting to life as the princess and enjoying the castle. But there is something sinister at work. Marcia is constantly trailed by a menacing Darke Shadow, and Septimus's brother Simon seems bent on a revenge no one understands. Why is the Darke Magyk still lingering?

Follow one large ungainly "duck" as he is laughed at, kicked, and pecked for being different. Hans Christian Andersen shows that beauty is only skin-deep, and many other important moral lessons in more than five hours of his best, inspiring stories.

It all started with a birthday present that Omri didn't want: a small plastic Indian that was no use to him at all. But an old wooden cupboard and a special key brought his unusual toy to life, and strange and wonderful things began to happen.

Four of the seven Trustees have been defeated and their Keys taken, but for Arthur, the week is still getting worse. Suzy Blue and Fred Gold Numbers have been captured by the Piper, and his New Nithling army still controls most of the Great Maze. Superior Saturday is causing trouble wherever she can, including turning off all the elevators in the House and blocking the Front Door.

Long-time fans and newcomers alike will relish this animal fable from Brian Jacques, whose books, including Redwall and Mossflower, are best sellers on both children's and adult lists. In Triss, the hero is a spunky young squirrelmaid who escapes servitude and finds a new destiny as a warrior at Redwall Abbey.

Designed for beginners, this book combines fun illustrations and short sentences to help children develop basic reading and comprehension skills with ease.

Taran dreams of adventure, but nothing exciting ever happens to an Assistant Pig-Keeper, until his pig runs away. A chase through the woods leads Taran far from home and into great danger, for evil prowls the land of Prydain. With a collection of strange and wonderful friends whom he meets on his journey, Taran finds himself fighting so that good may triumph over evil, and so that his beloved home will not fall to a diabolical fiend.

The "true story" behind Alice in Wonderland! Princess Alyss Heart is brutally cast out of Wonderland by her vicious Aunt Redd, who beheads Alyss' mother ("Off with her head!" she cries) and begins to rule over Wonderland with an iron fist. Alyss escapes and is exiled to another world entirely, Victorian London. At age 20, she returns to Wonderland to battle Redd, reclaim the throne, and lead Wonderland into its next golden age of imagination.

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle lives in an upside-down house and smells like cookies. She was even married to a pirate once. Most of all, she knows everything about children. She can cure them of any ailment. Patsy hates baths. Hubert never puts anything away. Allen eats v-e-r-y slowly. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle has a treatment for all of them.

Like the previous books in A Series of Unfortunate Events, there is nothing to be heard here but misery, despair, and discomfort, and you still have time to choose something else to listen to.

In this dazzling debut, Carla Shalaby, a former elementary school teacher, explores the everyday lives of four young "troublemakers", challenging the ways we identify and understand so-called problem children. Time and again, we make seemingly endless efforts to moderate, punish, and even medicate our children, when we should instead be concerned with transforming the very nature of our institutions, systems, and structures, large and small.

Nobody in their right minds would listen to this particular book about the lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire on purpose, because each dismal moment of their stay at the village of V.F.D. has been faithfully and dreadfully recorded on this program.

The Great Brain is Tom D. Fitzgerald, aged 10. The story is told by J.D., a sometimes confounded but always admiring younger brother. Such people as Mr. Standish, the mean schoolmaster, regret the day they came up against The Great Brain. But others, like the Jensen kids lost in Skeleton Cave, Basil, the Greek kid, or Andy, who has lost his leg and his friends, know that Tom's great brain never fails to find a way home.

The Dark is rising in its last and greatest bid to control the world. And Will Stanton, last-born of the immortal Old Ones, dedicated to keeping the world free, must join forces with his ageless master Merriman and Bran, the Welsh boy whose destiny ties him to the Light.

The Sword of Dyrnwyn, the most powerful weapon in the kingdom of Prydain, has fallen into the hands of Arawn-Death-Lord. Now Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper, and Price Gwydion lead an army against the powerful lord. After a winter expedition filled with danger, Taran's forces arrive at Mount Dragon, evil's stronghold. There Tara is forced to make the most crucial decisions of his life as he confronts the evil enchantress Achren and the diabolical Arawn.

Soren is born in the forest of Tyto, a tranquil kingdom where the Barn Owls dwell. But evil lurks in the owl world, evil that threatens to change Soren's life forever.