Veteran collaborators return with a feast of fresh, whimsical poems and truly dazzling close-up photographs of mighty pollinators doing what they do best.

Have you noticed, on a summer's day, the fine powder at the heart of a flower or floating on a breeze? What is pollen, and why does it matter? Almost invisible, pollen waits for the one thing it needs: a ride on the wind--or on wings, fur, or feathers. That's where pollinators come in, small and mighty, holding the world together with their work. Soft, shimmering photographs saturated with color evoke the busy world of bees, butterflies, bats, and moths--and many lesser-known species--at arrestingly close range. Playful poems encourage the reader to look closely, to marvel, and most of all, to care, while concise back matter underscores the vital role these creatures play in the ecosystem and the ways we can help pollinators help us. A seventh seamless blend of poetry, nonfiction, and captivating photography from the dynamic duo behind Step Gently Out, The Mighty Pollinators belongs in every classroom--and in the hands of any curious child eager to understand nature and its wonders.

Based on the 8-pointed LeMoyne star, these quilt projects use the tried-and-true strip-piecing method that Blanche originally developed in 1979. Blanche and her daughter Helen have been exploring this historical star ever since, playing with different configurations and sizes, to captivate generations of quilters to come.

Anikwa and James, twelve years old in 1812, spend their days fishing, trapping, and exploring together in the forests of the Indiana Territory. To Anikwa and his family, members of the Miami tribe, this land has been home for centuries. As traders, James's family has ties to the Miami community as well as to the American soldiers in the fort.

Now tensions are rising--the British and American armies prepare to meet at Fort Wayne for a crucial battle, and Native Americans from surrounding tribes gather in Kekionga to protect their homeland. After trading stops and precious commodities, like salt, are withheld, the fort comes under siege, and war ravages the land. James and Anikwa, like everyone around them, must decide where their deepest loyalties lie. Can their families--and their friendship--survive?

In Salt, Printz Honor author Helen Frost offers a compelling look at a difficult time in history.

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2013

A Frances Foster Book

When Wren Abbott and Darra Monson are eight years old, Darra's father steals a minivan. He doesn't know that Wren is hiding in the back. The hours and days that follow change the lives of both girls. Darra is left with a question that only Wren can answer. Wren has questions, too.

Years later, in a chance encounter at camp, the girls face each other for the first time. They can finally learn the truth--that is, if they're willing to reveal to each other the stories that they've hidden for so long. Told from alternating viewpoints, this novel-in-poems reveals the complexities of memory and the strength of a friendship that can overcome pain.

There's
more to me than
most people
see.

Twelve-year-old Willow would rather blend in than stick out. But she still wants to be seen for who she is. She wants her parents to notice that she is growing up. She wants her best friend to like her better than she likes a certain boy. She wants, more than anything, to mush the dogs out to her grandparents' house, by herself, with Roxy in the lead. But sometimes when it's just you, one mistake can have frightening consequences . . . And when Willow stumbles, it takes a surprising group of friends to help her make things right again.

Using diamond-shaped poems inspired by forms found in polished diamond willow sticks, Helen Frost tells the moving story of Willow and her family. Hidden messages within each diamond carry the reader further, into feelings Willow doesn't reveal even to herself.
Diamond Willow is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

An unforgettable narrative collage told in poems

Keesha has found a safe place to live, and other kids gravitate to her house when they just can't make it on their own. They are Stephie - pregnant, trying to make the right decisions for herself and those she cares about; Jason - Stephie's boyfriend, torn between his responsibility to Stephie and the baby and the promise of a college basketball career; Dontay - in foster care while his parents are in prison, feeling unwanted both inside and outside the system; Carmen - arrested on a DUI charge, waiting in a juvenile detention center for a judge to hear her case; Harris - disowned by his father after disclosing that he's gay, living in his car, and taking care of himself; Katie - angry at her mother's loyalty to an abusive stepfather, losing herself in long hours of work and school.

Stretching the boundaries of traditional poetic forms - sestinas and sonnets - Helen Frost's extraordinary debut novel for young adults weaves together the stories of these seven teenagers as they courageously struggle to hold their lives together and overcome their difficulties.

Keesha's House is a 2004 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

A dazzlingly poetic photo album of the insect world for tots on up. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

What would happen if you walked very, very quietly and looked carefully at the natural world outside? You might see a cricket leap, a moth spread her wings, or a spider step across a silken web. In simple, evocative language, Helen Frost hints at the many tiny creatures around us, while in stunning close-up photographs, Rick Lieder captures a katydid's eye, a firefly, and many more living wonders awaiting discovery. Back matter amplifies the descriptions of the insects and spiders in the book.

One of nature's most perfect relationships

Every spring the monarch butterfly migrates thousands of miles in search of the ideal milkweed plant. When she finds it, she lays her eggs on the plant, so when each egg hatches, the baby caterpillar can feed on the milkweed leaves. The milkweed plant then provides the perfect protection as the caterpillar turns into one of nature's wonders, a chrysalis, before transforming into an even greater wonder: a monarch butterfly. And once the newborn butterfly soars away, the milkweed seeds fly away on the wind and start this cycle over again.

The exacting prose and jewel-toned illustrations echo the harmony of monarch and milkweed in this carefully researched book, explaining one of nature's most spectacular displays in a refreshingly simple manner.

A 2021 Scott O'Dell Award Winner
A Society of Midland Authors Winner in Children's Fiction
A Bank Street Best Book of the Year 2021

A novel in verse about a young deaf boy during World War II, the sister who loves him, and the conscientious objector who helps him. Inspired by true events.

Henry has been deaf from an early age--he is intelligent and aware of langauge, but by age six, he has decided it's not safe to speak to strangers. When the time comes for him to start school, he is labeled unteachable. Because his family has very little money, his parents and older sister, Molly, feel powerless to help him. Henry is sent to Riverview, a bleak institution where he is misunderstood, underestimated, and harshly treated.

Victor, a conscientious objector to World War II, is part of a Civilian Public Service program offered as an alternative to the draft. In 1942, he arrives at Riverview to serve as an attendant and quickly sees that Henry is far from unteachable--he is brave, clever, and sometimes mischievous. In Victor's care, Henry begins to see how things can change for the better.

Heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful, Helen Frost's All He Knew is inspired by true events and provides sharp insight into a little-known element of history.

Written in beautifully structured verse, Helen Frost's Crossing Stones captures nine months in the lives of two resilient families struggling to stay together and cross carefully, stone by stone, into a changing world.

Maybe you won't rock a cradle, Muriel.
Some women seem to prefer to rock the boat.

Eighteen-year-old Muriel Jorgensen lives on one side of Crabapple Creek. Her family's closest friends, the Normans, live on the other. For as long as Muriel can remember, the families' lives have been intertwined, connected by the crossing stones that span the water. But now that Frank Norman--who Muriel is just beginning to think might be more than a friend--has enlisted to fight in World War I and her brother, Ollie, has lied about his age to join him, the future is uncertain.

As Muriel tends to things at home with the help of Frank's sister, Emma, she becomes more and more fascinated by the women's suffrage movement, but she is surrounded by people who advise her to keep her opinions to herself. How can she find a way to care for those she loves while still remaining true to who she is?

Longtime collaborators Helen Frost and Rick Lieder team up for a breathtakingly beautiful glimpse at the praying mantis--and entice us to take the time to open our eyes to the world in front of us.

The creators of Step Gently Out and many other acclaimed picture books join forces again to look closely at an iconic insect through lyric words and stunning nature photography. When you are outside, if a small quick movement takes you by surprise, stop and look--move nothing but your eyes. Could it be a praying mantis, trying not to be seen? This sixth stunning collaboration between Helen Frost and Rick Lieder urges young readers into the wild outdoors, inviting them to wait and see what wonders patient observation has in store.

Two sisters, Jeannie and Sarah, tell their separate yet tightly interwoven stories in alternating narrative poems. Each sister - Jeannie, who leaves Scotland during the Highland Clearances with her father, mother, and the younger children, and Sarah, who hides so she can stay behind with her grandmother - carries a length of the other's hair braided with her own. The braid binds them together when they are worlds apart and reminds them of who they used to be before they were evicted from the Western Isles, where their family had lived for many generations.

The award-winning poet Helen Frost eloquently twists strand over strand of language, braiding the words at the edges of the poems to bring new poetic forms to life while intertwining the destinies of two young girls and the people who cross their paths in this unforgettable novel. An author's note describes the inventive poetic form in detail.

The Braid is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Engrossing tales from the fifth grade

Every child is like
A little world with ever-changing weather,
Nights and mornings. And somehow, here we are,
Spinning through the universe together.

Unforgettable students in this fifth-grade classroom reveal their private feelings about birth and death, a missing bicycle and a first kiss, as well as their thoughts about recess, report cards, fitting in, and family.

Using a rich array of traditional poetic forms, such as sonnets, sestinas, and acrostics, Helen Frost interweaves the stories of the kids in Room 214 and their teacher. A final section giving detailed analyses of the twenty-two forms will be of special interest.

How can a firefly find the one, among so many? Exquisite photographs and poetic text evoke a sense of mystery and magic.

On a summer evening, just as the stars blink on, a firefly lands on a flower. Lights start to flash all around her -- first one, then three, seven. Hundreds. Thousands. How will she find just one flash among them? And will he see her flash in return? In evocative photographs and lyrical language, Rick Lieder and Helen Frost, creators of the critically acclaimed Step Gently Out and Sweep Up the Sun, offer a true story of how two fireflies come together after finding each other's light among thousands of others.

Great War Land Girls were all very different individuals - they radiated vitality, resolve and determination. In this book, their sense of fun and infectious humour shines through the myriad of humorous stories and poems penned whilst doing their National Service. Amidst the troubling times they worked through, their ability to 'stick it if it kills' no matter what, earnt them a richly-deserved respect.

Using previously unpublished photographs from personal collections that intimately depict the ups and downs of their daily lives, this book attempts to immerse readers in the quirky and unusual world of the Great War Land Girl and discovers exactly how they interacted, lived together, socialised, relaxed, fell in love, went off the rails and got through difficult times.

The minutiae of life as a recruit in land organisations, (established early on in the war) and later in the Women's Land Army, is vividly brought back to life through previously untold accounts. Ultimately, their legacy tells of unwavering devotion to duty and to the country they held dear.

Land Girls broke new ground and turned their hand to any task that was asked of them with an inextinguishable wartime spirit. The attitudes and approaches they showed to their work when faced with such adversity remain inspirational more than a century later.

Their forgotten testimonies are shared in this book. They fizz off the page as a true record of 'I was there.'

Sam and Katie find a stray dog and make a big mistake, but it's hard to make amends--how can you apologize to a dog?

A dirty, skinny dog shows up in Sam and Katie's neighborhood. They start to follow it, and they don't like what they see: The Wilson sisters yell at it because it goes in their garden and the Tracy twins chase it on their bikes and throw things at it.

Sam and Katie want the dog to know they'll be its friends. They think it should have a name. Most of all, they want it to like them. But then they do something thoughtless, and after that, it's hard to make things right, especially because the dog now won't come near them.

How they earn the dog's trust, help it find its place in their town and how it gets its name, makes for a heartwarming story told in two voices using prose and poetry. Blue Daisy is illustrated with 20 black-and-white illustrations and includes recipes for dog biscuits and snickerdoodles. Now available in paperback.

In a touching poetic novel, a fall apple ritual--along with some inventive storytelling--brings a family together as they grieve the loss of a beloved family member.

When the first apple falls from the tree, Faith and Peter know that it's applesauce weather, even though Peter is getting a little old for such things. It also means Uncle Arthur should be here to tell his stories, with a twinkle in his eye as he spins tales about how he came to have a missing finger. But this is the first year without Aunt Lucy, and when Uncle Arthur arrives, there's no twinkle to be found and no stories waiting to be told. Faith is certain, though, that with a little love and patience, she and Peter might finally learn the truth about that missing finger. Paired with warm, expressive illustrations by Amy June Bates, this heartfelt tale by award-winning poet Helen Frost highlights the strength of family and the power of a good story.

The world is wide awake -- are you? Stunning photos and poetic text usher readers into the early moments of life all around them.

Wake up Come out and explore all the new creatures being born -- just-hatched birds in the trees, tadpoles in the pond, a baby fawn in the woods. In their latest collaboration, poet Helen Frost and photographer Rick Lieder, the creators of Step Gently Out, Sweep Up the Sun, and Among a Thousand Fireflies, invite readers to wake up, open their eyes, and see the awe-inspiring array of new life just outside their door.

Text and photographs present wind, how it is formed, and how it affects the Earth and people. Includes information on a gale, a hurricane, and a tornado.

A picture-book poem calling for adventure. . . . All-around gorgeous. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Baby robins, open-beaked in their nest. Mallards winging to a new clime. Whether chickadees or cardinals, sparrows or starlings, here are commonly seen birds in their natural settings, captured in photographs of rare beauty and grace. In perfect synchrony, a lyrical narrative evokes images of play and flight, perseverance and trust. At the end, readers will find profiles of the featured species. This stunning book is an ideal gift for bird lovers of all ages, graduates, or anyone embarking on an adventure.