A cat, a cat, a big, round cat. Have you ever seen a cat like that?
What do you think she is looking for?

Follow this big, round cat as she saunters through her island village, stopping to interact with folks at the bakery, the bookstore, the pier. Where is she headed next? What will she find at her last stop of the day?

This sociable cat knows everyone in town and the townspeople know to expect her as she follows her customary route. Young readers can fire up their imaginations with the turn of each page.

When cat-loving illustrator Nicole Wong read this story, she instantly knew just how to depict a day in the life of such a charming feline. The simple text leaves room for children to create their own stories as they engage with the art, and the predictable rhythm of repeated lines will encourage them to read along.

Lester Laminack returns with a delightfully funny sequel to his barnyard story of three hens and a peacock. This time the animals decide to work together to rescue an enormous egg that falls from a truck in the road in front of their farm. Working together is, however, not without challenges when three bossy hens are involved.

The animals have no idea what is in the egg and have never seen one so big. But over the course of trying to protect it and hatch it, they find themselves quite smitten with it, each imagining that what's in the egg is a version of themselves.

An unexpectedly heartwarming ending leaves the animals speechless when they meet their new ward and learn who among them is the greatest nurturer of all.

This bestselling creative team delivers another amusing picture book about life on a sleepy farm. This one with a lot of heart, too.

Jake and his fellow students are getting ready for a celebration. Tomorrow is the 100th day of school and everyone is going to share their collections of 100 things. The day of the celebration arrives, but Jake forgets the 100 family pictures he has glued into a special memory book at home. Disaster!

But thanks to Jake's ingenuity and the sensitivity of his principal, Jake does have a collection to display that day... and something special to share with the class on the 101st day of school.

Lester Laminack's charming, relatable story shines a light on this milestone day celebrated by schools everywhere. Judy Love's joyful illustrations capture the excitement of Jake's diverse school community.

Every Saturday, a young boy rides his bicycle up and down country roads, past farms and a filling station, until he reaches his Mammaw's house. She is waiting for him. There, the young boy helps her. She picks tomatoes and he pushes the lawnmower through the dew-wet grass. But the best part of the day is helping his Mammaw make teacakes from scratch and eating the hot, sweet cakes fresh from the oven.

Lester L. Laminack's richly detailed prose perfectly portrays the special relationship of a young boy and his grandmother. Award-winning illustrator Chris Soentpiet's remarkably detailed watercolor images beautifully capture the setting.

The Tuckers' farm is a peaceful place where everyone has a job and no one complains. That is, until a hapless peacock falls off the back of a passing truck and stirs things up. Soon, customers are flocking to the farm to see what all the fuss is about. But the hens don't like the newcomer getting attention while they do all the hard work. When a wise old hound sees the problem, he helps orchestrate a job swap.

What follows is the riotous tale of three hens who get in way over their feathered heads, and one very distressed peacock who just can't figure out how to lay an egg.

Lester L. Laminack has created a comical look at envy, finding your strength, and what happens when we underestimate the value of others' work. Henry Cole's delightful illustrations heighten the story's humor and will have readers of all ages laughing out loud.

Every Saturday, a young boy rides his bicycle up and down country roads, past farms and a filling station, until he reaches his Mammaw's house. She is waiting for him. There, the young boy helps her. She picks tomatoes and he pushes the lawnmower through the dew-wet grass. But the best part of the day is helping his Mammaw make teacakes from scratch and eating the hot, sweet cakes fresh from the oven.

Lester L. Laminack's richly detailed prose perfectly portrays the special relationship of a young boy and his grandmother. Award-winning illustrator Chris Soentpiet's remarkably detailed watercolor images beautifully capture the setting.

The Tuckers' farm is a peaceful place where everyone has a job and no one complains. That is, until a hapless peacock falls off the back of a passing truck and stirs things up. Soon, customers are flocking to the farm to see what all the fuss is about. But the hens don't like the newcomer getting attention while they do all the hard work. When a wise old hound sees the problem, he helps orchestrate a job swap.

What follows is the riotous tale of three hens who get in way over their feathered heads, and one very distressed peacock who just can't figure out how to lay an egg.

Lester L. Laminack has created a comical look at envy, finding your strength, and what happens when we underestimate the value of others' work. Henry Cole's delightful illustrations heighten the story's humor and will have readers of all ages laughing out loud.

Henry wants nothing more than to be like his Aunt Lilla and work with the beehives on their Lowcountry farm. He watches her every day, working hard outside in her bee suit, but what amazes him the most is her ability to communicate with the bees. Henry feels certain he can, too.

Then one day, Aunt Lilla tells him the bees are preparing to leave the hive and may leave the farm entirely. Henry believes it is up to him to communicate with the bees and convince them to stay, before it's too late.

An author's note includes additional information about bees and bee conservation.

This book is a gift to teachers who want to know how best to incorporate diverse literature into their classrooms. It translates rhetoric about diverse books into practical actions. Teachers will find it a valuable resource, full of examples of actual classroom practices and questions for reflecting, as well as suggestions of good books to share with students. It takes the study of diverse texts well beyond the food, festivals and folklore focus of the early days of attention to multicultural literature to a consideration of literature as a catalyst for social action. The thematic emphases for the chapters are broad enough to apply to texts that represent diverse cultures, but specific enough to work in diverse classrooms, from elementary school to the college level.

-- Rudine Sims Bishop, Professor Emerita of Education at The Ohio State University

In far too many schools, our effort to be more inclusive begins and ends with book selection. In Reading to Make a Difference, Lester and Katie teach us that this is not enough. This book is an urgent reminder that even the most powerfully diverse bookshelf cannot mask the damage done to children by practices and curriculum that fails to see them. Reading to Make a Difference shows us how to combine powerful books with purposeful, equitable practice.

-- Cornelius Minor

Books as bridges enable readers to speak freely, think deeply, and take action. In Reading to Make a Difference, Lester and Katie build on the work of Rudine Sims Bishop, extending the notion of books as windows, mirrors, and doors. They offer a pathway that can lead students to take action for social justice causes. They show you how to move beyond exposing your students to diverse children's literature by offering an instructional framework that is applicable to any topic and can be adapted to your own classroom or community. Lester and Katie will show you how to:

• select and share text sets in a variety of reading experiences including read-aloud, small group, book clubs, and independent reading
• creating a scaffold for students to share their connections with a character, situation, issue, or topic
• invite students to pause and reflect
• provide opportunities for students to take action individually or collectively in a way that can make a difference.

Each chapter highlights different classrooms in action and concludes with a wealth of suggested resources, both picture books and chapter books, along with helpful guidelines on how to choose text sets that reflect the needs, interests, and backgrounds of your students.

The right book at the right time can open doors of possibility for a better world. Armed with an understanding of who your students are, where they come from, and what matters to them, you can cultivate children as thoughtful, caring citizens, and empower them to become lifelong agents of change.

Award-winning children's author and acclaimed educator Lester L. Laminack provides guidelines, lessons, and resources for making every read-aloud experience intentional and instructional to engage students in deep thinking about fiction and nonfiction books. Central to Laminack's message is his breakthrough thinking about the value and importance of Best Friend Books--a small, carefully curated collection that you repeatedly turn to for specific teaching purposes.

You'll also find:

• Step-by-step lessons for first visits and return visits to recommended Best Friend Books--clear guidelines for digging deeply and enriching students' understanding of content and craft
• Links to an online resource bank that contains Spotlight on Lester videos, graphic organizers for you, and downloadables for your students
• What the Research Says boxes that point to studies supporting Laminack's professional advice
• An annotated and alphabetized list of Laminack's favorite Best Friend Books
• Home Visit boxes that contain tips and tools for welcoming families into the work

We believe focused read aloud experiences with carefully selected children's literature followed by guided conversations is one way you can create a climate in your classroom, school, or district where bullying is not an accepted or rewarded behavior. A climate where an individual's humanity and human dignity trump any difference(s) and kindness is the order of the day. Lester Laminack and Reba Wadsworth

Bullying Hurts is not your same-old anti-bullying guide. Lester Laminack and Reba Wadsworth show how the read aloud, a familiar and proven instructional technique, can be used as a powerful way to neutralize bullying behaviors, create community in the classroom, and help you meet the Common Core State Standards at the same time.

Recent research shows that punishing students who bully is not enough, that we must begin every child's education by establishing relationship skills and building empathy among students. Lester and Reba recommend a series of read aloud books that focus on our shared humanity and can be used on day one of Kindergarten and throughout the elementary years. They help you support the development of children's insight and compassion. Bullying Hurts guides students toward increased understandings about bullying behavior with a framework of five recommended read-alouds and accompanying lessons that help you:

• define and discuss the important lessons about bullying embedded in each book
• develop literacy skills and strategies, conversation, critical thinking, character analysis, and reflection
• connect read aloud experiences to the anchor standards for reading in the Common Core.

Bullying Hurts does more than help children gain the insights and language needed to confront and neutralize the behaviors of bullies. It convinces us that by working together, we really can prevent bullying.

Jake and his fellow students are getting ready for a celebration. Tomorrow is the 100th day of school and everyone is going to share their collections of 100 things. The day of the celebration arrives, but Jake forgets the 100 family pictures he has glued into a special memory book at home. Disaster!

But thanks to Jake's ingenuity and the sensitivity of his principal, Jake does have a collection to display that day... and something special to share with the class on the 101st day of school.

Lester Laminack's charming, relatable story shines a light on this milestone day celebrated by schools everywhere. Judy Love's joyful illustrations capture the excitement of Jake's diverse school community.

When the weatherman predicts a big snowfall, it's hard not to imagine the fun-filled adventures of an unscheduled school holiday! You can build snowmen, go sledding, have snowball fights--the possibilities are endless.

Except when the family wakes up that next morning, they find no snow! School is happening, and all their dreams of a winter wonderland are gone. But as the family piles into the car to head to school, an unexpected twist reveals who wanted the snow day most of all.

Adam Gustavson's expressive illustrations comically capture the excitement of pure possibility in author Lester L. Laminack's thoroughly original tale.

When the weatherman predicts a big snowfall, it's hard not to imagine the fun-filled adventures of an unscheduled school holiday! You can build snowmen, go sledding, have snowball fights--the possibilities are endless.

Except when the family wakes up that next morning, they find no snow! School is happening, and all their dreams of a winter wonderland are gone. But as the family piles into the car to head to school, an unexpected twist reveals who wanted the snow day most of all.

Adam Gustavson's expressive illustrations comically capture the excitement of pure possibility in author Lester L. Laminack's thoroughly original tale.

Although Miss Olivia is unable to respond and doesn't always seem to notice her family, her daughter Angel and grandson Troy know better. They know that Momma Olivia has an inner life filled with beautiful memories.

Anything from a stunning sunset to the mention of her porch swing can remind her of her past, when she was just a little girl out on the farm with her papa or, more recently, at a birthday party shared with her daughter. Although she can no longer do the things she used to do or communicate her thoughts, she's still the Momma Olivia they know and love.

In tender terms children can understand, Lester L. Laminack gives voice to the seldom discussed tragedy of watching a loved one age and slip into the past. Constance R. Bergum's delicate watercolors softly express the love that holds a family together during times of hardship.

Although Miss Olivia is unable to respond and doesn't always seem to notice her family, her daughter Angel and grandson Troy know better. They know that Momma Olivia has an inner life filled with beautiful memories.

Anything from a stunning sunset to the mention of her porch swing can remind her of her past, when she was just a little girl out on the farm with her papa or, more recently, at a birthday party shared with her daughter. Although she can no longer do the things she used to do or communicate her thoughts, she's still the Momma Olivia they know and love.

In tender terms children can understand, Lester L. Laminack gives voice to the seldom discussed tragedy of watching a loved one age and slip into the past. Constance R. Bergum's delicate watercolors softly express the love that holds a family together during times of hardship.

The time has finally come for one of Trevor's teeth to fall out, and he's never been more excited! Each day he proudly shows his friends how it wiggles more and more.

But each friend in turn cautions him about the scary ways a loose tooth can be pulled out--from fingers to string to pliers. Trevor wants his tooth to come out, but he doesn't want someone to yank it out. When Grandma Sally shows his class how to make old-fashioned taffy, Trevor learns there are also fun ways to pull a tooth!

With a delightful twist at the end, Lester L. Laminack's humorous story captures the anxious joy that each child experiences with his or her first loose tooth. Kathi Gary McCord's whimsical illustrations bring Trevor and his classmates to life.