Bean's older sister, Nancy, is going to Girl Power 4-Ever Camp, where she will do Crafts and Music and First Aid and other secret things that Bean will never know about because girls have to be eleven to go to Girl Power 4-Ever Camp. Bean doesn't care. She doesn't want to go to camp. She wouldn't go even if they begged her. So ha. So ha ha. So—wait a second! Bean and Ivy can make their own camp, their own better camp: Camp Flaming Arrow, where counselors Ivy and Bean will give a whole new meaning to Crafts, Music, First Aid, and hands-on learning! Includes bonus material! - Sneak peek chapter from the next book in the Ivy + Bean series Ivy and Bean Take the Case by Annie Barrows, illustrated by Sophie Blackall - A guide to making your own camp - Other fun games

New York Times best-selling series of books for children — Ivy + Bean Ivy and Bean, two friends who never meant to like each other: This boxed set, Ivy and Bean Boxed Set: Books 7-9 continues the story of these two spunky characters. It includes the third of three books in the Ivy and Bean series. Author Annie Barrows talks about her award-winning Ivy + Bean series: One of the big problems of being a kid is that your parents often try to make you play with people you don’t really like. My parents were forever trying to get me to like the kids of their friends. These kids were often weird. I didn’t want to play with them. It was a problem. Ivy and Bean are very different: Bean is loud and wild and goofy. She loves to be involved in games and poke her nose in other people’s business. Ivy is quiet and full of ideas. She spends most of her time learning how to be a witch. Each girl thinks the other one is weird. Each girl thinks she could never be friends with the other. Especially because their parents keep nagging them about it. But sometimes opposites can become the best of friends because they’re opposites. Ivy and Bean Boxed Set: Books 7-9 includes: Book 7: Ivy + Bean: What’s the Big Idea? Wouldn’t it be cool if Ivy and Bean found the solution to global warming? Wouldn’t it be especially cool if the solution was shimmering pink goo in a test-tube and all the famous scientists in the world wished they had thought of it first? It’s Science Fair time at Emerson School, and all the kids are supposed to find a way to cool down the earth. Some kids are planting trees. Some kids are holding their breath for a very, very long time. Some kids are doing interesting things with vacuum cleaners. But what should Ivy and Bean do? Something with explosions? Something with ropes? Something with ice cubes? Or maybe something very, very quiet . . . Book 8: Ivy + Bean: No News Is Good News: Ivy and Bean need some money. Ten dollars, to be exact. Never mind what for. Don’t even ask. Okay, it’s for cheese. Two bags of lowfat Belldeloon cheese in a special just-for-you serving size. Don’t ask why. But ten dollars is a lot of money. How are Bean and Ivy going to make ten dollars? Should they babysit? Eww, diapers. No. Should they wash the car? They’re not allowed to touch the car. No. Should they write a newspaper about their neighbors and sell it? Yes. Great idea—and easy too! All Ivy and Bean have to do is snoop around Pancake Court and gets some news. It’s very interesting what you can find out if you look in your neighbors’ windows. It’s even more interesting when the neighbors read about it in the newspaper. Book 9: Ivy + Bean Make the Rules: It’s Spring Break, and Bean’s older sister, Nancy, is going to Girl Power 4-Ever Camp, where she will do Crafts and Dance and First Aid and other secret things that Bean will never know about because you have to be eleven to go to Girl Power 4-Ever Camp. Bean doesn’t care. She doesn’t want to go to camp. She wouldn’t go even if they begged her. So ha. So ha ha. So—wait a second! Bean and Ivy can make their own camp, their own better camp. It’s Camp Flaming Arrow, where Crafts include escaping, Dance includes thumbtacks, First Aid includes zombies, and counselors Ivy and Bean make the rules. If you and your child liked Junie B. Jones, Magic Tree House books, and Princess in Black; you'll love Ivy & Bean.

Ivy and Bean need some money. Ten dollars, to be exact. Never mind what for. Okay, it's for low-fat Belldeloon cheese in a special just-for-you serving size. Don't ask why. How are Ivy and Bean going to make ten dollars? Hey, maybe they should write a newspaper about Pancake Court and sell it. Great idea! And easy, too. All they have to do is snoop around the neighborhood. Wow. It's very interesting what you can find out. It's even more interesting when the neighbors read about it in the newspaper. Includes bonus material! - Sneak peek chapter from the next book in the Ivy + Bean series Ivy and Bean Make the Rules by Annie Barrows, illustrated by Sophie Blackall - Our second ever Ivy + Bean Quiz! - Other fun games

Watch out, you diabolical masterminds! There's a new detective on Pancake Court: Bean! She laughs at danger! She solves even the most mysterious mysteries! What? There aren't any mysteries? Then Bean and her assistant, Ivy, will make some! Includes bonus material! - A guide to becoming a detective and finding your own mysteries to solve!

This is the first volume to consider the popular literary category of Early Readers – books written and designed for children who are just beginning to read independently. It argues that Early Readers deserve more scholarly attention and careful thought because they are, for many younger readers, their first opportunity to engage with a work of literature on their own, to feel a sense of mastery over a text, and to experience pleasure from the act of reading independently. Using interdisciplinary approaches that draw upon and synthesize research being done in education, child psychology, sociology, cultural studies, and children’s literature, the volume visits Early Readers from a variety of angles: as teaching tools; as cultural artifacts that shape cultural and individual subjectivity; as mass produced products sold to a niche market of parents, educators, and young children; and as aesthetic objects, works of literature and art with specific conventions. Examining the reasons such books are so popular with young readers, as well as the reasons that some adults challenge and censor them, the volume considers the ways Early Readers contribute to the construction of younger children as readers, thinkers, consumers, and as gendered, raced, classed subjects. It also addresses children’s texts that have been translated and sold around the globe, examining them as part of an increasingly transnational children’s media culture that may add to or supplant regional, ethnic, and national children’s literatures and cultures. While this collection focuses mostly on books written in English and often aimed at children living in the US, it is important to acknowledge that these Early Readers are a major US cultural export, influencing the reading habits and development of children across the globe.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the co-author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society comes a wise, witty, and exuberant novel, perfect for fans of Lee Smith, that illuminates the power of loyalty and forgiveness, memory and truth, and the courage it takes to do what’s right. Annie Barrows once again evokes the charm and eccentricity of a small town filled with extraordinary characters. Her new novel, The Truth According to Us, brings to life an inquisitive young girl, her beloved aunt, and the alluring visitor who changes the course of their destiny forever. In the summer of 1938, Layla Beck’s father, a United States senator, cuts off her allowance and demands that she find employment on the Federal Writers’ Project, a New Deal jobs program. Within days, Layla finds herself far from her accustomed social whirl, assigned to cover the history of the remote mill town of Macedonia, West Virginia, and destined, in her opinion, to go completely mad with boredom. But once she secures a room in the home of the unconventional Romeyn family, she is drawn into their complex world and soon discovers that the truth of the town is entangled in the thorny past of the Romeyn dynasty. At the Romeyn house, twelve-year-old Willa is desperate to learn everything in her quest to acquire her favorite virtues of ferocity and devotion—a search that leads her into a thicket of mysteries, including the questionable business that occupies her charismatic father and the reason her adored aunt Jottie remains unmarried. Layla’s arrival strikes a match to the family veneer, bringing to light buried secrets that will tell a new tale about the Romeyns. As Willa peels back the layers of her family’s past, and Layla delves deeper into town legend, everyone involved is transformed—and their personal histories completely rewritten. Praise for The Truth According to Us “As delightfully eccentric as Guernsey yet refreshingly different . . . an epic but intimate family novel with richly imagined characters . . . Willa’s indomitable spirit, keen sense of adventure and innate intelligence reminded me of two other motherless girls in literature: Scout Finch in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and Flavia de Luce in Alan Bradley’s big-hearted British mystery series.”—The Washington Post “The Truth According to Us has all the characteristics of a great summer read: A plot that makes you want to keep turning the pages; a setting that makes you feel like you’re inhabiting another time and place; and characters who become people you’re sad to leave behind—and thus who always stay with you.”—Miami Herald “It takes a brave author to make the heroine of a new novel an observant and feisty girl . . . like Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. . . . But Barrows . . . has created a believable and touching character in Willa.”—USA Today “[A] heartwarming coming-of-age novel [that] sparkles with folksy depictions of a tight-knit family and life in a small town . . . full of richly drawn, memorable characters.”—The Seattle Times “A big, juicy family saga with warm humor and tragic twists . . . The story gets more and more absorbing as it moves briskly along.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch “Annie Barrows leaves no doubt that she is a storyteller of rare caliber, with wisdom and insight to spare. Every page rings like a bell.”—Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife

Bean's older sister, Nancy, is going to Girl Power 4-Ever Camp and Bean can't go. So Bean and Ivy make their own camp.

Reaching Reluctant Young Readers features 150 middle-grade books. Each profiled title has the potential to hook the reluctant reader and lure them to read the entire book. To specifically encourage elementary and middle-school-age reluctant children to read, there is first a pitch to get the reader’s attention. That is followed by a short reading passage to “set the hook” and encourage the young person to read the rest of the book on their own. Further, the book contains several hundred additional recommended titles. The books selected for this collection were chosen following the criteria of reluctant reader books created by the Quick Picks committee sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association. While these guidelines were designed for young adult books, they also work well for middle-grade books. The criteria include: clear writing (no convoluted long sentences with sophisticated vocabulary), high interest “hook” in the first few pages, well-defined characters, interesting plot, and familiar themes.

The adventures of Ivy and Bean continue in the latest installment from series creators Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall. In Ivy and Bean Take Care of the Babysitter, the two girls hatch a plan to prove that Bean's big sister is the world's worst babysitter. Of course plans go awry, but fun ensues! Includes bonus material! - Sneak peek chapter from the next book in the Ivy + Bean series Ivy and Bean Bound to Be Bad by Annie Barrows, illustrated by Sophie Blackall

An inspiring and delightful illustrated collection of quotations from a diverse range of our most beloved children's books that will help teach all of us how to live in the world today, perfect for gift season and for readers of books like The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and The Horse and How to Love the World. Everything we need to know as adults can be found in the brilliant, imaginative, diverse world of children's books. That is the simple yet powerful promise that Believe In the World offers. This illustrated, gifty collection, with witty and inspirational quotations organized in chapters such as "How to Believe in the World" and "How to Have Fun in the World," reminds us not to lose sight of the values we learned as kids—to be courageous, to do good deeds, to respect our imaginations, and maybe even to break a few rules every once in a while. Some quotations will bring readers back to old favorites like The Little Prince or Ramona Forever while others will lead to new discoveries inspired by the exciting new variety of children’s books being published today. And all provide a roadmap to doing and being good in the world. As one reviewer wrote about Believe In the World's predecessor, What the Dormouse Said, published by Algonquin in 1999, “Whether you’re looking for wisdom about goodness or sadness or even more practical matters, you will surely find it in this delightful collection.” Believe In the World lands in the sweet spot of nostalgic and entertaining; fresh and enlightening. And at the same time, it reminds us of the exhilaration of being a reader, young at heart, venturing forth into the world of storybooks and unforgettable characters and confirming that we are never too old to recapture the lessons, pleasures, and exuberance of childhood.