Sophie Blackall

A boy writes a letter to an imagined alien, explaining all the things he will need to know about Earth and the people who live here--and adding a postscript asking what the alien might look like.

"Over a hill, at the end of a road, by a glittering stream that twists and turns, stands a house, with twelve children who eat and sleep and work and play, who get into trouble, and argue and dream, who milk the cows and fish in the stream--a farmhouse where thye are growing up, waiting to see what the future might bring." --book jacket

"When a boy is FINALLY allowed to get a cat, he has no doubts about which one to bring home from the shelter. But Max the cat isn’t quite what the family expected. He shuns the toy mouse, couldn’t care less about the hand-knitted sweater, and spends most of his time facing the wall. One by one, the family gives up on Max, but the boy loves his negative cat so much, he’ll do anything to keep him. Even the thing he dreads most: practicing his...

"If you were a horse, what would you do? Could you fit in your clothes? Would you give your little sister a ride? Would your brother even notice? Gallop along with two-time Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall through this riotous day in the life of a child who imagines their life as a horse. What ensues are uproarious, resonant episodes that feature a giant horse in familiar settings offering both a visual feast, a grand dose of joy, and a celebration...

A woman tells her young son the true story of how his great-great-grandfather, Captain Harry Colebourn, rescued and learned to love a bear cub in 1914 as he was on his way to take care of soldiers' horses during World War I, and the bear became the inspiration for A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh.

"The moment they saw each other, Bean and Ivy knew they wouldn't be friends. But when Bean plays a joke on her sister, Nancy, and has to hide quickly, Ivy comes to the rescue proving that sometimes the best of friends are people never meant to like each other." --publisher's website

Everyone in second grade seems set on breaking a world record and friends Ivy and Bean are no exception, deciding to become the youngest people ever to discover a dinosaur skeleton.

When Bean's parents leave her in the care of her older sister Nancy for the afternoon, she enlists her neighbor and best friend Ivy to come over and teach Nancy how to be a really good babysitter.

When classmate Vanessa insists that all single children are spoiled, Ivy wonders whether she can become "unspoiled" by giving away all her clothes at school (which does not go over well with her teacher or parents)--but ultimately decides that all she needs to accomplish her goal is a little sister.

After watching a movie about a detective on the television, Bean decides to set up shop as a private investigator--and she and Ivy start looking for mysteries to solve.